Lebanon's new women's affairs minister fails to charm
Lebanese women's rights organizations are unimpressed with the creation of the new Ministry of Women’s Affairs, saying women need more representation across the board, not the attention of a single body, particularly one run by a male appointee.
Since the new year, several Lebanese rights groups have been demanding that the government established by Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Dec. 18 implement a quota of 30% of seats for women in the May parliamentary elections. Women's rights organizations had expressed dissatisfaction over the appointment of a man to head the new Ministry for Women's Affairs, Jean Ogasapian.
Hariri's newly appointed government is composed of 29 men and one woman, and a ministry for women's affairs was implemented for the first time in Lebanon. Led by Ogasapian, a parliamentarian from the Future Movement and consultant for private and public institutions on social cohesion and women's empowerment, this ministry will have the task of advocating for new laws and amendments favorable to the advancement of women in Lebanese society.
The day after the news broke, the feminist organization Kafa issued a press release condemning the creation of a special ministry for women and the fact that only one minister is a woman. Kafa criticized the idea of one ministry specialized in women’s affairs and said women should not be exiled to one institution.
“The new government shows that politicians intended to keep women away from the government because the male intellect is still dominant in themselves and their minds,” the press release read. “As for the Ministry for Women's Affairs, we stress that our main problem is not with the minister who was appointed, because we originally did not ask for the establishment of a ministry for women's affairs.”
