Governmental entities, civil society, media and private sector are key partners to ensure this reform agenda results in concrete action and real change. The Ministry of State for Economic Empowerment of Women and Youth (EEWAY) is designing and implementing programs and partnerships that champion gender-sensitive policies and opportunities that enable women to more effectively participate in the labor market. This includes advocating for an improved enabling environment that ensures the rights of women in the work place, promotes family-friendly policies and practices, and upholds the positive roles that women play at work, at home, and in society at large.
We are partnering with private sector companies and membership organizations, such as the Women Leaders Council and the Lebanese League of Women in Business, to advance economic opportunities for women, close the gaps they face in access to markets and finance, as well as to advocate for the legal framework that facilitates equality in the labor market, promotes leadership of women, and combats discrimination and sexual harassment in the work place.
But to ultimately transform the structures of the Lebanese economy, we must improve the position of women by proactively engaging men. Men are our allies in transforming inequitable gender norms into positive ones; in reducing gender-based violence; and in promoting more equal relationships at home and at work. Ensuring women’s agency will enable women to make choices that benefit their own well-being and that of their families’ and of Lebanon as a whole.