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Women's Political Participation in Lebanon

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Women's Political Participation in Lebanon 1 WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN LEBANON and the Limits of Aid-Driven Empowerment 1 3 Team Author Gabriella Nassif Programme Officer Mia BouKhaled Programmes Associate Julia Wysocka El Haddad Deputy Director, Publications Léa Yammine Director Marie-Noëlle AbiYaghi Copy-editing Muriel N. Kahwagi Design & Layout Nayla Yehia Introduction 02 1Methodology 04 Empowered Women, 07 Empowered2 Citizens 3WPE and WPP 15 Initiatives in Lebanon, 2009-20194 Analysis and 27 5Conclusion 02 Introduction The question of women’s political participa- occupied by women.05,06 Similarly, though the tion in Lebanon could not be more timely. As appointment of four women to the ministerial of 17 October 2019, nation-wide protests cabinet in an accomplishment worth celebrat- have erupted in response to increasing ing, marking a first in the country’s history, austerity measures that culminated in a these women collectively make up less than tax on Voice over IP (VoIP) calls, commonly 10% of the cabinet.07 referred to as the “WhatsApp tax.”01 Calls for a non-sectarian and “non-political”02 The low rates of women’s political partici- revolution have drawn Lebanese represent- pation are attributable not only to women’s ing nearly every sect, every class, and every underrepresentation in formal political gender out into the streets, which led to the positions, but are equally a consequence resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri on October 29, 2019.03 In a familiar scene witnessed during the Sudanese uprisings in 2018, and in Chile and Iraq in 2019, women were once again at the front line. At one point, a young woman – now memori- The low rates of women’s alised as the symbol of the uprisings – was videotaped kicking an armed bodyguard to political participation are prevent him from attacking protesters; at attributable not only to another point, an arm-in-arm link of more than 30 women separated protesters from women’s underrepresen- riot police in Riad Al-Solh. tation in formal political But the reality reflected in these images, and positions, but are equally in news agency accounts of women protesting, 1is not reflected in the current socio-political a consequence of women’s reality in Lebanon. In 2018, Lebanon ranked 147th out of a total of 149 countries according position in Lebanon as to the Global Gender Gap Index, with one of “second class citizens.” the lowest rates of women’s political partic- ipation in the region.04 Women in Lebanon have been unable to crack the “political glass ceiling,” and continue to make only piece- meal advancements. For example, though of women’s position in Lebanon as “second the 2018 Parliamentary election boasted the class citizens.”08 The many structural factors highest number of registered women candi- that sustain this reality – including the dates in the country’s history, less than 5% personal status codes, social perceptions of of the total 128 parliamentary seats are now women that tie them to the private realms of 03 the family and the household,09 the limited levels.16 Information that does exist is legal protections women have access to,10 usually produced by the donor agencies and and the processes of gendered citizenship their local partners in the form of program more broadly11 – have been well docu- evaluations and short programmatic mented. Research into the specific role of descriptions. These documents, generally, women in Lebanese politics, however, is less do not offer larger critiques of the socioeco- comprehensive.12,13 Extant literature focuses nomic landscape in Lebanon, and, therefore, primarily on the various structural factors cannot account for the underwhelming that prohibit women’s political participation, impact of these initiatives. Why have these such as sectarianism, political clientelism, programs been unsuccessful in advancing and political familism.14 As Zaiter and El large numbers of women into formal politi- Masry, a notable exception to this literature, cal positions? argue, a focus on structural factors, while important, cannot account for women’s This report seeks to answer this ques- individual experiences of, and within these tion, and to fill the gap in the literature systems. Micro-level analyses are critical to on women’s political participation and any discussion of women’s political partici- empowerment, by conducting a mapping of pation in Lebanon, and can broaden under- WPE and WPP initiatives in Lebanon from standings of women’s political participation 2009 to 2019, and analysing their collective outside of formal political structures.15 impact on the current status of women’s political participation. The report begins Another dearth in this literature on women’s with a general discussion of women’s politi- political participation in Lebanon is an anal- cal empowerment and political participation, ysis of the role of international development, and traces how the historical development and donor-funded initiatives focusing on of these two concepts globally affects the “empowerment.” Women’s political empow- ways that current WPE and WPP initiatives erment programming (WPE) and women’s are structured in Lebanon. Next, the report political participation (WPP) programming analyses how the assumptions underpinning in Lebanon are expansive. Though programs definitions of women’s political participation focus on a range of issues, they overwhelm- have produced poor WPE and WPP project ingly share the same goal: to increase results, using evidence from a selection of women’s formal political participation. To initiatives that occurred in Lebanon. Finally, date, there has been no systematic review this report presents a larger mapping of of donor interventions on WPP or WPE WPE and WPP initiatives in Lebanon from initiatives, at either the global or regional 2009 to 2019. 04 Methodology This report attempts to answer current gaps participation” (WPP) developed, including in the literature analysing WPE and WPP how the terms are used today, both theo- donor-funded initiatives in Lebanon, and retically and in development practice; the asks the following question: what explains critiques facing these terms and their usage; the current gap between donor-funded as well as best practices associated with WPE and WPP initiatives, and the continued projects loosely grouped under the umbrella low rates of women’s political participation of WPE or WPP programming, implemented and overall low political empowerment in using ODA. This lays the foundation for the Lebanon? discussion to follow in Section IV, which reflects on WPP and WPE programming in To answer this question, this report starts Lebanon between 2009 and 2019. with a rigorous review of the terms “women’s political empowerment” and “women’s Section IV presents an overview of selected political participation,” and highlights their WPE and WPP programming in Lebanon relationship not only to each other, but to between 2009 and 2019. An initial search for the broader fields of international develop- WPE and WPP projects began with a focus ment and official donor assistance (ODA) on approximately 10 organisations that were and feminist theory, specifically in relation known to have conducted such programming to development practice. This review begins, based on the past experience of Lebanon loosely, with the advent of the international Support, and the research consultant who feminist movement in the wake of global supported in the data collection for the development meetings, such as the Third development of this report. This information and Fourth World Conferences on Women was supplemented by a review of organisa- in Nairobi and Beijing, respectively, and tion websites, followed by thorough analysis with the creation of the Convention on the of implementing partner websites, or the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination organisations cited as project partners, and 2Against Women (CEDAW). Special attention project beneficiaries, if and when possible. was given to academic journals dedicated to Given that the majority of information on issues related to women’s political partici- the projects discussed herein comes from pation and women’s equality and feminist the implementing organisation’s website, theory in international development. This an effort was made to substantiate this was complemented by a review of the grey information with third-party sources, such literature, specifically, research and other as news outlets (Annahar or The Daily materials produced by the United Nations Star), social media, blogposts, YouTube and other intergovernmental or global videos, and three informal interviews. After organisations. Part III of this report synthe- an initial search, WPE and WPP initia- sises this information, and presents an tives were then grouped according to four overview of how the terms “women’s political primary pillars, indicating the focus of these empowerment” (WPE) and “women’s political programs: increasing women’s descriptive 05 representation; gender mainstreaming; programmatic activities and participant supporting civil society organisations and testimonials. It is important to reiterate that networks; and, finally, increasing the capac- the majority of this information was taken ity of women voters. Budgetary informa- from donor websites and the websites of tion for initiatives has been included, when their implementing partners, something that and if it was available, as were specific the analysis in Section V attends to. 06 3 07 Empowered Women, Empowered Citizens Contextualizing Women’s Empowerment:
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