BEIRUT: The Lebanese Women’s Council called Friday on all women’s rights groups to put politics aside and unite toward holding MPs accountable in the coming elections.

The National Committee for the Follow-up on Women’s Issues (CFUWI) held a news conference at the Press Federation, Friday, announcing the conclusion of another stage of its project on “Lebanese women’s rights and the Nationality Law.”

The project, established by the committee in 2008 in collaboration with the U.N. Development Program, aims at formulating a nationality law that does not discriminate against women.

The present nationality law allows men to pass on their nationality to their non-Lebanese wives and children a year after their marriage is registered, but prohibits Lebanese women, married to non-Lebanese, from doing the same.

The conference also called on women’s rights groups to put partisan politics aside and take a decisive and unified stance against the formation of a male-dominated Cabinet, holding MPs accountable in the coming election, scheduled for 2013.

The head of the Lebanese Women’s Council, Aman Kabbara Shaarani, invited all women’s rights groups to attend a meeting at the council, scheduled Monday at 12 p.m. to discuss the necessary procedures and stances that need to be taken against the formation of the new all-male Cabinet.

The “Lebanese women’s rights and the Nationality Law” project included a field analysis study on the living conditions of Lebanese women married to non-Lebanese men.

The CFUWI’s study, “Predicament of Lebanese Women Married to Non-Lebanese,” published in December 2009, showed the current law’s negative effects on women and their families. It also proved the common political argument against equal citizenship rights – that it would lead to naturalization of Palestinian refugees in the country – were unfounded, with only 2 percent of Lebanese women, marrying non-Lebanese, marrying Palestinians.

The study also provided the full text of a draft law which would see gender equality in granting nationality rights. The proposed document was submitted to Parliament in May 2009, but did not meet much support.

According to CFUWI head, Fahmieh Charafeddine, the committee recently concluded another stage of the project, which involved raising awareness among youth on the issue and lobbying in parliament with other women’s rights groups.

“This marginalization of women is part of a male mentality that is purposefully trying to exclude women from political participation,” Shaarani said, adding that, “despite their dishonest promises, every time we take a step forward they take us several steps back.

“We had two female ministers in the last Cabinet, and now we have none.”

Former State Minister, Mona Ofeish, also stressed the need to hold the current MPs accountable in the coming elections and called on women’s groups to unite against all MPs, regardless of their political or sectarian affiliations.

“There is fragmentation among us. We need one policy, a female policy. These MPs need to be held accountable,” Ofeish said.

women urge Cabinet to enshrine equality in law

BEIRUT: “My Nationality is a Right for Me and My Family” campaign, launched in 2002 by Collective for Research and Training on Development-Action (CRTD-A), appealed Friday to the new Cabinet to reform the nationality law as well as endorse a new family law and the draft law on domestic violence, currently under review by parliamentary committee.

“The absence of women from the new Cabinet is indeed worrying as to the continuing tension among political patriarchs,” it said. “We urge the present Cabinet to ensure that equality and social rights and entitlements are given priority.”