Progress Amid Resistance

276 WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICASeveral factors have contributed to an increase in poverty in Lebanon,in cluding the current global economic crisis, the 2006 war, and politicalun rest following the war. Civil society actors played a vital role in defusingthe political tension, although many NGOs became politicized in theprocess, rendering their socioeconomic goals more difficult to achieve.However, women’s rights associations and other civil society organizations,like the Family Planning Association, continue to conduct activities andtraining programs all over Lebanon in an effort to increase women’s awarenessregarding reproductive health, general health, participation in localpolitics, obtaining small loans, and public education programs related towomen’s rights issues.RecommendationsF The government should adopt a unified health insurance scheme towhich all Lebanese citizens, including the poor, would have equal access.F The government should work with NGOs that are currently involvedin alleviating poverty to design a new poverty-reduction program. Theplan should address regional disparities and focus on education and jobtraining without gender discrimination.F In an effort to improve the image of women in the media, civil societyshould actively push for the promotion of women to decision-makingpositions within media organizations. To aid in these efforts, the governmentshould solicit nominations from women’s rights NGOs andappoint the best female candidates to senior positions in media regulatorybodies.AUTHORMona Chemali Khalaf is an economist and an independent consultanton gender and development issues. She is a former assistant professor ofeconomics and former director of the Institute for Women’s Studies inthe Arab World at the Lebanese American University. She serves on theAdvisory Board for the Gender Economic Research and Policy AnalysisInitiative (GERPA), established by the World Bank and the Center forArab Women Training and Research (CAWTAR) in 2006. Khalaf is alsoa member of the editorial board of Al-Raida, a quarterly magazine thataddresses women’s issues in the Arab world, and has authored several