First it is important to know how the government works for gender equality, in this case, Lebanon has one of the most vibrant women’s movements in the Arab region. Lebanese women gained their right to vote in 1952, and since then, Lebanese women have made strides in advancing the women’s empowerment agenda. Lebanon’s ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1997 stimulated an increase in awareness of women’s rights within Lebanese society, followed by the establishment of the National Committee for Lebanese Women Affairs under the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in 1998. Today, enrollment rates for girls and boys are equal. In primary schools, the percentage of women who can read and write is 83% , page 39.

 

In 2016, the Office of the Minister of State for Women Affairs was established to support the advancement of gender equality and women’s empowerment in Lebanon, which was replaced by the government formed in 2019 by the Ministry of State for Women and Youth Economic Empowerment Affairs.

Lebanese women enjoy more rights and freedom compared to women elsewhere in the Arab world. Women in Lebanon can wear more liberal clothes and move with relative ease in certain parts of the country, unlike in other countries in the region. Lebanese women enjoy equal civil rights with men. However, due to the large number of officially recognized religions in Lebanon, Lebanese family affairs are governed by no less than 15 personal laws .

Many articles of the Lebanese Constitution stipulate the equality among all citizens. The gender equality and women’s empowerment was stated in the Lebanese Constitution as follows :

The Lebanese constitution promulgated in 1926 and amended does not contain any text that discriminates against women. Rather, it consecrates women’s equality.

All citizens are before the law without discrimination, and we can see this in many articles that determine the personal lives of individuals and the general:

• Article 7 on equality in civil and political rights. Article 7 states: “All Lebanese shall be equal before the law. They shall equally enjoy civil and political rights and shall equally be bound by public obligations and duties without any distinction.”
• Article 12 on equal access to public office
• Article 21 on electoral eligibility
• Articles 2, 9, 10, and 12, respectively, which protect personal freedom, freedom of belief, freedom of education, freedom of opinion, assembly and association.

 

 

But the most important thing remains, at the constitutional level, and what was included in the preamble to the constitution that was added to it according to the Constitutional Law No. 18 of 9/21/1990 and which was mentioned in Paragraph B of them verbatim:

“Lebanon is Arab in identity and belonging, and it is a founding and active member of the Arab League and abides by its charters, as it is a founding and active member of the United Nations Organization and abides by its charters and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The state embodies these principles in all fields and fields without exception”.

The University has developed the ‘Regulations for the Implementation of Gender Equality Policies in Education at the Islamic University of Lebanon.’ The Regulation specifies that: The University should not demonstrate unequal treatment on the basis of gender or sexual preference during the hiring of employees, the recruitment of students and the conditions for admission (new policies file to be approved by the president).

Additionally, a force labor legislation is established at the IUL, where all its articles don’t discriminate between the genders and even doesn’t mention it for the employee criteria, rights or duties. All the criteria mentioned in this legislation for an academic or staff position, promotion, salary, vacation, etc… are identified regardless of the gender, they are based only on the eligibility of the persons for any of these submissions , articles 68 – 77.

 

• The IUL implements administrative main gender equity policy for women participations and engagement in the university, and empowering women by assigning them leadership and senior positions. One illustrious proof of implementing this policy is that IUL is leaded by a female president (Prof. Dina el Maoula). In addition to the female leadership reflected by the President, many females are assigned senior positions where they play an essential role as Decision holders. They are faculties’ managers, deans, and head of departments, course coordinators and training supervisors.

 

• The female Prof. Dr. Dina Al-Maoula has summarized the IUL’s policy of access and participation of the women in an interview with the army magazine “مجلة الجيش”. Prof. Al-Maoula stated that she has never looked forward to success as being exclusive or exclusive to one human race. She added “I am a woman of human rights and I know very well the national legislation and the state that uphold human rights without discrimination between men and women, and I also know that Islam has called for women’s eligibility to assume power”. Furthermore, she stressed that proving scientific merit is the most important challenge for women to reach their ambition, and to remove from her mind the idea that sites are the preserve of men. Additionally, she mentioned that “Women became leaders, heads of state, prime ministers, ministers, and representatives, and entered all professional fields”. She outshined and excelled in all the sites she reached, all with merit and knowledge. She adds: “From my position as president of the university, I deal with hundreds of professors and administrators and thousands of students, and I find no embarrassment that I deal with them as a responsible person, from a leadership position, without ever thinking of distinguishing between a man and a woman. Therefore, I do not find it difficult in my work, especially because I was appointed and selected from the highest civil and religious authorities that gave me the honor of leadership” Prof. Al-Maoula affirms that the Islamic University in Lebanon does not deal with scientific and academic files or the CVs of any professor based on a gender identity. She summarizes the women’s access plan of IUL by stating that “A woman can reach locations that a man has not reached”. In this context, she points out that she put her CV in front of every woman to motivate her to reach. She also points out that the number of female professors is almost equal to the number of male professors, and it is increasing.

 

 

• Moreover, some courses taught at the IUL emphasizes on the role of Women in Society as the “Business Ethics and Social Responsibility” course conducted in the Faculty of Economics and Business administration, “International Humanitarian Law” by faculty of Law, and “Culture, Ethics and Religions” by all faculties.

 

The IUL’s policy of women’s Access and participation plan, this IUL’s policy of women’s Access can be summarized as follows:

1. The IUL does not discriminate between males and females in the academic positions access and academic activities participation. It maintains gender equity strategies, where the female has the same right as the equivalent male to be assigned leadership positions and senior academic roles. Female instructors have the same right to be assigned any position, to teach or coordinate any course and to a member in the faulty board as the male equivalent  articles 68-77.
2. The policy for employment is based on the competencies, education, experience and convenience for the position or course and does not take into account the gender identity, with the condition of the presence of the females in all faculties and departments. In case of the absence of competent candidate female, then the position can be occupied by a male.
3. The IUL involves a large number of female instructors in all faculties as well as female employees in all administrative departments based on the vision of the IUL of women labour force participation equity.
4. Employed females get the same rights on all the domains as the male equivalent. In the teaching domain, they get the same number of teaching hours as the male with the same academic rank, they are granted the eligibility in supervising graduate projects and juries similarly as the male instructors. Moreover, there is a special policy that lowers the teaching burden and the work load for a pregnant full-time female instructor. Additionally, instructors from either gender are subjected to the same rules and conditions for getting academic promotions, and academic trainings , articles 6-13.
5. Female employees and staff can participate in any academic or sports activities equally as the males.
6. Female employees and instructors have the same rights in annual vacations, sick leaves with more specific vacations in case of pregnancy, articles 32-34.
7. The IUL employment policy acts to close the gender wage gap where employees of both genders are equally paid for work of equal value, they have the same privileges for preferment, children salary, health insurance, salary promotions and bonuses, and recompense , articles 86-99.