Salam: Empowering Women Is Essential to Lebanon’s Renaissance

Beirut: Prime Minister, Dr. Nawaf Salam, on Wednesday opened the 12th edition of the 'Women on the Front Lines' conference at the Phoenicia Hotel in Beirut, hosted by the May Chidiac Foundation. According to National News Agency - Lebanon, Salam paid tribute to May Chidiac as 'a free and courageous woman who turned her wound into a platform and her pain into commitment.' He also honored generations of pioneering Lebanese women, including Ibtihaj Kaddoura, Anbara Salam Al-Khalidi, and Emily Fares Ibrahim, the first woman to run for parliament in 1953, acknowledging their roles in advancing women's participation in public life. Salam pointed out the persistent struggle for equality, citing that women hold only 6.3% of parliamentary seats in Lebanon, significantly lower than the global average of 26%. He attributed this disparity to entrenched patriarchal mentalities and gender-based discrimination. Salam emphasized that empowering women in politics and public administration is 'not a favor but a prerequisite for Lebanon's revival as a modern state of law and institutions.' Citing the 2006 electoral reform proposal that called for mandating one-third female candidates on parliamentary lists, Salam urged for renewed efforts to implement such measures. He concluded his address by urging Lebanese women to participate actively in the upcoming elections, encouraging them to run and vote massively. He affirmed, 'This is our collective date with history, to shape a different, brighter future together.'