Know Your Epidemic - Part B

International and regional commitments signed by the Lebanese government:

This section will provide an overview of certain treaties and conventions that are ratified by the Lebanese government. These conventions be limited to those that are related to either women/girls or children/youth.

1. Women

The Convention on the elimination of all forms of violence against women (CEDAW) was adopted in 1979 by the UN general assembly. It addresses discrimination against women as and defines it as “…..any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.” This treaty defines such discrimination in 30 articles and defines a national agenda to end discrimination against women. Lebanon ratified it on 16 Apr 1997 (United Nations, 2009).

Even though the Lebanese constitution doesn’t explicitly state the equality of women and men, it does acknowledge “absolute” equality of all citizens before the law in Articles 7 and 12. It also acknowledges political equlity to all citizens above the age of 21 as stated in Article 21. Public and personal liberties including freedom to belief, education and speech are all protected rights in the Lebanese constitution (Lebanese Constitution).

Other treaties and conventions related to women ratified by the Lebanese government are;

· The convention on the political rights of women (1953), ratified in 1955

· UNESCO’s convention related to nondiscrimination in education (1960), ratified in 1964

· The convention on women workers in night shifts (1948), ratified in 1962 and later on amended by convention number 171 (1962)

· The convention on salary equality (1951), ratified in 1977

· The convention on employment of women in underground work (1937), ratified in 1946

· The convention on non-discrimination in employment and professions (1958), ratified in 1977

· The convention on employment policy (1964), ratified in 1977

The ratification and inclusion of such treaties into legislations have facilitated women in Lebanon to achieve major milestones such as; political rights to vote and participate in political processes (1953), equality for inheritance for non-Muslim denominations (1959), women’s right to chose their citizenship (1965), freedom of movement (1974), elimination of the provisions punishing contraception (1983), Unification of the retirement age for men and women under the social security law (1987), recognition of the qualifications of women to testify in the Land Registry (1993), recognition of women to be involved in business without their husband’s permission (1994), the right of a female employee in the diplomatic sector who married a foreigner to pursue her duties (1994), and the qualifications of married women regarding insurance contracts (1995) (Committee on the elimination of discrimnation against women, 2004).

Treaties and conventions related to women that are not ratified by the Lebanese government;

· The convention on white slave trading and the exploitation of others through prostitution (1949)

o The complementary convention (1956)

· The conventions on the citizenship of married women (1957)

· The convention on the consent to marriage, minimum age and registration of marriage (1962)

· The convention of a paid teaching license (1973)

· ILO’s Convention on farmers (1975)

· The convention on the development of human resources (1975)

· The convention on workers and family providers (1981)

· The convention 103 on maternal leave

It should be noted that such treaties and conventions that are not ratified by the Lebanese government as well as the reservations made on the CEDAW pertain mainly to personal status, marriage mechanisms and citizenship. This is due to the fact that such matters are still mostly dealt according to sectarian laws and religious courts. The unification of such laws and regulations is a possible pathway to assure that all women are protected from violations of their human rights (Committee on the elimination of discrimnation against women, 2004).

2. Youth

The united nation’s convention on the rights of the child is one of the main treaties related to children and youth. The guiding principles of the convention stress on the rights of youth to non-discrimination, life, survival and development, and participation. Hence, putting forth a couple of the most important concepts i.e. participation. Lebanon ratified the convention in 1991 with reservations on article 2, 3 and 12.

Other youth related conventions that are signed by the Lebanese government;

· International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (1966), ratified in 1972

· International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), ratified in 1972

It is notable to mention that the Lebanese government undertook noteworthy steps in promoting the efforts targeting youth through the establishment of the Higher Council for Childhood, publication on the legal situation of children in Lebanon, establishment of the Parliamentary Committee for the Protection of Childhood, the National Committee for the Disabled and others. Such endeavourers are important to promote the proper environment for children and youth.

Yet on the other hand, the reality doesn’t reflect such intentions where monitoring of the situation of children and possible violations is not comprehensive throughout the country. Moreover, there are laws that exist which still are inconsistent with the articles of the convention of the child and other treaties that have been ratified by Lebanon (Commitee on the Rights of the Child, 1996).

Existing policies on HIV and universal access in your community:

1. Universal access and education;

When it comes to education and awareness on sexual and reproductive health and rights, there is a major block-out in many of the educational curricula and media venues. Schools and universities are reluctant to address such issues with openness and transparency and usually revert to – mostly in school based curricula and faith based educational institutions – absenteeism-only education. Still, we need to acknowledge the recent efforts that were taken to introduce reproductive health education into national curricula as a substitute of sexual health education. Even though issues of sexuality and related health topics are still not fully and directly discussed, this can be considered as window to advocate for a more direct and clear curricula later on.

Media venues do not encourage or adopt promotional ads or segments that target such issues. Despite that there have been a significant activity on local activity to address issues of sexuality and sexual activity in contrast to previous strict mainstreamed conservative values, such efforts are still minimalistic and are countered with vigorous response from other media outlets that deem such endeavors are immoral and should be banned.

2. Universal access and prevention:

When talking about prevention, it would help to dissect the issue to the policies and challenges related to the availability of services and the accessibility of different populations to such services.

Services such as VCT centers, condom availability through free distribution or those purchased from the pharmacy as well as certain – though limited – awareness and capacity building interventions are available in the community and are mostly provided by civil society organization that form a network headed by the National Aids Program (a governmental-led institution). Such services receive little and limited media coverage and promotion making them difficult to be marketed and reached.

Accessibility to such services remains a very problematic issue. With high stigmatization, reverting to these services or showing interest in them might be regarded by many as a sign that such a person is HIV-positive. This constitutes very limiting factors that hinder many from accessing such services. Condom purchase also follows similar trends.

3. Universal access and treatment:

The National Aids Program’s (NAP) policy towards treatment is that all identified individuals who are HIV-Positive are eligible to free access to treatment including ART when needed. This implies to Lebanese citizens as well as to Palestinians refugees residing in Lebanon. Foreign individuals who reside in Lebanon might need to revert to their countries’ embassy if treatment was not provided by NAP (yet NAP claims that all residing individuals have the right to access free treatment).

Still, the treatment coverage rate is estimated at 26% by the UNAIDS and many benefactors of the treatment program argue that many of the drugs might at times be “out of stock”.

Country network involved in the HIV/AIDS response:

In Lebanon, the HIV/AIDS response is headed by the National AIDS Program and collaborates with the different civil society organizations to form a network that collectively targets the response in the country. NAP is semi-governmental institute which started as joint program of the WHO and the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. The program is still to date a joint program though it has surpassed its initial due date to be disjoint from the WHO. This current status gives NAP a unique position where it can advocate and introduce concepts that otherwise might be strongly disapproved and banned from implementation or circulation.

Lebanon Score Card:

My issue of interest is the inclusion of sexual health educational materials in the academic curricula and mainstreamed media. For this issue, the following scores are reported:

Accountable parties:

1. Governmental agencies;

Many governmental agencies can be involved in this issue such as the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National AIDS Program.

2. Civil society;

There are many grass root organizations that can collaborate on this issue. Community based organization that focus on advocating for awareness and prevention as well as faith based organization are integral parties. Similar international agencies may also be fundamental parts in addressing this issue.

Bibliography

Commitee on the Rights of the Child. (1996). Concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child: Lebanon.

Committee on the elimination of discrimnation against women. (2004). Considerations of reports submitted by State parties under Article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: Initial report of state parties, Lebanon. United Nation.

Lebanese Constitution. (n.d.). Art. 9, 12, 21, 2, & 10.

United Nations. (2009). Convention on the Eliminationof all forms of Discrimination Against Women. Retrieved April 27, 2010, from United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/