logo
Around 3,000 women across Lebanon are running in municipal elections this year

Around 3,000 women across Lebanon are running in municipal elections this year

Clara Assaker always dreamed of her candidacy as head of municipality in her small village Majdal in the Jbeil district.'In Majdal, a traditionally conservative and male-dominated village, I, along with two other women, are among the nine candidates running in the 2025 municipal elections, a landmark shift in local politics in our village,' Assaker explained to L'Orient Today.According to Diana Hani, project coordinator at FiftyFifty, a Lebanese NGO dedicated to promoting gender equality in decision-making, approximately 3,000 women from across Lebanon are preparing to run.This growth is especially significant compared to previous elections. In 2010, only 1,349 women ran for municipal office — 5.6 percent of the 24,041 total candidates — with 536 women ultimately winning seats (4.7 percent).In 2016, the number of female candidates rose...

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Reports: US, Israel mulling end to UNIFIL's presence
Reports: US, Israel mulling end to UNIFIL's presence

Nahar Net

time5 hours ago

  • Nahar Net

Reports: US, Israel mulling end to UNIFIL's presence

by Naharnet Newsdesk 09 June 2025, 13:18 U.S. officials are considering pulling American support from UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, in a bid to cut costs associated with its operations, the Israel Hayom newspaper reported Sunday evening, with US sources later confirming to The Times of Israel that the option was on the table. Should the U.S. move ahead with its decision to pull support from the U.N. body, Israel will back the decision, Israel Hayom reported, both out of a desire to align itself with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and in light of the Israeli security establishment's 'cooperation with the Lebanese army since the ceasefire in November,' the Times of Israel said. According to Israel Hayom, the presence of the Lebanese Armed Forces in southern Lebanon has proven relatively effective in 'beating back the threat of Hezbollah' and keeping the group from rearming itself, making 'redundant' much of UNIFIL's operations in the region. Sources familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel that the U.S. has not yet made up its mind regarding its future support for UNIFIL, but that it wants to see major reforms, which could mean pulling support. As UNIFIL's mandate is granted through a U.N. Security Council resolution each year, the U.S. could simply veto the next resolution, due to be put forward in August. UNIFIL has been operating in southern Lebanon since 1978, when it was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the area following the end of Israel's first invasion of south Lebanon. The U.N. peacekeeping force expanded its mission following the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, allowing peacekeepers to deploy along the Israeli border to help the Lebanese military extend its authority into the country's south for the first time in decades. Aimed at ending the 2006 war, Resolution 1701 also called for a full cessation of Israeli-Hezbollah hostilities and the disarmament of Hezbollah. UNIFIL's mandate has been renewed annually ever since, although critics have questioned the efficacy of the force. Following the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, which put an end to more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, including two months of all-out war, the Lebanese Army moved into southern Lebanon to enforce the terms of the ceasefire, which itself is based on Resolution 1701. The resolution requires Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters north of the Litani River — about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the border — and dismantle all military infrastructure in southern Lebanon. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told the Wall Street Journal last month that his government had achieved 80 percent of its objectives regarding the disarmament of Hezbollah and other militias in the country's south. At the same time, the Israeli army has continued to launch strikes on Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure, alleging violations of the truce agreement. According to the Israeli army, over 180 Hezbollah operatives have been killed since the truce came into effect.

Israeli Enemy Violates Lebanese Sovereignty Again
Israeli Enemy Violates Lebanese Sovereignty Again

Al Manar

time8 hours ago

  • Al Manar

Israeli Enemy Violates Lebanese Sovereignty Again

The Israeli enemy continued on Monday its continuous violations of the Lebanese sovereignty and the ceasefire agreement based on the UN Resolution 1701. In this regard, Israeli gliders threw two bombs on Ras Al-Naqoura and Ramya in South Lebanon with no injuries recorded, according to Al-Manar reporter. Israeli soldiers, deployed at the newly established occupation site in Hamams inside the Lebanese territory, opened fire at farms in the Khiam plain. Moreover, an Israeli drone flew in the morning at a low altitude over Beirut's Dahieh. An Israeli drone raid on a motorcycle on the Shehabiyeh-Kfardounin highway in south Lebanon on Sunday left one martyr.

Lebanon FM stresses to  Iranian counterpart the need to disarm Hezbollah
Lebanon FM stresses to  Iranian counterpart the need to disarm Hezbollah

Ya Libnan

timea day ago

  • Ya Libnan

Lebanon FM stresses to Iranian counterpart the need to disarm Hezbollah

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raji informed his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, on Tuesday that Hezbollah put his country in a 'difficult situation' when it embarked on more than a year of fighting with Israel in 2023, and stressed the importance of disarming the Tehran-backed terror group. Araghchi met with Raji — a member of the Lebanese Forces party — in Beirut, on his first visit to Lebanon since October last year, when Hezbollah was in the midst of an all-out war with Israel in southern Lebanon. A month later, Beirut and Jerusalem would sign a ceasefire agreement that brought an end to the fighting During the meeting, Raji told Araghchi that recent 'military adventures' — an apparent reference to Hezbollah — had put the country in a 'difficult situation,' the Saudi Al Arabiya news outlet reported. These adventures, Raji told his Iranian counterpart, 'had not contributed to ending the Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory.' When Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon following the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces per the terms of the November 2024 ceasefire, it left troops stationed in five strategic hills located several hundred meters inside Lebanon, which it says are necessary to defend Israeli border communities. Six months on from the start of the ceasefire, the Lebanese state has been working methodically to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure in the south of the country, and is estimated to have seized the majority of the group's weapons stockpile south of the Litani River area. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said that his government had achieved 80 percent of its objectives regarding the disarmament of militias in the country's south. 'All over the Lebanese territory, the state should have a monopoly on arms,' Salam told the US outlet, stressing 'the need to extend and consolidate the authority of the state.' Echoing his prime minister on Tuesday, Raji appeared to take a firm stance against allowing Iran's agenda to influence Lebanon's future, telling Araghchi that the country's ability to recover from the recent fighting was tied to Hezbollah's disarmament, Al Arabiya reported. Unprovoked, Hezbollah began attacking military outposts and communities in northern Israel on October 8, 2023, in a show of support for fellow Iranian proxy Hamas in Gaza after its assault on southern Israel a day earlier. The fighting continued for more than a year, including some two months of open war in southern Lebanon, and ended with the ceasefire signed in late November. The fighting displaced over 1 million people inside Lebanon, and caused destruction that the World Bank has said will cost $11 billion in reconstruction. Raji informed Araghchi that 'coordination between Lebanon and Iran should occur through official state channels,' rather than via proxies like Hezbollah, which enjoys Tehran's support, monetary and otherwise, having received billions of dollars and all types of weapons over the years.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store