Celebrating Feminists’ Voices, Inspiring Global Peace

The Time Is Now

4 July 2012

On a hot spring day nineteen women activists from the Middle East and North Africa met in Geneva for the MENA Agenda 1325 organised by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). WILPF’s reporter met Manar Zeaiter from Lebanon over lunch to hear more about the situation in Lebanon.

Allowing no time for warm up interview questions, Lebanese women’s rights activist Manar Zeaiter, dives straight to the heart of the discussion. “Women’s rights are my life,” she exclaims, with a twinkle in her eye.

The petite Lebanese lawyer kept her cool in the chaos of the United Nations cafeteria as members darted from counter to counter in search of much needed sustenance to maintain them during the Human Rights Council. Having examined all the options available, Manar Zeaiter was drawn to the healthy living counter. Her initial grimace at the sight of tofu on offer made it clear that this exotic delicacy would not be on her menu. Instead, she chose the perhaps more appetising option of sardines and carrots, accompanied by a fresh green salad.

Manar’s roots

Born and brought up in the Baalbeck, home to Lebanon’s greatest Roman ruins, Manar Zeaiter was taught from a young age to give great importance to the values of sincerity, equality, freedom of expression and respecting order.

Invaluable training as a lawyer

A spritely grin spreads across Manar Zeaiter’s face as she confesses to me that she did not originally want to be a lawyer; her ambition was to become a journalist. However, as there was no journalism course offered at her local university, she opted for law instead.

Her initial resolve to study law may have been weak, but her experience as a lawyer has enabled her to assist many women who are struggling for justice in court in Lebanon. Her legal knowledge and experience of the judiciary system are of great value to the women she helps who could not have taken a case to court alone. “I work with women without asking them for money. I am happy to help them and to give them advice for free,” says Manar Zeaiter, nodding enthusiastically to affirm her point.

First taster of defending women’s rights

Manar Zeaiter’s first taster of defending women’s rights came when she offered help to a woman who was having trouble with a divorce case in court. This experience opened her eyes to the great need that existed in the area of women’s rights in Lebanon. Since then, her thoughts have constantly been occupied by her desire to help women and to eliminate the current discrimination and violence against them.

Since 2009, Manar Zeaiter has been working for Rassemblement Démocratique de la femme libanaise. The direct contact with women that characterised Manar Zeaiter’s first experience in this field is central to the organisation’s work as it allows them to identify the real problems women are facing.

“Lots of people are against our work but at the moment there is a change.”

“Universities are starting to teach international conventions. That is a change. At the Rassemblement Démocratique de la femme libanaise we have young girls coming to work for us and raise the voice for women’s rights. That makes a change.”

Role of the media

The media is an essential tool that the organisation uses to raise awareness. In a country where media networks are heavily influenced by political parties, Manar Zeaiter tells me that social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter have been invaluable to her organisation’s work.

Throughout the interview, Manar Zeaiter repeatedly stressed the importance of dialogue; dialogue with the community, the government, the media and women.

Main issues regarding women, peace and security in Lebanon

One of the main issues regarding women, peace and security in Lebanon is their absence in politics. Whilst the law permits them to participate in politics, there are many obstacles which prevent them from doing so. Barriers, such as the cultural view that women do not have a place in politics and laws that discriminate against women, are the reasons behind their ‘absence’ that runs throughout all spheres of politics, including parliament, town councils and political parties.

Another issue is the strong influence that religion has on Lebanese politics. In a country with eighteen different religious communities, matters become somewhat complicated.

A concrete example of the consequences this can have for women’s security is what Manar Zeaiter terms “a war” regarding a law to protect women from domestic violence. A draft law is currently in the Lebanese Parliament but it faces strong resistance. One of the many arguments given by the opposition it that such a law would be unnecessary as domestic violence is already forbidden by religion. In theory this may be the case, but the high percentages of women who have suffered at the hands of their husbands highlights the fact that greater protection is needed. A key problem related to this is the fact that there are no official shelters in Lebanon where women can take refuge in order to escape domestic abuse.

Determination, diligence and delight clearly mark Manar’s approach to fighting for women’s rights in her country.

MENA Agenda 1325

The scope of the MENA Agenda 1325 project is new territory for Manar, which she views as “very important”. She informs me that the conference in Geneva has been a significant time for her; allowing her to decode the complexities of the sometimes daunting United Nations system. In addition, meeting and sharing with others who are working in the field of women, peace and security has enabled her to gain a better understanding of the current climate in the MENA region.

For Manar, the discussion is highly relevant to the current state of insecurity for women throughout the MENA region. “It was very important to discuss with other participants about the obstacles we face and how we can strategise together to overcome them.”

Manar hopes that the MENA agenda 1325 is only the beginning of what promises to be a fruitful partnership between WILPF and women’s organisations throughout the MENA region.

Learn more about WILPF’s MENA Agenda 1325 project.

 

Share the post

Your donation isn’t just a financial transaction; it’s a step toward a more compassionate and equitable world. With your support, we’re poised to achieve lasting change that echoes through generations. Thank you!

Thank you!

Melissa Torres

VICE-PRESIDENT

Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.

Jamila Afghani

VICE-PRESIDENT

Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.

Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo

PRESIDENT

Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.

WILPF Afghanistan

In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region. 

IPB Congress Barcelona

WILPF Germany (+Young WILPF network), WILPF Spain and MENA Regional Representative

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Mauris facilisis luctus rhoncus. Praesent eget tellus sit amet enim consectetur condimentum et vel ante. Nulla facilisi. Suspendisse et nunc sem. Vivamus ullamcorper vestibulum neque, a interdum nisl accumsan ac. Cras ut condimentum turpis. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; Curabitur efficitur gravida ipsum, quis ultricies erat iaculis pellentesque. Nulla congue iaculis feugiat. Suspendisse euismod congue ultricies. Sed blandit neque in libero ultricies aliquam. Donec euismod eget diam vitae vehicula. Fusce hendrerit purus leo. Aenean malesuada, ante eu aliquet mollis, diam erat suscipit eros, in.

Demilitarisation

WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.

Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.

Militarised masculinity

Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.

WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.

Feminist peace​

In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.

In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.

Skip to content