Claiming Equal Citizenship

We have just received word from our colleagues in Lebanon at the Collective for Research and Training on Development-Action (CRTD-A) that they are organizing a sit-in in front of the Cabinet on July 24th from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. to call on the government to reform the nationality code. This sit-in comes just weeks after a regional campaign meeting held in Beirut from July 9th - 12th by CRTD-A. The six coordinating campaign organizations from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, and Syria gathered to evaluate the progress of the campaign and to plan upcoming activities. The meeting concluded with a press conference announcing Lebanon’s re-launch of the campaign with renewed commitments to reforming the nationality code and with new advocacy strategies.

CRTD-A released a memo on July 14th, 2008 addressing the new government and urging it to commit to implementing the CEDAW agreement, particularly section 2 of Article 9 stating equality in transferring nationality to children. The memo pointed out regional success in countries participating in the campaign such as Algeria’s success in lifting reservations on Article 9 of CEDAW and Egypt and Morocco’s successes in law reform granting women the right to pass on their nationality to their children. They urged the Lebanese government to follow in the footsteps of these countries.

Among other new strategies, the Nationality Campaign supporters and women’s rights activists in Lebanon are demanding a 35% quota in the next parliamentary elections scheduled for April 2009. CRTD-A campaign activists believe that increasing women’s representation would allow for issues such as custody and nationality laws to take precedence. Moreover, the campaign continues to recruit more young supporters through heavily trafficked social networking tools such as Facebook, where discussions about the cause are taken beyond borders to rally support on regional and global levels.

Entry Filed under: Countries, Lebanon, Activities, Events