Beirut, March 8, 2017. On the Occasion of the “International Women’s Day” which is celebrated every year on March 8, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) together with the Ministry of Industry organized a workshop on “#ResilientWomen” at “Creative Lebanon” in Gemayzeh, under the framework of the project “Promoting Women Empowerment for Inclusive and Sustainable Development in the MENA Region”, funded by Italy.
The ceremony was organized under the patronage and the presence of the Minister of Industry, H.E. Dr. Hussein El Hajj Hassan, with the participation of H.E. Mr. Jean Oghasapian, Minister of State for Women’s Affairs, H.E. Mr. Massimo Marotti, Ambassador of Italy to Lebanon and Mr. Cristiano Pasini, UNIDO representative to Lebanon. #ResilientWomen started by honouring four women and girls who have inspired or who have helped in shaping the path for others. This honouring was under the industry and technology sector, education, technology and social entrepreneurship.
The workshop focused on the role of women in family businesses, the importance of emotional strength in career and how to cope with challenges of being a women entrepreneur. The workshop was organized in partnership with several NGOs and private sector institutions.
“For UNIDO, gender equality and women empowerment are at the core of UNIDO’s mandate for promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization in Lebanon and directly contributing to SDG 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure, and to SDG 5 on gender equality. #ResilientWomen proves that a Lebanese woman is key agent for change on different social and economic levels with a solid entrepreneurship spirit”, declared Mr. Cristiano Pasini, UNIDO representative.
The Italian Ambassador H.E. Mr. Massimo Marotti stressed that: “We believe that women empowerment in the Middle East is key to reach growth and development. It is important to acknowledge the many challenges that women encounter in a path to their success. We need to empower the role of women in the economy, in politics in the society.”
The Lebanese Minister of Industry Hussein El Hajj Hassan thanked Italy for their contribution and expressed his support and encouragement to this event. His Excellency highlighted on the important role each woman is playing in her family, however, empowering women to be socially and economically sustainable is a must.
For his part, H.E Mr. Jean Oghasappian, the Lebanese Minister of State for Women’s Affairs said: The woman is a fortune and has lot of achievements in many sectors, and we, at the Ministry of State for Women’s Affairs, are working hard to make her an essential partner and a decision maker in the public sector”.