Supporting law bills on flexible work and family-friendly labour policies

Location

Lebanese Parliament Library Hall, Beirut, Lebanon

Contact information

Rouba Arja
arja@un.org
Ext: 1420

ESCWA and the Lebanese Women and Children Parliamentary Committee are organizing the first workshop to support the adoption processes of two law bills on flexible work arrangements and family-friendly labour policies in Lebanon.

The workshop consists of four sessions, with the aim of:

Showing the importance of amending and formulating family-friendly laws and policies, and aligning them with the principles and standards set out in the International Labour Organization conventions and recommendations;
Seeking to illustrate the impact of adopting family-friendly legislation on the business environment and classification of Lebanon;
Demonstrating the importance of family-friendly legislation on enhancing equality and women’s economic participation;
Showing the essential role of care services in supporting child development and developing human capital.

Outcome document

Meeting outcome

This workshop was conducted by ESCWA and the Lebanese Women and Children Parliamentary Committee under the “awareness campaigns and capacity building” component of an action plan developed to support the adoption processes of two law bills on flexible work arrangements and family-friendly labour policies.

The workshop raised the awareness of parliamentarians, private sector and syndicates’ representatives on the importance of implementing family-friendly labour policies and their impact on the family, society, economy and business, given their role in the adoption processes.

Discussion

- International standards for family-friendly labour policies - Women, Business and the Law - The impact of family-friendly and childcare policies on women’s economic empowerment and the economy - Childcare and human capital, care in the formative stage

The first intervention on “international standards for family-friendly labour policies” was made by the ILO and showed the importance of the amendments proposed by the two family-friendly law bills, and their alignment with the principles and standards set out in ILO conventions and recommendations, especially those ratified by Lebanon, and presented some examples of important family-friendly labour policies and the status of their implementation in Lebanon and other countries.
The second intervention on “women, business and the law” was presented by the World Bank and illustrated the impact of the adoption of the two family-friendly law bills on Lebanon's business environment and classification, presented the computation methodology of important indices and showed Lebanon’s current rankings and position relative to the region and the world.
The third intervention was made by UN-Women; it broke down the status of women’s economic participation, demonstrated the importance of family-friendly legislation on enhancing women’s economic participation and achieving gender equality through the improvement in women’s labour force participation rates and the impact of this improvement on the economy.
The fourth intervention was made by an expert from AUBMC and presented the essential role of care services in supporting child development and developing human capital, especially in the early stages, by revealing the impact of appropriate care on the health outcome of children.

Participant list

List of Participants