"Assessment Meeting of the Training Sessions on Gender-related Terms" 
                                             

The National Committee for the Follow-up on Women Issues held on the 2nd of May 2008 in UNESCO Palace the closing assessment meeting of the six training sessions held in Brumana on gender awareness in schoolbooks in Lebanon, with the 146 directors, coordinators and trainers who participated in the training sessions, in the presence of the Minister of Education and Higher Education, HEM Khaled Kabbani, the representative of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform, Mrs. Youmna Ghoraib, the president of the Educational Center for Research and Development, Ms. Layla Maliha Fayyad, the General Director of the Ministry of Education, Fadi Yarak, and representatives of educational, women and political associations. 

                                

                    

In the beginning, the president of the National Committee for the Follow-up on Women Issues (NCFUWI), Dr. Aman Kabbara Charani, welcomed the audience, praising the efforts that were made for the success of the project. She highlighted the role of the schools and schoolbooks in the abolition of discrimination between men and women, due to their importance in the cultural molding of an individual.
The president of the Educational Center for Research and Development, Mrs. Layla Maliha Fayyad noted that in the developed societies the gender equality is measured within the society on the basis of the laws and the practice on the ground. She added that the education should do justice to the woman for she shapes the future generations, and she is the way towards the building of the human resources of the society which enables the realization of sustainable development.
Then, the coordinator of the project, Ms. Youmna Chacar Ghoraib, stressed the importance of the cooperation between the NCFUWI and the Educational Center for Research and Development, as well as the importance of the training sessions, given the number and quality of the participants. She hoped that the seeds that were sowed will bear fruit to bring out a positive image of the woman as a human being and as a citizen in the full sense of the words.
As for the Minister of Education and Higher Education, HEM Khaled Kabbani, he underlined the role of the NCFUWI and the importance of the work it is undertaking. He noted that as women stepped in every field, it is time for them to penetrate the parliament and enhance their political and economic rights, for they are the source of life.
He said that the door to the assertion of the rights is the one of education and knowledge, for education is tantamount to freedom; it frees the woman from mendacity, and allows her to impose herself everywhere.
In conclusion, the minister presented the situation of the women in education, noting that the number of women in all the phases of education is increasing, surpassing that of men.
As for Ms. Nayla Al-Masri, she set out the most important proposals and recommendations that the participants brought forth, reflecting thus the importance of the sessions.
At the end of the meeting, the participants were given certificates and invited to lunch in hotel Bristol.