BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s first women’s affairs minister is campaigning to get at least five times more women elected to parliament this spring in the country’s first vote in nearly 10 years.
It is a daunting task for a Middle Eastern country that may otherwise look like one of the most liberal in the region.
Despite a relatively free press, diverse religious groups and women in prominent positions in the business world and the media, Lebanon ranks surprisingly low when it comes to female representation in politics, and politicians have failed to act on a movement to institute a quota for women in parliament.
