Lebanon has been witnessing an acceleration in its fight for ending Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the past few months. 

On April 7th, 2010, the Council of Ministers approved the Law to Protect Women from Family Violence and referred it to the Parliament for review and discussion by the Women and Child Parliamentary Commission for eventual ratification. This key legislative breakthrough crowned the intensive advocacy efforts conducted in synergy by national NGOs and coalitions, governmental bodies and international and development agencies, among which UNFPA Lebanon. 

Most of all, this development calls for the intensification of such efforts. In June 2010, and building on this momentum, UNFPA Lebanon launched Tanseeq {Coordination} for Ending GBV in Lebanon’, in partnership with its national counterparts and with the support of the Italian Cooperation Office of the Embassy of Italy in Beirut. The ‘Tanseeq’ newsletter is part of the two-year ‘GBV National Plan of Action’ lead by UNFPA. 

‘Tanseeq’ constitutes Lebanon’s very first national networking tool on GBV. It aims at expanding and sharing the wealth of initiatives and efforts among local and international actors concerned with GBV, with the hope to strengthen coordination and synergy for fulfilling optimal results. 

‘Tanseeq’ compiles updates on ongoing projects and activities in Lebanon. In the first issue covering the period of January-June 2010, more than 15 entities from civil society organizations, governmental bodies, and international/development organizations reported on their various actions. 

The newsletter will be widely distributed to all development stakeholders including in the area of GBV and gender in Lebanon. It will be issued on a bi-annual basis and in a bilingual format.