Women’s Political Participation in Lebanon: Gaps in Research and Approaches

After being pushed to the back stage during fifteen years of civil war, a sharp resurgence of interest in enhancing the participation of Lebanese women in politics was witnessed in the early 1990s. This was reflected in the mushrooming of women’s non-governmental organizations that had this goal on their agenda. The constitutional and political reforms that brought the war to a halt, and the accompanying promise of democratization, raised women’s hopes that their prewarexclusion from power and decision-making positions would come to an end. However, the results of the first post-war parliamentary elections held in 1992 did not meet women’s expectations, either qualitatively or quantitatively. This, coupled with their continued exclusion from post-war governments, intensified pre-war frustration. Demands for women’s share in power and for a gender quota became louder than ever, encouraged by international calls for gender equality, andsupported by funds and technical assistance from various international donors.