[Music] hello and welcome to every woman I'm shulie go on the program this week the women of Lebanon one year after the war between Israel and Hezbollah how are women rebuilding their lives we hear from Fearless War correspondent fadia baz about life as a mother in a comment comat Zone and a deadly Legacy how these women are removing the bonds that continue to kill journalist and single mother FIA baz was working as a news producer for the Lebanese Channel new TV when Israeli war planes bombed Southern Lebanon in July 2006 despite the danger she volunteered to go and report from the Frontline during that summer of War she saw her Village decimated and a colleague die but she stayed to report events because she wanted the world to know what was [Music] happening it's me f my name is FIA baz I'm from a village in South Lebanon called bintage Bale I work as a news producer at new TV during the July 20 0 6 war in Lebanon I was the first woman reported to go to the South to cover the events on the front line when our news team was hit by Israeli war planes and miraculously escaped death I felt so guilty because I was the one who had sent them there so when the station asked for a replacement team I told them that I wanted to go there wasn't a single moment of ceasefire even the place we were staying in was hit by six or seven Air Raids as if they were giving us a message that we'd become a target for them the Air Raids killed three people including a father and his daughter one of our young colleagues LEL was killed just like that I was shocked it scared us but also increased our determination to show what was really happening here in Lebanon then all of a sudden the station itself in beiro came under threat of bombardment so we decided to move our offices underground and we continued our work we would eat and sleep together at the station just like a family we we saw more of each other than of our own parents or [Music] children we have many women in key positions the head of the news desk is a woman and so is her Deputy most of the victims of the war were children that really affected me because I have a young son of my own [Music] I kept seeing the image of my son and thinking that I should stay and Report what I was witnessing because my son might be the next Target of an air raid Ram is seven years old I try my best to keep him away from death and destruction he's the window of light that I didn't see as a child I tried to relive my childhood through I live alone with my son it isn't easy to carry this responsibility as a woman on her own I need to work around the constraints of my Society so I can stand on my own two feet and live my life as a journalist and as a mother 40 days we spent with the dead in the same room 10 of us I walk down the road alone I found myself face to face with these women who refused to leave their land they were born into a life of pain but through their suffering they gained strength even the wrinkles on their faces tell a story I dreamt of my Village twice let me see if I can find my house unbelievable this is my house as long as there are people who believe in defending their land in existence we can rebuild our village and our lives I want to build my story from these Stones one stone at a [Music] time well a year on Lebanon is not only recovering from that war but is now reing from a series of political crises so what role can women play in bringing stability to the troubled Nation well we're joined by lamia oseran the Vice President of the women's Council in Lebanon thank you very much indeed for joining us um first of all Lebanon has always had an image of having strong independent Highly Educated women in all spheres of life and that was really visible both during and immediately after the war wasn't it of course uh Julie uh Lebanese women have always been involved and active in uh every aspect of uh life in Le whether political economic or social if you uh go into any uh office private or uh public in the country you may uh find uh women playing a a major role uh in all sectors of uh Society uh whether in schools or universities in hospitals in banks in engineering and construction firms in legal firms everywhere so uh Lebanese women have a history of actively participating in all walks of life let me ask you about the aftermath of the war between Hezbollah and Israel what role did women play in bringing Society back together particularly in southern Lebanon well women had a major role in uh in most of the U relief work that was done uh during the war and uh after the war as well as in the rehabilitation and reconstruction projects that were uh planned uh for for the uh uh destroyed areas and uh if you look at all the Committees uh working with the UN agencies and other International uh donors or uh with the Committees formed by the Lebanese uh government uh to U tackle with these issues you find that the backbone of all the uh people working uh to that uh effect our our women well what about the political Arena though lamia what kind of political in it is here where we are under represented as women in the political Arena and it is here where we have to put a lot of effort to improve and widen women's participation in the public life what kind of impact does that have on uh women's equality in in dayto day life if they don't have political representation this is affecting women negatively indeed because uh without women in Parliament to help us uh enact laws uh that uh May enhance women's participation and Empower them in society we cannot uh improve the overall status of women and we are suffering very much from this uh uh very little presence of uh uh active women in the uh Parliament and that's why we are asking for uh some sort of quota or reserved seats for women in the uh new electoral law so that we can have more and more uh women who could help us in our struggle for uh equality it's clear that there is a huge political upheaval in Lebanon right now what role do you think women could play in bringing more stability to Lebanese politics if they had a greater role in the political Arena women have a very crucial role in uh helping maintain stability in the country I uh believe women are concerned with the uh security of their families and children they want their children to stay in this country to not to migrate and uh leave you know how many uh young men and women are leaving the country uh it's becoming very scary as the numbers are growing day by day and uh I believe if uh women uh participate it's not only a matter of uh uh social injustice that we want to to correct it has been uh proven by experience and through the studies uh conducted about other uh countries and experiences uh that when women are involved uh there is more uh sustainable development more uh democratic practice and uh more stability in uh in societies we we know that Lebanon has ratified the convention for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women has that had a positive effect it has not had the positive effects we Aspire uh for because Lebanon has uh placed several reservations on the uh convention and uh these reservations uh have uh emptied the convention of its uh basic uh components uh leban has placed reservations on article 9 article 16 and article 29 which have uh uh not helped in promoting uh more equality to women where do you see the for women's rights going we are going forward we're moving forward though there are many setbacks uh due to the uh political uh uh conflict and the uh consecutive Wars we are uh living uh and experiencing in Lebanon however uh Lebanese women are determined to move uh forward several positive changes uh uh in society and regarding the laws have been uh made due to the advocacy of women groups I think we will continue in this uh struggle until we uh reach uh uh a more Equitable Society where uh all Lebanese citizens men and women have equal rights and opportunities okay Lamy it's good to see you take that struggle forward lamia oseran speaking to us from Beirut there thank you still to come the deadly reminders of the war left behind in Lebanon we meet the women who spend their time finding cluster bombs that are still killing a year on that's coming up after the break [Music]