For the tenth consecutive year, the Public Relations Administration at Beirut Arab University organized the Arabic Recitation Contest entitled “Arab Women between Constraints and Leadership”, under the patronage of HE Mr. Jean Oghassabian, the Minister of Women’s Affairs.
The event was opened by Ms. Rima Chehab who welcomed the guests. This was followed by a documentary on the topic of the competition. Then, Prof. Amr Galal El Adawi, President of BAU pointed out that the aim of the contest is not merely to advance Arabic as a language, but also to find out about what the youth have to say on issues relevant to the society.
H.E. Mr. Oghassabian praised the competition, stating that the constraints and restrictions prevent women from exploring their potentials to the full within the constitutional organizations or the public sector. Women are hardly ever given the full space to become an added value within these institutions.
He also added that women have proven themselves in all the fields in life, ranging from engineering to medicine and informatics. However, the patriarchal society does not yet allow her to become a member of parliament, although she would be an important addition to its performance. It is not a matter of looks or image, but rather the country’s need to benefit from women.
This was followed by the 20 performances of students from the following universities: Lebanese American School, Jinan University, Notre Dame University, Antonine University, Holly Spirit of Kaslik University , American University of Beirut, Manar University, Islamic University of Lebanon, Balamand University, Lebanese University in addition to Beirut Arab University.
Each student’s performance was followed by a question from the jury which consisted of the Journalist Bassam Barrak, Journalist Dolly Ghanem and Journalist Neamat Azouri Oussi who came to their final scores in accordance with the competition rules.
The First Winner of the competition was Rasha Zaher Attia from BAU- Tripoli Campus for the amount of three thousand dollars, the second prize went for Gina Joseph Moussa from Holly Spirit of Kaslik University for the amount of two thousand dollars while the third prize went for Mariam Faisal Haidar from Jinan University for the amount of one thousand dollars.
During the event, Prof. El Adawi, presented certificates of appreciation to all the participants, in addition to Honorary Trophies for the members of the jury as an appreciation.
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