Lebanese women

"Trailing behind women in other countries, Arab women hold only 9 percent of positions classified as having “status, influence, power and decision-making authority,” the UN report said. Lebanese women-led small enterprises represented only 17 percent of the loans of formal institutions in 2006, compared to 47 percent in Tunisia or 32 percent in the United Arab Emirates. “Given their limited access to formal finance, women financed their businesses mainly through personal sources such as savings and support from friends and family, as well as by reinvesting their business earnings.” Although Lebanese women are increasingly entering the labor market, no substantial increase has taken place between women and men in the sharing of unpaid work, such as care giving or domestic responsibilities." (thanks Olivia)