Ezzeddine proposes Law to end unmarried status requirement for female diplomatic service applicants
MP Dr. Inaya Ezzeddine, chair of Parliament’s Women and Children Committee, announced that she had submitted a draft law to abolish the requirement that female applicants to Lebanon’s diplomatic service be unmarried.
Ezzeddine said the condition, stipulated under a 1971 law governing the Foreign Affairs Ministry, constitutes discrimination based on marital status and violates constitutional guarantees of equality and equal access to public employment.
She said the requirement had resurfaced in a newly announced Civil Service Council recruitment examination for third-category diplomatic posts.
Ezzeddine argued that the restriction also contradicts Lebanon’s international commitments, particularly International Labour Organization Convention No. 111 on discrimination in employment and occupation.
She stressed that married women should not be excluded from public service regardless of their qualifications or professional competence, expressing hope that Parliament would approve the proposed amendment.
Her remarks followed a meeting of the Women and Children Committee, which also continued examining draft legislation regulating private nurseries. Discussions on that proposal are expected to resume in the coming weeks.
