Women’s rights advance. The Institute of Progressive Women (IPW) project “Custodial Bank Accounts – End Gender Discrimination” achieved a breakthrough in Lebanon when AMIDEAST Country Director Barbara Batlouni was the first woman allowed to open a bank account for her minor children in Lebanon. This was made possible after the IPW used the TAG grant to pressure the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL) into issuing a circular to all their member banks informing them that there is no objection to mothers’ opening savings accounts for their minor children as beneficiaries.

Women’s Rights

A breakthrough in Lebanon was achieved to allow mothers to open bank accounts for their minor children, successfully removing this obstacle to women’s equal rights in Lebanon. By mobilizing citizens at the grassroots level nationwide, and also employing effective lobbying and media campaigns, the project was able to eliminate this decades-old ban.

Consumer Protection

Consumer protection was improved with the development of a new GIS application system for the Consumer Protection Directorate at the Ministry of Economy and Trade, which will allow for better streamlining and focusing of inspectors’ efforts.

Strengthening NGO Finances

A customized software application was designed and developed to address the financial and accounting requirement of Lebanese NGOs. This Program for Enhancement of Transparency and Accountability (PENTA) software and training was provided to over 250 Lebanese civic organizations.

Higher Education

Using comparative studies, international experts, and hosting extensive discussions among all key Lebanese stakeholders, this public-private partnership project presented a new draft law to establish a national quality assurance body for higher education in Lebanon. Once adopted, this body will be responsible for accreditation and oversight of all universities in Lebanon.

Women’ Rights

In order to reach semiliterate, underprivileged women, a project to educate women on 20 basic rights and the laws to protect them was launched. Twenty simple stories were written and published in an easy-to-understand format. Fifty social workers in Beirut and Nabatiya were trained to use these stories with their current clients. Once trained, each social worker will deliver the training and materials to approximately 100 women each, directly benefiting 5,000 underprivileged women.

Legal Education

The Lebanese Association for Philosophy of Law (ALIPHID) successfully introduced the subject of “Philosophy of Law” into the curriculum of the Philosophy Department at the Lebanese University.

Syndicates and Orders

A TAG grant to the Lebanese Association of Certified Public Accountants (LACPA) enabled it launch an Internet portal that has attracted the interest of thousands of visitors from Lebanon and worldwide.

Industrial Certificate of Origin Exporters Guide

Through a partnership between the Ministry of Industry, the Chambers of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture, and the Industrialists Association, workshops were held with all stakeholders for the purpose of adopting a unified process for calculating value-added for certificates of origin. Once a consensus was forged, a user-friendly guide was developed and distributed during four regional workshops attended by industrialists nationwide to enhance their ability to properly calculate value-added and to export locally manufactured products.

Student Manuals

School manuals were produced for 70 public and private schools in South Lebanon, identifying the duties, rights, and responsibilities of teachers, students, and their families, and the institutions themselves. Each of the 33,000 students in these schools received a manual, providing a concrete mechanism for students and their families to know their rights and hold schools accountable.

Financial Procedures for NGOs

A comprehensive manual outlining required financial procedures specific to NGOs was developed by legal and auditing experts and distributed along with training materials to 30 NGOs. A follow-up grant made it possible to distribute the manual to some 200 community-based organizations (CBOs) to strengthen their ability to manage their resources transparently and in accordance with local, legal, and auditing requirements. Distribution of a directory of participating CBOs to donor agencies in promoted their support of and commitment to good practices.

Consumer Hotline and Newsletter

A TAG grant helped to launch a telephone hotline to receive consumer complaints and help consumers get their rights by advocating directly with the necessary public and private parties. Simultaneously, a monthly consumer newsletter was developed and published. Sixty thousand copies of this newsletter were distributed monthly by three local major newspapers in order to increase consumer awareness, information, and protection.

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