Sader Publishers

In a previous TAG project with the State Council, Sader Publishers (SP) made the Council’s procedures and rules widely accessible to citizens through a user-friendly guide and a free access website explaining the State Council’s procedures, services, and work.  The State Council's library, however, lacks the necessary updating and modernization, so any endeavors to study cases, or refer to precedents and laws, take many days of laborious research.  This public-private partnership between Sader, the State Council, and the Ministry of Justice will update, catalogue, and develop the State Council's paper library and create an electronic library to enable its judges to be better equipped for making fair and prompt decisions and consultations. This project will provide the judges with easy access to updated laws, decisions, legal studies and related subjects.  The library itself will be partially refurbished and prepared with all essential assets needed to accommodate the e-library, as the plan for the legal information (laws, decisions, and legal studies) needed for the e-library is developed.  Cataloguing software will be developed and installed to include the complete library collections.   Around 10000 decisions of the State Council from inception to date will be summarized, edited, published, and uploaded in the e-library. And websites specialized in legal fields will be summarized to facilitate the judges' access to all related legal data they may require.  Training for judges and staff on all issues related to the system and use of the database, e-library, and book organization software will be prepared and training manuals will be distributed for subsequent reference.   The automated tools will ensure better productivity and stronger research at the Council which can then support stronger verdicts.  It will also mean better application of the rule of law and better governance through better-informed decisions by the judges.  As such, while the project will benefit the state council judges and the Council’s operations most directly, its effects should also have a beneficial impact on Lebanese citizens and the public-at-large. 

Sader Publishers

The Department of Legislation and Consultation (DLC) at the Ministry of Justice plays a major role in enhancing the proper application of the rule of law by reviewing legislation and providing legal consultations to all government agencies. A public-private partnership between Sader Publishers and the Ministry of Justice will enhance the ability of this Department to provide more efficient and better informed review of legislation and provision of legal consultations by deploying several information technology tools. The internal infrastructure will be improved, to include a local are network (LAN) and workstations for DLC judges and staff. And an electronic file tracking and document management system at the DLC will be designed, developed, and implemented. In addition, an e-library will be developed and installed and will include all DLC consultations and legislative reviews issued since inception in 1943, Court of Cassation rulings from 1919 to date, all Lebanese legislation and treaties, and other critical legal information. A book organizing software system for the DLC paper library will be also installed. Once deployed, all DLC personnel will be trained to utilize these new management and e-library tools. A stand-alone website will also be developed which will include all of the most important consultations. This public access website will benefit all judges and attorney nationwide, as well as the public-at-large. 

Partners for Development (PfD)

In partnership with the Directorate of Cooperatives (DC) at the Ministry of Agriculture, Partners for Development aims to support the DG to better govern cooperatives in Lebanon. Cooperatives are capable of contributing significantly to the economic and social development of Lebanon and improving the ability of the DC to govern will help to better develop this sector. PfD will survey 1,200 cooperatives in Lebanon distributed by type and geographical location to gather data and information needed to determine appropriate parameters necessary to develop a profile of the actual conditions of cooperatives in Lebanon within their legal and economic environment focusing on their management and financial status. They will then develop, print, and distribute a directory of cooperatives in Lebanon, along with developing a dynamic database application with all the needed data about cooperatives gathered to help the DC better manage this sector. The database application and data will then be transferred to the Directorate and the responsible personnel will be trained on using, maintaining, and updating it. PfD will also provide the Directorate with a strategic review of the sector with emphasis on the existing condition of cooperative in Lebanon, and highlight the needs for improved goverance from a legal and financial perspective.

Lebanese Center for Civic Education (LCCE)

The Lebanese Center for Civic Education (LCCE) will train senior young journalism students at the Faculty of Media of the Lebanese University (both branches) on the principles of investigative journalism. After the training, students will be provided a space to publish their investigative articles in Annahar through the Kadaya page (for distinguished articles) and through a separate supplement distributed with Annahar. The training material will be developed with the involvement of Lebanese University professors and the dean of faculty. The professors will also adopt these needed study materials into the courses on investigative journalism. The trained students will also organize an investigative journalism day at the Lebanese University campus to share the lessons learned from the training and investigations with their colleagues.

International Management and Training Institute (IMTI)

In partnership with the Basil Fleihan Institute of Finance and the Institute of Political Science at St. Joseph University, IMTI will work to promote and induce reform in the public budget process through enhancing the role of civil society participation in policy formulation and the Lebanese public budget. The budget process would reflect better the needs of Lebanese society through dialogue between the various stakeholders, especially civil society organizations. Stakeholder workshops will be conducted to raise awareness on the role of CSOs in the budget process including diverse NGOs nationwide, such as those working with youth, women, and handicapped citizens. Panel discussions to promote reform towards adoption of performance based budgets and training sessions for CSO decision-makers on the budget process, advocacy, and policy influence will be held. Evidence-based research studies will be prepared and selected NGOs will be trained on using such evidence in their advocacy efforts. All project tools and materials will be uploaded on a public access website with broad promotion of the site to hundreds of NGOs to encourage strong participation of this key sector in the public budget process. An e-newsletter and other promotional tools will be used to continue mobilizing the CSO actors. Following the training and public awareness components, a public budget monitor will be established at the Institute of Political Science at the St. Joseph University to ensure sustainability of this effort.

Lebanese Board on Books for Young People (LBBY)

The Lebanese Board on Books for Young People (LBBY) - in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Education and Higher Education, and the Center for Educational and Research Development - will work with 150 public and semi-public schools (30 schools in each mohafaza) targeting 3,000 first year secondary school students on issues of rights and respomsibilities of citizens in a democratic society, through short stories based on the civic education curriculum. The stories will be incorporated into classroom learning as part of the civic education classes, and the students will have to develop projects related to these stories and concepts in a national competition. Throughout this project, 150 public school teachers and 30 public school librarians will be directly involved with implementing the project to ensure its success. The project will be nationally publicized and culminate in a large public event to showcase the students' projects.

American University of Beirut - Bicharaf

This project aims to build on the success of the previous Bicharaf (With Honor) program to secondary schools and extend it to additional secondary and middle schools where it will continue to shape the attitutde of students, teachers, and administrators in geographically disperesed schools throughout Lebanon concerning academic integrity. Bicharaf will prepare student booklets for academic integrity, following which the Bicharaf team will then visit the schools and conduct sessions for students on Bicharaf, recruit student volunteers, and launch the promotional campaign and school clubs. Bicharaf program will also familiarize the students with the Bicharaf.org website and its utilities. A new e-learning module will be developed for middle schools and students by the team who will then train the students on it. With the students, Bicharaf will continue to produce and distribute a trilingual student booklet for academic integrity. Finally, a sustainability component will be developed to target the corporate and business sector by addressing business ethics and raising funds for future expansion of the program.

Oum El Nour

Oum El Nour Rehab Center, in partnership with Skoun and Nour al Shorouk, will lobby for the re-launching of the Treatment Committee which is stipulated by article 199 of Law # 673/1998. The NGO coalition will be lobbying the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministries of Justice. Social Affairs, and Health for the establishment of the committee as these public agencies must also be represented in it. The importance of the committee lies in its role as a link between the drug-user, the court, and the treatment facilities, and its authority to provide advice and feedback to courts and address legal procedures against drug users. In addition to the lobbying activities, this project will address increasing the capacity of the three partner organizations and their collaborative treatment and assessment system to better serve the community.

Lebanese Council of Women

Building on the success of the first financial management software - Penta - designed for Lebanese Council of Women member NGOs in a previous grant, LCW will further develop this software and increase the financial management and accounting capacity of 165 Lebanese NGOs nationwide. LCW will announce the project to civil society organizations and screen interested NGOs to receive both the software and the attendant training. Customized training for both the professional and non-professional staff handling finances at these 165 NGOs will then be developed and delivered. In addition to receiving the software, training, and manuals these NGOs will also receive ongoing support and maintenance for six months. This software, developed specifically for NGOs with local financial requirements and regulations in mind, is the first of its kind in our region. Such efforts are badly needed to further develop the financial capacities of civil society organizations to ensure their work is conducted in a more professional, accountable, and transparent manner.

Lebanon Iqra' Association

The Lebanon Iqra' Association, in partnership with Center for education and Research Development (CERD) at the Ministry of Education, has been working with youth in public schools around the country for the past 12 years. In this project, Iqra' will promote honesty and accountability principles and themes at 21 public schools and set up 42 in-class libraries focused on this subject. Classroom teachers will be trained on managing and maintaining the libraries, and focused reading and discussion sessions in the schools will be held with students. A full day theme activity at five chosen schools will be conducted with posters and flyers to promote that day. Students will express their views in drawings, short essays, and theater plays during these days. Also, Iqra' will organize a short story competition and award prizes to the best three stories, best school, and best principal nationwide with the best 20 stories printed in a book. The awards and prizes will be given out at a grand ceremony in UNESCO with nearly 500 to 600 youth expected to attend.

Leb Youth

In a public-private partnership, this project will create internship opportunities for 16 recent university graduates at the Consumer Protection Directorate in the Ministry of Economy and Trade (MOET) in order to improve consumer protection in Lebanon. LebYouth will reach out to fresh graduates in all universities across Lebanon to sccreen and select recruits. Working with the MOET, final selection and placement of the 16 interns will be undertaken with interns placed at different locations around Lebanon. The internships will begin with a training program, to be conducted jointly by professionals from the MOET and also from private sector companies, coordinated through the Brand Protection Group (BPG). The interns will then serve with the MOET for a period of seven (7) months in five ministry centers in all over Lebanon (Beirut & Mount Lebanon, Tripoli, Nabatieh, Saida, and Zahle). During this period MOET and BPG will be working as well to try and secure a decree from the Council of Ministers to alloe for filling current vacancies for inspectors in the MOET Consumer Protection Directorate so that consumer protection efforts will continue to be strengthened.

Youth Economic Forum (YEF)

This TAG project will assist the Youth Economic Forum to conduct activities that will empower youth, create a forum for dialogue and debate on social and economic issues, and bridge the gap between Lebanese youth and policy decision makers. Project activities will also help YEF to promote a more active role in lobbying for the implementation of laws in support of economic development. YEF will develop a comprehensive/interactive website, launch a newsletter, hold workshops on key economic issues, and produce flyers and posters to promote the activities. Work groups on different economic fields of interests will be established with youth at different roundtable discussions, and these workshops will develop specialized policy papers and recommendations. YEF will then promote these recommendations to the relevant authorities and officials, and will also work with media and other institutional partners to affect the broader public opinion.

Lebanese Association of Certified Public Accountants (LACPA)

In an attempt to re-organize the relationship of the Lebanese Association of Certified Public Accountants (LACPA) with both its 3.000 members and the public-at-large, LACPA will create an efficient tri-lingual portal to better serve the profession and improve transparency in communication with its stakeholders and the general public. The portal will contain valuable information on financial and legal rules and regulations, obligations and rights, important dates for financial deadlines for the public, online legal documentation, an e-library, and otehr important features. LACPA will also produce a trilingual booklet to inform member accountants and auditors about the portal and of the information and services they can access from it.

Christian Association for the Blind (CAB)

The Christian Association for the Blind will utilize the "Citizen Municipal Guide" produced by SUNY-CLD to help visually impaired citizens better understand their rights in transactions conducted at local municipalities. CAB will produce a Braille version of this guide and distribute copies to municipalities and organizations serving the visually impaired, as well as distributing directly to many visually impaired residents in Lebanon. by making these guides accessible in Braille, this group of citizens will be better empowered on their rights for services from their respective municipalities. in addition to the guide, CAB will be distributing flyers to all the blind nationwide informing them about the availability of the guide at the municipality and will also be conducting awareness sessions to accompany the guide. SUNY will work on securing a decree from the Ministry of Interior instructing municipalities to maintain and offer the Braille guide to any visually impaired person seeking to conduct transactions.

Women in Information Technology (WIT)

To better serve as an advocate for women’s issues, Women in Information Technology will establish a call center in partnership with a network of several specialized local NGOs and agencies to address women’s concerns and needs.  The project partners will be finalized during the first two months of project inception, but is hoped to include several diverse organizations, such as Lebanese Council of Women, SKOUN, Injaz, KAFA, Lebanese League for Women in Business, Ministry of Social Affairs, Lebanese Health Management Association, UNIFEM, and ASSABIL. A hot line will be created and managed by WIT staff and a specially recruited cadre of volunteers to field all concerns, problems, ideas, and questions from the women nationwide.  With the help of the network of partner organizations, WIT will work to solve each woman’s problems and direct them to specialists among the partner organizations or to other offices working to address women’s legal, social, and economic problems. A nationwide promotion campaign will be launched to publicize the call center.  By providing women with a space to express their concerns, views, and ideas, and by helping these women access the assistance they need, the Call Center is envisioned to serve as a first step to further empowering women in need.  

American Lebanese Chamber of Commerce

Through a public-private partnership between the Ministry of Economy and Trade (MOET) and the American Lebanese Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), a public information campaign will be launched to reinforce the work of the Ministry to protect intellectual property rights by improving public awareness on key IPR laws and rights.  Public service announcement TV spots will be produced and shown on national TV, leveraging the Ministry’s access to free air-time, accompanied by uni-pole billboard displays in prominent locations. The materials produced from this grant will also be uploaded on both the Ministry and AmCham websites.

Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA)

The Telecommunication Regularity Authority (TRA) was effectively established in February 2007.  Its primary mission is to establish a regulatory environment that enables a competitive telecommunications market to deliver state-of-the-art services at affordable prices to the broadest spectrum of the Lebanese population.  The TAG grant to TRA will enable them to develop their current website to serve as a comprehensive bilingual ICT information portal for both the public and ICT professionals.  TRA will establish a baseline for the current status of the telecommunications sector and a related database through a well structured customer research survey.  Once the website and the baseline survey results have been completed TRA will publicize their mandate, services, and role through a wide marketing campaign to include a launching event, brochure distribution to the public, and media outreach.

AUB MC

The Nursing Services department at AUB’s Medical Center will introduce and promote a culture of accountability in the nursing profession and practice in Lebanon.  The project will conduct a series of focus groups with experts and practitioners in the field in different regions of Lebanon and will also conduct a nationwide survey in order to target a larger group.  The results of the survey and the recommendations of the focus groups will be published in a report to be used at subsequent, including a national conference with experts to develop specific recommendations for the nursing profession here. As part of this campaign, the issue of accountability in the nursing profession will also be the focus of 2 issues of NursinGate newsletter. The recommendations that are developed will be introduced into the AUB Nursing Services Strategic Plan as feasible, and the project will also work to encourage other institutions to adopt the recommendations.

Youth Without Frontiers

Youth Without Frontiers (JWF) is a nongovernmental organization working to promote human and children’s rights. It focuses on spreading knowledge of such rights through non-formal education to youth in order to promote a more democratic society that believes in human rights and participation.  This project will assist YWF in building their capacity to play an even more active role itself and also develop an effective Network of Youth Groups and Associations.  Tools to be developed include a comprehensive and informative trilingual website and brochures and posters that will include tips and information directed to the youth about their rights.  YWF will hold training sessions for its members and other youth organization partners on strategic planning and internal governance of NGOs, and will also convene seminars in the various regions of Lebanon to promote this work and build and enhance a network for future lobbying about youth rights. 

Association for the Defense of Law and Liberties (ADDL)

The Association for the Defense of Rights and Liberties (ADDL) aims to enhance the practice of the current codes of ethics among lawyers and judges in their respective professions. ADDL will begin with an opinion survey to assess the awareness of judges and lawyers about the existence and knowledge of the codes of ethics and will also survey public opinion on the ethical behavior of judges and lawyers. Based on the results of the two surveys, the association will develop, print and distribute a Code of Ethics for Judges and Lawyers along with analytical comments by experts. A second guide for use by the public will be produced with user-friendly language explaining the codes of ethics.  With the guides in place, ADDL will conduct focus group meetings to discuss the contents of the booklets and will hold eight discussion seminars in all Lebanese regions about the opinion survey and lobbying for a national campaign to enforce the codes. In addition to the printed forms, the content of the booklets will be uploaded on the websites of the Beirut and Tripoli Bar Associations, Ministry of Justice, and ADDL. The two booklets and the national campaign will be launched in a press conference.  

Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture of Beirut and Mount Lebanon

This project aims to assist the Economic Support Center (ESC) at the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture of Beirut and Mount Lebanon in its efforts to advocate for a private sector recovery action plan and a unified development program.  Towards this end, ESC will conduct group meetings for professionals and one-on-one meetings with representatives of the economic sectors, heads of syndicates and orders, and governmental officials to recommend solutions for the current problems.  ESC will produce and distribute recommendations prioritizing governmental assistance and of the white paper. ESC will also organize one-day seminars with private sector representatives to review the recommendations and discuss the implementation of the white paper.  Moreover, a quarterly Business Confidence Index (BCI) will be set up that will be a lead an indicator measuring changes in the business activity; two BCI indexes will be released during the life of this project.  Finally, ESC intends to organize roundtables with public and private entities to evaluate the project developments. 

Youth Association for Social Awareness (YASA)

In an attempt to modernize and reform the driving test, the Youth Association for Social Awareness(YASA)will cooperate with theMinistry of Interior and Municipalities to enhance the theoretical section of the driving license exam. YASA will prepare 300 English and Arabic Q&A for the theoretical Driving License Examination, test them on test takers, and print them in a bi-lingual examination manual, on a CD, and post them on a website.

Permenant Peace Movement

The Lebanese Parliament enacted Law No 422 related to the protection of juveniles in conflict with the law or at risk in 2002.  This Law is still an issue of controversy in the civil society which considers that certain articles are not compliant with the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, especially with respect to the age of criminal responsibility. The Permanent Peace Movement aims to amend the article in Law 422 pertaining to increase of the penal age from seven years to twelve through a lobbying campaign.  PPM will hold one-to-one meetings with members of Parliamentary committees and other bodies to lobby for the increase, produce a desk review on penal age in all the Arab Juvenile Justice Laws, produce brochures on the issues, launch a petition signature campaign, and hold a one-day national workshop to discuss the issue and recommend a draft amendment to law 422.  Moreover, PPM will build the capacity of the Juvenile Social Representatives assigned by the General Prosecutor in the Courts dealing with juveniles issues.

Permenant Peace Movement

The Lebanese Parliament enacted Law No 422 related to the protection of juveniles in conflict with the law or at risk in 2002.  This Law is still an issue of controversy in the civil society which considers that certain articles are not compliant with the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, especially with respect to the age of criminal responsibility. The Permanent Peace Movement aims to amend the article in Law 422 pertaining to increase of the penal age from seven years to twelve through a lobbying campaign.  PPM will hold one-to-one meetings with members of Parliamentary committees and other bodies to lobby for the increase, produce a desk review on penal age in all the Arab Juvenile Justice Laws, produce brochures on the issues, launch a petition signature campaign, and hold a one-day national workshop to discuss the issue and recommend a draft amendment to law 422.  Moreover, PPM will build the capacity of the Juvenile Social Representatives assigned by the General Prosecutor in the Courts dealing with juveniles issues.

Lebanese House Establishment for the Enivronment

The Lebanese House Establishment for the Environment (LHEE) is a nongovernmental organization working on issues of the Environment and Human Rights.  This project will assist LHEE in building its capacity to play a more active role in advocating for a safer environment and better youth participation through developing a comprehensive and informative trilingual website and training the LHEE staff and youth volunteers on managing it.  LHEE will also formulate a three year strategic plan for the organization and hold training of training sessions for its members on environmental and human rights issues.  They will also produce and distribute promotional materials (brochures and posters) about their mission, strategy, goals, and activities.  Also, LHEE will organize outreach activities in schools (principals, teachers, and students) and hold a major closing ceremony event.

The Non-Governmental Committee
for the Follow-up on Women’s Issues (CFUWI)

To follow-up on its development of a simplified guide focused on abolishing discrimination against women in Lebanese law, the Non-Governmental Committee for the Follow-up on Women’s Issues (CFUWI) aims to mobilize the public and empower local communities throughout Lebanon to advocate for the rights of women and lobby for change. Twenty four community meetings will be organized by a team of local facilitators to discuss the specific problems of most concern to each community and to develop an action plan to lobby and advocate for change. The lobbying and advocacy activities to be implemented throughout the project, such as developing letters to government authorities, signing petitions, production of lobbying materials, etc., will be determined by the local communities with support and coordination from the project team.

Lebanese Council of Women

The Lebanese Council of Women (LCW) aims to build on the success of a previous TAG grant that enhanced its utilization of resources in their restructuring of internal governance processes. The “Transparency and Efficiency in Accounting” project will allow LCW to design and develop a new local software application to improve both financial and accounting procedures within LCW and also within its 153 member NGOs. In addition, this application will be designed to produce all the required financial reports by various ministries such as the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Social Affairs and others, if required. This will lead to improved accounting practices for LCW and its member organizations, better optimization of resources, and an improved relationship between these 153 NGOs and the Government of Lebanon. At the completion of the project LCW will hold a press conference to announce the results of this project.

Environment & Development Magazine

Environment & Development magazine (EDM) aims to launch a new initiative targeting around 50 schools from all over Lebanon to establish and operate a Youth Environment Parliament (YEP). YEP members will be elected every year by fellow school students and will provide students with a forum to voice their ideas, concerns and opinions to government decision makers and to catalyze enforcement of environmental laws and development of amendments to these laws, whenever needed. The YEP members will hold regular sessions, conduct meetings with officials, organize field visits and mobile exhibitions, and undertake lobbying activities. A teachers’ steering committee will also be elected by the participating schools to develop the by-laws for the YEP and guide its work. A trimestrial newsletter will be published to report on YEP activities and achievements.

InfoPro Center for Economic Information

With the Government of Lebanon leading an enormous recovery and reconstruction effort after the War on Lebanon, the InfoPro Center for Economic Information will back this effort by conducting a comprehensive assessment of the economic impact of the war on the productivity of the private sector, including its effect on sales, employment and purchasing during the period of the war and also in the post-war period.  The in-depth surveys and assessments will be discussed and analyzed by high level government officials, representative bodies of the private sector, and experts in a number of workshops that will identify quick actions and formulate recommendations and proposals.  Based on these recommendations, an economic recovery action plan will be developed and announced in a nationwide conference including all stakeholders from the public and private sector.  

Mubadarat for Development

Mubadarat, Initiatives for Development, is a new civil society organization established to launch initiatives to improve social, economic, and political conditions, especially in the area of Kisrwan-Jbeil. Mubadarat aims to build its capacity towards realizing its goals to make government institutions more responsive to the needs of taxpayers at the local level, not only in delivering services but also in employing transparent means and channels in delivering these services. The project will equip Mubadarat with the necessary resources and lay a first cornerstone for its future activities, especially in relation to public education, as a selected public service, through organizing community meetings, launching a website and publishing a newsletter.