USAID Lebanon: From the American People
 

PRESS RELEASE

U.S. SUPPORT STRENGTHENS YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN MUNICIPAL GOVERNANCE

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Beirut, Lebanon

Youth from ten villages in the Aley district on December 29, 2009 celebrated the closing ceremony of the U.S. sponsored “Youth and Municipalities: New Participatory Governance” project.  With funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the project was implemented by Green Hand Organization (GHO).  In coordination with the Qa’im-Maqam district of Mount Lebanon, the Youth and Municipalities program helped empower the youth of the region to strengthen their connections with their home municipalities in the Aley region. Through this project, field survey and assessments were conducted in these ten villages to identify the needs, strengths, and interests between the youth and the participating municipalities. In addition, selected youth from these villages and municipal council members and employees received training on lobbying, accountability, good governance, and the functions of a municipality. Following their training, the youth participants developed and implemented ten small projects in their villages to enhance youth participation with local government. The project also increased GHO’s outreach to various youth groups and youth in the region through a website and organizational brochure that were developed.

This $49,940 project is a part of USAID’s $9 million Transparency and Accountability Grants program that supports civil society organizations, promoting transparency, accountability and good governance within public and private domains. During the event, the USAID Mission Director Denise A. Herbol stressed the importance for municipal leaders to include youth in decision making processes: “The youth in Lebanon need to be actively engaged so that their opinions and ideas are brought into the decision-making processes in their hometowns.  We know that the youth are the future and that working with the youth now will have value added to actions and decisions taken by today’s leaders.”