USAID / OTI Lebanon Program Summary: November 2000
Corruption in Lebanon is endemic, draining the country of millions of dollars a year and burdening its citizens. Lebanon's econo-my continues to stagnate as high public debt constrains growth, and the price of doing business discourages foreign investors.
| 9/99 |
11/01 |
$1,089,000 |
$731,376 |
Following his election in November 1998, Lebanese President Lahoud launched an anticorruption initiative, promising to make rule of law and clean government focal points of his administration. This commitment, and strong public support for his efforts, signaled an opportunity for OTI to enter Lebanon.
In close cooperation with the USAID Mission, OTI has developed a four-part program to empower local government, media, civil society, and average citizens in their efforts to fight corruption. The first part of the program is a nationwide media campaign, which was organized by a Lebanese anticorruption NGO, designed by a leading local advertising firm, and built on research and polling data gathered by a local consulting firm. The campaign, using the slogan "We are all responsible," focuses on the cost of corruption to the average citizen and identifies specific actions that can be taken to fight it. In its first phase, the campaign produced 400 billboards, 24 newspaper ads, 138 spots on four main TV stations, and 1,088 airings of a radio ad. President Lahoud personally received campaign organizers to praise them for their efforts. After polling data indicated that Lebanese ages 18 to 30 would be the most receptive to anticorruption efforts, OTI decided to target this audience in its second phase. The polling done for this campaign has been shared with Transparency International and will allow Lebanon to appear for the first time in its annual corruption survey.
The second part of the program included investigative journalism training, which the International Center for Journalists organized in cooperation with two Lebanese universities. Due to the success of the first course, the 10-week program for journalists will be repeated in FY 2001. In addition, consultants have worked with the two universities to help them incorporate the training materials into their regular journalism curricula. The consultants are also helping to establish an annual award for investigative journalism.
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| In this print ad, a Lebanese anticorruption NGO tells Lebanese citizens that, 'corruption is favorable to some, but detrimental to all.' |
With the State University of New York at Albany's Center for Legislative Development, OTI is helping local municipalities make their accounting and budgeting systems more transparent and expedite routine municipal transactions. Once implemented this assistance will generate additional resources that are currently lost to corruption and inefficiency.
The fourth part of OTI's program provides small grants to local groups that endeavor to increase transparency and accountability in government. Of particular interest are activities that encourage greater interaction between government and citizens.
OTI is working with the USAID Mission to design a hand-off strategy building on OTI's initial anticorruption efforts.
OTI's partners include the USAID Mission, the UN, the International Center for Journalists, Saatchi and Saatchi, Information International, the State University of New York/Albany, and local NGOs.
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