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USAID/OTI Lebanon Annual Report
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October 2010 - September 2011 |
Printer Friendly (101kb - pdf) |
Program Description
USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) launched the Lebanon Civic Initiative in September 2007 to support U.S. foreign policy objectives aimed at promoting peace and stability in Lebanon. To continue supporting these policy objectives, OTI initiated the Lebanon Civic Support Initiative (LCSI) in January 2010. The program focuses on youth, who are often involved in conflict but also offer the best potential as proponents of peace and agents of change. Through small grants and short-term technical assistance, OTI works with a wide range of civil society partners to foster leadership and advocacy skills among youth, provide alternatives to political extremism, and create independent space for constructive civic activism.
Program Areas
Country Objectives – OTI's overall goal is to empower young people to be active and independent citizens. As part of these efforts, OTI's country objectives are to (1) catalyze youth activism in marginalized areas and (2) enhance civil society organizations' capacity to advocate for local or national issues. LCSI's geographic focus is in the north, Beqaa, and south.
Providing Services and Opportunities to At-Risk Youth – Given the lack of structured and independent options for young people in areas outside of Beirut, OTI supports Lebanese organizations to offer high-demand activities, including life skills training, community development, cultural and artistic programs, and vocational training. OTI partners integrate civic education training into their activities so that participants graduate with a sense of civic responsibility and the analytical skills they need to make independent decisions.
Youth-Led Civic Activism – To complement skills and citizenship training, OTI partners provide platforms for youth to organize and lead through small-scale community initiatives. OTI supports non-governmental organizations (NGOs), youth groups, and other civil society actors to engage at-risk youth in productive activities that expand their horizons, encourage critical thinking, and reduce their vulnerability to political manipulation.
Civic Advocacy – Historical context and intractable sectarian politics have limited successful advocacy efforts from what is otherwise a robust and developed civil society community. For this objective, OTI supports community organizations to advocate for change primarily on the local level, given that local government structures are more accessible and less constrained by sectarian conflict.
Country Situation
Government Re-Shuffle – Following several months of political deadlock between opposition leaders from the March 8 coalition and the government of Prime Minister Saad Hariri over Lebanon's support for the U.N. Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, opposition ministers resigned and forced the collapse of Lebanon's coalition government. March 8-supported candidate Najib Mikati secured enough votes in Parliament to replace Hariri as Prime Minister. Mikati needed over four months to create a cabinet without the participation of any March 14 coalition parliamentarians who, in protest of what they perceived as a Hezbollah-enforced government collapse and a refusal by Mikati to publicly support the STL, refused to join the new government. Since forming the government, Mikati has made repeated public statements reaffirming the government's respect for U.N. resolutions and its desire to discover those responsible for Hariri's death-as long as the implementation of U.N. resolutions do not harm Lebanon's stability, unity, and civil peace.
STL Indictments Released; Tensions Heightened but Anticipated Violence Averted – After nearly two years of investigations, STL chief prosecutor Daniel Bellemare in January submitted a draft indictment to a pre-trial judge in The Hague. Following the announcement, groups of young men dressed in black gathered at key intersections and neighborhoods across Beirut and disbanded hours later. The event was widely assumed to be coordinated by anti-STL political leadership-primarily Hezbollah-as a show of strength and a reminder that street violence and working outside the democratic process remain options at their disposal. In June, the STL delivered its indictment to Lebanese prosecutor Said Mirza, naming four members of Hezbollah. While the increased tension has not yet led to violence, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who has threatened to "bite off the hand" of anyone looking to arrest Hezbollah members, ruled out the arrest of the indicted Hezbollah members "in 30 days, 30 years, or even 300 years."
Lebanon's (Non) Role in the Arab Spring – Lebanon watched closely—and largely silently—as popular revolutions took shape throughout the region in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, and elsewhere. Although a coalition of civil society activists attempted to seize the historic moment, calling for an end to Lebanon's sectarian power sharing agreements, the movement dissolved over internal disagreements and successful attempts by sectarian leaders to hijack the movement. The crackdown by the Syrian government on civilian protesters has had the most notable impact on Lebanon. Divisions over protests in Syria have resulted in isolated instances of violence in the northern city of Tripoli, and an estimated 5,000 Syrian refugees have fled to northern Lebanese border communities.
Upcoming Events
| TBD |
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U.N. STL trial of indicted suspects begins |
| TBD |
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Potential for increasing unrest in Syria to spill over into Lebanon |
Grants Summary
Since September 2007, OTI, through its implementing partner Chemonics International, has funded 243 small grants totaling $20,841,269. The funding by sector breakdown is shown in the table below.
| Beirut Only |
1 |
$146,973 |
10 |
$760,328 |
| Beqaa Only |
3 |
$389,117 |
52 |
$4,190,091 |
| Civic Advocacy (USAID Mission Funds) |
9 |
$891,141 |
25 |
$2,445,328 |
| Cross Regional |
2 |
$386,544 |
54 |
$5,044,538 |
| North Only |
3 |
$149,018 |
63 |
$5,308,771 |
| South Only |
2 |
$140,768 |
39 |
$3,092,213 |
| Total |
20 |
$2,103,561 |
243 |
$20,841,269 |
Activities
Youth-Focused Organizations Partner with Government to Influence Policy – The youth of Lebanon typically are excluded from decision-making processes at both the national and local levels. OTI partners, initially doubtful that their local or national leaders would even meet with them, now expect not only to be heard but also to be brought into the decision-making process as valuable partners. For example:
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| An OTI partner in Baalbeck advocates for improvements in public services.
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- In the northern city of El Mina, youth members of an OTI-supported shadow municipality successfully advocated for the municipality to officially change the name of a neighborhood inhabited by descendants of African migrants from "Neighborhood of Slaves," to "Freedom Street." The successful youth advocacy effort empowered one of the poorest and most vulnerable communities in the city to eliminate a humiliating label.
- In five vulnerable southern villages on the border with Israel, The Lebanese Association for Development and Communication is working with local government and the district governor to convince municipalities in the region to endorse and implement an emergency preparedness plan.
- In Beirut, youth-led NGO Nahnoo, with OTI support, planned a campaign to open Horsh Beirut, a public park that was closed by the municipality of Beirut nearly 20 years ago. Not realizing they could interact with the municipality, Nahnoo's initial strategy was to protest. However, after training in advocacy, lobbying, and research techniques, the group was able to raise its public profile through creative use of social and mainstream media, build a strong constituency of stakeholders, and arrange direct meetings with the municipality. As a result, Nahnoo now leads a nationwide coalition and represents civil society on a municipality-established, multi-stakeholder committee to provide concrete recommendations on how to open the park.
Building Capacity for Civil Society Advocacy – OTI recognizes the importance of an independent and strong civil society in Lebanon that is capable of holding leaders accountable, and the program works to establish networks of civil society organizations (CSOs) equipped with the skills and tools to advocate on local and national issues. Project examples under this objective include the following:
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| A poster calls on the municipality of Beirut to open the city's largest park.
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- Using an advocacy curriculum written in Lebanon for an Arab audience, OTI established an Advocacy Trainers Network in its target regions. The qualified trainers are based in the north, south, and Beqaa have been equipped with standardized presentations, case studies, and other tools to ensure partners are receiving the highest quality of trainers and coaches as they learn to advocate.
- Using local experience and international best practices, OTI designed a media relations manual for local partners. The manual provides instruction on approaching various media outlets in Lebanon, giving good interviews, and writing press releases as well as effective messaging techniques.
- To continue building local partner capacity to use the media as a tool for successful advocacy, OTI is providing on-camera interview training prior to television interviews and is helping local partners create "one pagers" that introduce their organizations to the broader community and can be attached to press releases.
An Advocacy Index, which evaluates the change in CSO capacity to advocate following OTI assistance, has measured a 98 percent increase in partner capacity to advocate.
Program Evaluation
OTI has been able to quickly respond to new opportunities and changes in the political landscape. The new Mikati-led government, after a period of uncertainty as to its commitment to openness, has shown a willingness to pursue limited reforms and has demonstrated a willingness to respond to civil society. OTI has been successful at seizing windows of opportunity to support civil society as it pursues national-level reform efforts on the environment, electoral reform, drug prevention, and anti-smoking legislation. Increasing violence in Syria has affected Lebanon through refugee flows and isolated incidents of violence. The program has successfully responded to these disruptions by supporting host communities as well as activities during Ramadan to bring together Alawite and Sunni communities in Tripoli in response to the violence.
Entering the final year of programming, OTI is focusing its support on a smaller number of strategic civil society partners who have shown their capacity—over the life of the program—to effectively promote youth activism in the north, south, and Beqaa. Support to these partners will strengthen their abilities to continue to be successful beyond the life of OTI in Lebanon and help civil society continue to build a critical mass of active and independent youth in marginalized parts of the country.
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| OTI partners in the south plan an advocacy campaign focusing on traffic and road conditions.
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For further information, please contact:
Marialice Ariens, Program Manager, 202-712-4031, mariens@usaid.gov
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