Youth Municipality Revives Bint Jbeil's Heritage
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| Dabke dancers perform during the Lebanese Sports and Cultural Club's Cultural Heritage Day Festival.
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An independent group of young people has written a new page in the history of Bint Jbeil by staging an apolitical cultural event—Cultural Heritage Day—that was the first nonpartisan community activity held in the town in a decade.
Bint Jbeil, in Lebanon's south, was occupied by Israel from 1982 to 2000 and also suffered heavy damage during the July 2006 war. And in the absence of effective government institutions, the town has often relied on the area's dominant political forces for assistance.
The Lebanese Sports and Cultural Club, a Bint Jbeil-based NGO, has been working to give youth a space to interact and help them develop skills they will need in the future. The club, with support from USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives, engaged about 200 young people in civic education workshops, theater and sports training, and IT and English classes.
Following an interactive training on Lebanon's municipal code and the scope of municipal responsibilities, participants elected a "shadow" youth municipal council and developed a comprehensive youth agenda that defined Bint Jbeil's municipal obligations, which included providing adequate education and health care, managing development, and preserving cultural heritage.
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"We have received a lot of encouragement for what we're doing. People are saying that our activities are not just speeches, but we are really doing something to benefit our town. Some consider us courageous for challenging the existing social norms."
—Hassan Zreik, mayor of youth shadow municipality
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The group organized the Cultural Heritage Day to promote the town and demonstrate to local officials the type of community-building events they should be staging. Nearly 500 people came to the celebration that included poetry readings, local food products, traditional dabke dancing, and wrestling and sports competitions.
"The cultural day…succeeded in breaking some outdated mentalities that forbid music and dancing," said Zeinab Taleb, the deputy mayor of the youth municipality. "For the first time, we brought dabke dancing to Bint Jbeil, and now people have started dancing at weddings," Taleb said.
The festival provided a unique public forum for the youth of Bint Jbeil to present and explain their priorities to the community, a concept unheard of in the area. "We're planning several activities, such as real participation in the 2010 municipal elections. And some of us even want to run for elections now that we know how municipalities function," said Mohamad Baydoun, a youth council member.
The group also organized a marathon and several activities to support agriculture, including a farming competition. Such events have proven the capacity of independent youth to address community needs through participatory processes.
For further information, please contact:
Sarah Charles, Asia & Middle East Deputy Team Leader, 202-712-4171, scharles@usaid.gov
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