Youth Lead Momentous Independence Day Events
Independence Day in Lebanon, November 22, typically involves a military parade through downtown Beirut. Few events are held outside the capital, where sectarian politics often supersede a sense of national identity.
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| Young people raise the flag they painted and begin the procession to Blue Mission's headquarters in Saida.
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This year, however, young activists joined forces to lead their communities in Independence Day celebrations to demonstrate their commitment to constructing a sense of national identity. Twelve youth organizations supported by USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) coordinated symbolic events across the country. OTI fostered solidarity among the groups by creating a campaign to advertise and link the events.
In Saida, youth clubs from Blue Mission, a local NGO based in south Lebanon, brought together nearly 200 young people from southern villages to paint a 30-meter Lebanese flag and dance to patriotic songs. Community members signed the flag and shared their definitions of independence. The youths then paraded the flag to the Blue Mission office and hung it from the building.
In Nabatieh, the Youth Network for Civic Activism performed folk dances and skits, and residents wrote their views on independence on a "wall magazine" facing the district's governmental offices. One youth wrote, "Everyone should build a sense of citizenship and spread it to their family and society."
In Tripoli, actors from the Ribat Association performed a song promoting peace as well as plays encouraging youth to be agents of change. Around 90 youths from the Association of Working Women in West Beqaa joined the Lebanese army in a race and to paint a mural at the army base next to the Syrian border.
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"Celebrating Independence Day is important to us because we are helping remind the people that no matter what region you come from you are Lebanese and you should be proud. It's the first event of its kind here in Akkar…people who stopped at our checkpoint were dancing and clapping with us. It was a really joyous day!"
—Mohamad El-Masri, 18, an activist with NOTA, a nascent NGO and Sahel Akkar youth group
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Several youth groups set up information booths to reach out to community members. In Akkar, young people handed out flags and stickers that read "in unity we protect our independence." Members of the Lebanese Organization for Studies & Training (LOST) held an event in Baalbeck to honor orphans of army veterans. The president of LOST delivered a powerful speech to 400 attendees—including the Mufti, army officials, and teachers—stressing the significance of celebrating Independence Day.
Local media, including Hibr Lubnani (www.hibr.me), a youth-led, OTI-supported publication, helped publicize the events, and the celebrations were welcomed in all regions and provided an opportunity for young people to demonstrate leadership skills in politically closed environments.
For further information, please contact:
Marialice Ariens, Program Manager, 202-712-4031, mariens@usaid.gov
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