Lebanon - Democracy

American University College of Technology (AUT)

Anti-Corruption Education Workshop – in collaboration with Michigan State University, AUG is assisting in high school anti-corruption educational programs and curriculum development.  In addition, a manual will be developed during the workshop for use by secondary education teachers, serving as a guide toward integrating anti-corruption education in school curriculums and activities.  The educational programs are intended to inspire similar workshops and curriculum development tools throughout Lebanese high schools.

Center for Development and Planning (CDP)

Pillars of the Future – through practical capacity building activities and training workshops, the Center for Development and Planning introduced high school students to the concepts of democracy, transparency, and accountability so to build toward the future goal of good governance.  For this program, CDP created an interactive CD containing information to train students and teachers on a variety of civics concepts. 

Freedom House

Building Young Leaders – As part of a larger project, Freedom House has provided training to young Lebanese leaders throughout the country.

Internews

Open and Pluralistic Media – Journalists, media professionals, and media lawyers are receiving training in journalism and business skills, as well as advocacy training to work more effectively with parliamentarians and other organizations. This is part of a five-country program based out of Internews’ office in Lebanon.  In the run up to 2005 Parliamentary elections, Internews also provided special training to print and broadcast journalists in covering and monitoring elections.

Lebanese Foundation for Permanent Civil Peace

Magistracy Monitoring – this program provides for reporting on daily judicial activities as published in the Lebanese press, on sentences published in specialized judicial bulletins, and especially on direct recourses to courts. The implementer is working in cooperation with lawyers and jurists, leading to a new generation of young researchers, and together they will publish reports in the media intended to spur on public dialogue and debate.  All works will be published in a book, while a list of some 150 indicators and criteria will be established for sentences related to democracy and human rights in the country.

Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA)

Transparency, Accountability, and Integrity of the Lebanese Parliamentary Elections 2005 – in partnership with the Lebanese Center for Political Studies (LCPS), LTA organized a series of roundtables and a national workshop on electoral law reform from the perspective of enhancing accountability and transparency.  LTA and LCPS have organized three roundtables on the following topics: election monitoring, transparency in the campaigning process, and elections as an accountability mechanism.  A national workshop attended by major stakeholders in the process will debate the conclusions of the workshops and develop recommendations for electoral reform in Lebanon.

National Democratic Institute (NDI)

Domestic Elections Monitoring – NDI provided support and training to a consortium of Lebanese NGOs and universities, which monitored parliamentary elections, conducted random samples in all four electoral rounds, and dispatched more than 500 observers for the elections.

Training Women Candidates – This program trained female candidates to run for local elections in 2004 and trained candidates to stand for parliamentary elections in May of 2005.

Statistics Lebanon Ltd.

Pre- and Post-election Surveys – Through polling, Statistics Lebanon Ltd. is giving citizens a voice in the political processes and informing reformers in government of the electorate’s demands.  The grant provides for conducting 12 opinion poll surveys regarding topics surrounding parliamentary elections and the overall political climate in Lebanon.  Statistics Lebanon is disseminating the information to major media outlets to improve voter education and the quality of public debate in the country.

YMCA Lebanon

Policy Innovation for Leadership Learning and Reform – this program is designed to develop knowledgeable, transparent, and accountable leadership among youth and women and strengthen cooperation between civil society organizations, the media, and the parliament.  The project will promote democracy education and awareness for the need for political reform through journalist training sessions, awareness campaigns, university lectures, public policy workshops, national issue fora and other integrated activities.