Signature of the Afkar 2 convention for the support of the Lebanese civil society on March 15, 2006

The Minister of State for Administrative Reform, Mr. Jean Oghassabian, highlighted the importance of the financial convention of the Afkar program for the support of the Lebanese civil society. This convention constitutes the best proof of the “partnership and mutual trust between the European Union, civil society and OMSAR from the public sector and of the success of the first phase of the Afkar pilot project”. As for the Head of the Delegation of the European Commission, ambassador Patrick Renauld, he confirmed the support of the EC to the Lebanese civil society and praised this active society that strives to build a democratic Lebanon.

Oghassabian and Renauld were speaking in a ceremony organized at the Ministry’s headquarters at Starco to celebrate the signature of the financial convention with the EU that will fund the second phase of the Afkar program. Afkar 2 was elaborated to support the Lebanese society for the promotion of civil and political rights, as well as the rule of law in Lebanon. The EU will provide a 3 million-euro donation to fund this program, i.e. triple the amount for the first phase. Afkar 2 will in turn provide funding for NGO initiatives in the Lebanese civil society.

The ceremony was also attended by the secretary general of the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR), Mr. Ghazi Haddad, who represented the Head of the Council, Mr. Alfadel Chalak. A delegation from the EU including the program manager, Ms. Sybel Bikar and two officials from the media office, Ms. Veronique Ruggirello and Ms. Boushra Shahine, and a delegation from the CDR including the coordinator of the projects funding, Ms. Samia De Clarke, as well as Mr. Haytham Omar and Mr. Ramzi Naaman participated in the ceremony. Also present were Afkar program coordinator, Ms. Youmna Chakar Ghorayeb and the Afkar team at OMSAR, in addition to a number of officials from OMSAR.

At the beginning, Afkar program coordinator, Ms. Youmna Chakar Ghorayeb, welcomed the audience and highlighted the experience of Afkar in working with civil society. She also expressed the satisfaction of all concerned parties at the continuous support for the new phase of Afkar program. Ms. Ghorayeb emphasized the necessity to assess this unique and rich experience between the public sector and civil society for a stronger support of Lebanese NGOs and better relations with civil society. She said in this regard: “The nature and objectives of the Afkar program required a balanced integration between two important matters: first, the management of the European donation and implementation of agreements according to the rules and regulations stipulated by the financial convention, in addition to the execution of mechanisms guaranteeing equal opportunities to all NGOs in tenders and transparency in the selection process; second, the developmental, human and intellectual dimension of the project. We have made every effort to work as partners with the 16 funded organizations in the participatory approach between the public sector, civil society and the private sector collaborating together in the development process. We have respected the freedom of these organizations because we believe that this freedom is the pillar of their existence and activities. We have also followed-up all their problems and contributed to their resolution. The fruit of this cooperation was clear in our effort to change the implementation of some rigid laws, such as law 220/2000 for the Disabled and law 420 for minors, so that we adopt a new mentality in our approach to democracy, dialogue and the absence of distinction between youth and minors, as well as public safety and traffic issues. We have also been introduced to new issues that were unknown in our society, like autism. The list is very long and I do not want to take much of your time. But I would like to say that we have been able to set up a new approach for various issues related to the work of the organizations, like the mechanisms of democracy, dialogue, communication and networking. In addition, we have painted a clear image of the strong and weak points of civil society and the administrative, human and financial work in its organizations. This accumulated knowledge in our experience and studies in the program will allow us to develop the Lebanese civil society and update its role as a main partner in the permanent dialogue process in our society and a fundamental pillar in the promotion of peace and prosperity based on the respect of the citizen’s and human rights”.

Speech of Mr. Ghazi Haddad:
Then Mr. Ghazi Haddad, the secretary general of CDR, took the floor to apologize on behalf of Mr. Alfadel Chalak who was unable to attend because he’s out of the country and said: We meet today to conclude a new convention aimed at promoting the work of the Lebanese civil society by activating dialogue between the different parties, enhancing communication and understanding to strengthen the Lebanese social fabric, and improving the work capacities of the Lebanese NGOs. The CDR has made a quantum leap in this field adding a new dimension to the council’s work that goes far beyond its achievements in the reconstruction field and gives primary importance to the human social dimension, which is directly related to both local and national needs thus affecting the State’s investment programs. The council has prepared and coordinated, in collaboration with many governmental and international institutions, the execution of a number of projects aimed at improving the livelihood of marginalized groups and inducing real change on the national level. The council also played a predominant role in building a cooperation relation with the sector’s main actors through two projects managed by CDR: the economic and social development fund financed by a 25 million euro donation from the EU, and the social development project financed by a 20 million USD loan from the World Bank. Both projects (i.e. the fund and the development project) are based on the fact that the success of the local development process cannot be measured by material achievements in towns and villages alone but also by its capacity to break this vicious circle of dependence and negativism in local communities. This can only happen when people are able to diagnose the community situation and needs and formulate plans in partnership with the State institutions and the donor institutions. The future action plan in this sector shall lay the grounds of a culture of development and elaborate a strategy for social development based on the needs expressed by the Lebanese people, with the coordination of all parties concerned by the development process.

The council made every effort to set up an effective and sustainable tool to improve the living and economic conditions in the regions suffering from a difficult situation by reducing the poverty level, providing equal employment opportunities and benefiting from the socio-economic infrastructure. The objective was to implement projects aimed at promoting the values and standards supported by the Afkar program. Therefore, we hope that your program will pave the way for more cooperation between the institutions working in this sector”.

Renauld’s speech:
In his speech, the Head of the Delegation of the European Commission in Lebanon, Mr. Patrick Renauld said: “This program was not called “Afkar” by coincidence in 2004. It was a test, a test of ideas to be more specific. It was just a pilot project because we didn’t know the number of ideas, particularly good ideas, which would be submitted. And today, two years later, the 16 chosen projects are in their final stages: films were showed, plays made, photo exhibitions organized, books published, youth meetings held, new laws discussed in the Parliament, some of which become successful, and children who were victims of exploitation received proper care. We obtained good results due to the commitment shown by the Lebanese organizations, their workers and volunteers. They have all put their expertise and knowledge at the disposal of the Lebanese citizens to respect their rights, thereby transcending geographic, social or confessional-societal obstacles. It was a risk for both the EC and OMSAR since working directly with NGOs and building work relations based on mutual trust are not evident matters. Despite that fact, new partnerships were created with ministries, parliamentary committees and between organizations themselves. Common initiatives were launched and some difficulties had to be overcome but these operations were on the right path. In addition, dialogue and listening mechanisms were established. All these elements constitute, in my opinion, a true success story. Of course, we noted some weak points in Lebanese NGOs and these weak points exist also in Europe. To fill the gaps, special training sessions were organized to promote the professionalism of these organizations. These trainings are still on-going and we hope to make them more objective-oriented in the next phase. We have also controlled and promoted the principles of good governance and transparency with the help of a Lebanese audit office. We are fully convinced that the Lebanese democracy is built through an active and strong civil society. Therefore, the EC reiterates its support for the Lebanese civil society and I’m very pleased to launch Afkar 2 (3 million euros) whose budget is triple that of Afkar 1. In the next weeks, there will be an call for proposals and we eagerly await stronger and more creative ideas with more effective means. In conclusion, I would like to thank OMSAR and Emergences for their valuable efforts”.

Oghassabian’s speech:
Minister Oghassabian said in this occasion: “I have the pleasure to meet with you today to renew the partnership between us and the EU in the light of the effective cooperation in many projects between our office and the EC Delegation in Beirut. I am very optimistic that this new phase in our partnership will more successful to provide support for the Lebanese civil society.

We hope that this partnership will be a first step in a more comprehensive cooperation between the Lebanese government and the EU, which will be reinforced during the visit of PM Fouad Siniora to Brussels next week, in response to the invitation of the EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs in preparation of the conference for supporting Lebanon.

In this framework, we are striving through the government’s economic program that will be presented to the donor conference and financial institutions, upon its approval by the Lebanese council of ministers, the parliament and private sector, to make a quantum leap in the Lebanese economic and social situation. The new economic program will modernize the economy, promote growth and create job opportunities. It will elaborate a comprehensive social strategy to create a social safety network, reform the pension system and increase the effectiveness of the education and health sectors.

The dialogue conference between the Lebanese leaders made a lot of progress to solve a number of issues and laid the necessary political grounds for the success of the Beirut conference so that it wouldn’t face the same obstacles as Paris II.

Today, we are signing a new convention with Mr. Patrick Renauld to support NGOs within the framework of Afkar 2. This convention is best proof of the partnership and mutual trust between the European Union, civil society and OMSAR from the public sector and of the success of the first phase of the Afkar pilot project.

Launched in 2004 and funded by a 1 million euro donation from the EU, Afkar 1 was very successful thanks to the efforts made by the EU team, the OMSAR team and the Emergences experts who provided their technical support. All this would not have been possible without the positive response of the Lebanese NGOs, which submitted 83 projects and without the practical success of the 16 projects funded by the EU for a whole year.