Declaring the results

                               
                                    Minister El Daher and H.E ambassador Renauld

Ghorayeb’s speech:

After welcoming participants, EU representative in Lebanon Patrick Renauld, and his assistants,Lebanese NGOs representatives, Emergences and the media. Afkar program coordinator, Youmna Chakar Ghorayeb said: “We would like to thank Minister Ibrahim Hanna Daher for trusting us to accomplish our mission successfully and giving us the freedom to work according to the project’s methodology so that we can reach the results we are announcing today.

We are announcing today the names of the 16 Lebanese organizations whose projects obtained funding from Afkar program after scoring the highest points in the evaluation process that included 83 files studied by the OMSAR committee and EU observers. We are now looking forward to the next step for implementing these projects in the coming twelve months.

The Afkar program was primarily launched as a pilot project aimed at promoting the Lebanese civil society abilities by supporting the civil society initiatives for defending human rights. The projects entered within three sectors: promoting citizenship and Rule of law, inter-communal reconciliation and dialogue, and supporting marginalized groups both on the legal and the social levels.

The program is funded by a one million euro grant as per an agreement concluded between former Minister of State for Administrative Reform, Karim Pakradouni and EU ambassador in Lebanon, Patrick Renauld, on January 14, 2004.

The organizations that will obtain funding between 25 thousand euros and 50 thousand euros each took part in a call for proposals between June 5 and September 4, 2004. The evaluation process started on September 24 and ended on December 13, 2004 and was aimed at determining the capacities of NGOs and comparing their projects to the program’s objectives, methodology and sustainability.

In the next stage, Emergences will offer technical assistance in the implementation process by organizing workshops and thematic exchanges. It will also set up a database for NGOs, including an analysis of the results and a number of recommendations to support civil society in its future endeavors.

Afkar is a pilot project that can be renewed if it succeeds as expected.”

Patrick Renauld’s speech:

“Supporting Lebanese NGOs was one of the European Commission’s objectives since I arrived to Lebanon. We were successful in our efforts and Afkar is the first step along this path.

Why do we want to work with NGOs?

We consider that the NGOs play an important role in the Lebanese society’s revival and development. We have more than 4000 NGOs in Lebanon that are active in many sectors, particularly in the social sector, and in all cazas. These organizations were active during the war and still are today.

The EU is a firm believer in the role played by these organizations in the promotion of democracy in Lebanon. Lebanese NGOs are independent organizations that have clear perspectives and enjoy freedom of expression and dialogue. They can submit draft legislations and take measures to defend rights, raise awareness and promote civil education in many fields.

Moreover, they are clearly committed to defending human rights in Lebanon and they are achieving good results. Let us not forget the ongoing efforts to promulgate a new penal code and that the Lebanese civil society was invited to participate in these efforts and give its opinion.

It is evident that each “fight” falls under the framework of a constructive exchange with the government and decision-makers in the hopes of making a real difference in society. Advocacy is a legitimate endeavor, but it is not an easy one. Making every effort to convince others of the necessity of change is a noble duty but also a delicate and difficult one.

Therefore, the EU and Lebanon, which are parties to a partnership agreement, decided to launch a pilot project to promote the capacities of civil society under the name of Afkar, or Ideas, where NGOs are asked to be creative and give us unique ideas other than costly and inefficient seminars and workshops.

I was both surprised and pleased by the number of organizations that responded to our call and  by more than 80 “ideas” that were submitted to us.

I would like to thank and congratulate all Lebanese NGOs who accepted our invitation even though developing this kind of projects is hard and complicated.

I’m disappointed at myself for being unable to expect such a high level of quality in applications. This exceptional quality is clearly reflected in the committee’s evaluation that included a high number of projects that scored more than 80 over 100.

It is truly unfortunate that the grant is limited to one million euros and we only could to choose the first 16 projects.

I can confidently say that the 16 NGOs were selected in a fair and transparent manner according to EU standards that are sometimes complicated but always clear and detailed. The rules were known to all and the evaluation process very public, hence it was impossible to ensure better circumstances.

I can say to those who were disappointed that they must not forget that other opportunities will be made available by the EU or other parties. The diversity of the subjects and targeted categories will also help us define new projects like “Afkar” and justify their necessity.

As for the selected projects, I can tell you that you are still at the beginning of the road. The EU is expecting results and good management of European funds. Your project objectives are very ambitious and you have 12 months to implement them.

However, we noticed that some organizations submitted projects jointly, and this requires a lot of concentration. Through the support of Emergences, we hope to promote more harmony and joint efforts between NGOs that work in the same field, in order for them to benefit from similar expertise and acquire new skills.

Finally, I would like to congratulate the Afkar team in OMSAR for their valuable efforts, especially the members of the evaluation committee who studied the submitted applications in a thorough manner”.

Ibrahim Hanna Daher’s speech:

“I have never doubted the Lebanese civil society’s potential and abilities that were proven time and again during both peace and war. Since the day I was appointed Minister of State for Administrative Reform, I was convinced of the pioneer role of civil society in sustainable development in Lebanon.

The Afkar program, which aims at supporting civil society’s initiatives, reinforced my conviction and proved two things: 1- the strength of the Lebanese civil society and its creativity and initiative to help defend human rights and launch a dialogue for a diverse and harmonious society and 2- this society’s need to obtain support so as to gain strength in the development process which is based on the cooperation between civil society and the private and public sectors.

Today’s meeting represents a fruitful stage of this pilot project in light of the freedom granted by the Lebanese law to NGOs and in light of our commitment as a State and society to human rights and democratic values. Afkar is also based on the role played by civil society in the promotion of individuals’ and citizens’ rights as well as the promotion of inter-communal dialogue and communication among the different stakeholders in Lebanon. It was therefore only natural that the different projects focus on the three sectors: Promotion of Rule of law and citizenship, Inter-communal dialogue and reconciliation, Support of marginalized groups.

We firmly believe in the quest to promote a culture of peace and dialogue between all stakeholders in our country, which has been active in the promotion of democracy and human rights during the last decades. We also thank the EU for supporting us in this project and in other programs as well.

As you all know, the Afkar program was launched in the beginning of 2004 when my predecessor, Minister Karim Pakradouni, signed with EU ambassador in Lebanon Patrick Renauld an agreement offering a one million euro grant to civil society in Lebanon:, 750000 euros allocated to Lebanese NGOs and the rest allocated to the technical support which shall be provided by Emergences during the coming stage of Afkar.

The participation of more than 80 NGOs in the program shows their commitment in human, legal and social development issues and their efforts in the promotion of a culture of peace and reconciliation. The quality of the submitted projects proved the high standards adopted in this sector in terms of the ideas submitted and their conformity with society’s needs, as well as the developed adopted methodologies to achieve the expected results.

I would like to say that the evaluation process was practical and accurate, and it was based on pre-published criteria that led us to select the 16 organizations with the highest scores in the three sectors. Their projects covered many issues, the most important of which were about training on the means used to establish dialogue between groups and confessions in the different Lebanese regions; promoting democratic values through a training on covering legislative elections; and raising awareness among the youth and school and university students on the concept of citizenship and civil commitment. These projects focused also on women and child issues as well as legal and social issues regarding prisoners, the disabled and the marginalized.

I would like to congratulate the selected NGOs as well as all the other NGOs for their efforts, with the hope that they will continue on the same path successfully.

The next challenge lies in the implementation of the projects and the elaboration of a comprehensive image on the Lebanese civil society capabilities to give more support to this sector. Finally, allow me to wish all success in your work.”

Presenting the contracts:

At the end of the meeting, Minister Daher and Ambassador Renauld presented the contracts of the selected projects to the representatives of the civil society organizations.