10 January 2005

Beirut, Lebanon: Community leaders and residents in two Lebanese communities came together on 17 and 18 December 2004 to share their insights on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and its ability to improve local conditions.

The communities of Karbit Char (Akkar) and Hamana (Chouf) participated in the event organized by the UNV Support to Local Governance (SLG) project team and UNDP’s projects in Socio-Economic Development Programme for Akkar and Reintegration and Socio-Economic Rehabilitation for the Displaced.

Sean Osner, UN Volunteer SLG Project Coordinator, says the initiative’s aims were to raise awareness among community members on the MDGs, to highlight each citizen’s role in contributing to local solutions that help achieve the MDGs, and to link volunteerism to the promotion of local governance. “The whole initiative was very successful and was an admirable demonstration of Arab volunteers encouraging Arabs to take a people-centered approach to local governance,” he says.

Shifa Zghoul, a UN Volunteer serving in Jordan, came to Lebanon to facilitate both discussions after she successfully implemented a similar project in more than 60 villages in her native Jordan. “It was refreshing to witness village elders yield and listen to youth openly voice their own concerns and perspectives in front of local officials,” she says.

Andre Bechara, a resident of Hamana (Chouf) and former municipal council member, says that it was the first time local municipality officials and community members gathered to discuss development-related challenges. “This is one of the first times that I have seen all of us under one roof to discuss issues of importance to our village”.

The discussions ended with community members in each village volunteering to encourage and mobilize more local officials and community members to jointly take concrete actions to address social-economic concerns related to the MDGs.

The UNV Support to Local Governance (SLG) project encourages innovative partnerships between Lebanese municipalities, community organizations and the public and private sectors, by promoting volunteerism for local development and improved local governance in the Lebanon.