On Friday, April 1st, the USAID-funded Building Alliances for Local Advancement, Development and Investment - Capacity Building (BALADI CAP) Program organized a graduation event at Le Royal Hotel - Dbayeh for civil society organizations (CSOs) that recently completed a targeted two-year capacity building cycle. These organizations now have enhanced systems and abilities to help them achieve their goals. The ceremony also launched BALADI CAP's Civic Engagement Initiative, which creates CSO networks to advocate for topics critical to Lebanon's development.
The event was held in the presence of Chargé D'affaires Ambassador Richard Jones, USAID's Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Middle East Bureau Mona Yacoubian, USAID Mission Director Carolyn Bryan, and the chairpersons and senior staff of graduating CSOs. More than 80 Lebanese CSOs attended the event. The ten graduating CSOs are Mosan Center for Special Needs, Kawkaba Social and Cultural Club, Al Shouf Cedars Society, Tatweer, Center for Development, Democracy & Governance, T.E.R.R.E Liban, Bentael Natural Reserve Committee (Al Horouf), White Land Foundation, Ehmej Association for Development and Kousba El Ghad.
During the ceremony, Ambassador Jones reiterated the support of the United States Government to Lebanon's civil society and local governments as critical contributors to the country's long-term social and economic development.
BALADI CAP is a $14.9 million, five-year program that advances the institutional capacities of Lebanese CSOs and municipalities to improve their advocacy skills and delivery of services to local citizens. Specifically, it offers technical assistance to selected CSOs in the fields of organization development, financial management, and monitoring and evaluation. In the next two years, BALADI CAP will work with local municipalities and stakeholders to strengthen citizen-government cooperation in local policy and decision-making processes, improve service delivery, identify resources, and ensure the oversight role of public institutions. In addition, through its grants program, BALADI CAP seeks to strengthen civil society advocacy networks to improve their impact, specifically in the fields of environment preservation, solid waste management, human rights, and good governance and accountability.
