Baladyat: a citizenship initiative to engage young women and men in municipal work

The USEK University in Kaslik launched in October 2013 the Baladyat project which aims at encouraging young women and men to take part in municipal work.  L’Orient le Jour spoke with the coordinator of this project, Mirna Abboud Mzawwik, who explained that the project extends over two years and will seek to encourage young women and men to engage in municipal work through providing them with opportunities which match their capacities.  Mzawwik noted that the project has three stakeholders: local governance, the USEK University and civil society organizations.  She added that participating municipalities currently include Keserouen – Ftouh and Jbeil whilst the project is seeking to enlarge the number of municipalities. Mzawwik also presented the current partners of the project which includes a number of embassies, local and international NGOs namely: Italian Embassy and Cooperation office, UNESCO, Initiatives Association, Arc en Ciel, Lebanese Montors Association, OFRA Association, Fair Trade, and Kun Hadi.
Source: L’Orient Le Jour 8 February 2014