Through the various programs which UNICEF and the Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training (LOST) have implemented together, the “Skills for Active Youth” program has lasted the longest and provided services to the largest number of Lebanese and Syrian youth beneficiaries along a period of 5 consecutive years. “Skills for Active Youth” is directed towards youth aged between 14 and 24. This program is constituted of 6 training programs: YBLN (Youth Basic Literacy and Numeracy), LS (Life Skills), CBT (Competency Based Skills Training and Vocational Orientation), Innovation Lab (GIL), Message Through Arts (MAT), and Mentorship Training. The Training Programs extend all over Northern Beqaa area from Ersal to Bednayel.
Beneficiaries who enrolled in the Life Skills program received character building skills and participated in the design and implementation process of community projects/initiatives after conducting a needs assessment. These initiatives serve the most urgent socio-economic needs across all of Northern Beqaa. The total number of initiatives reached for cycle one of the program was 36; among these were initiatives related to waste management. Why waste management? Because from a very recent date Lebanon suffered from a waste management crisis mainly because people lack the knowledge and awareness of how to dispose and manage wastes properly. Needs analysis revealed that several towns didn’t have a sufficient number of waste bins, which affects the residents and the social image of their towns. As a result, the following towns were supplied with waste bins: Saiideh, Nabi Othman, Qasr, Younin, and Baalbeck.
“It really annoyed me earlier to notice that our city and what it presents on a national level, is still considered unclean,” noted Ali Hlaihel, a 22 year old Lebanese beneficiary, and added “the city lacks waste bins and rubbish is scattered all over green spaces, we hope that by distributing these waste bins we make the city cleaner and more civilized and raise the awareness of people to the importance of proper waste disposal, and encourage its practice.” As a result of the implemented initiatives, 47 large sized metal waste bins were distributed by the beneficiaries with the help of LOST staff at Baalbeck, Hermel, and Bouday, while in the towns of Nabi Othman and Younin, 62 plastic (360 l) waste bins were distributed.
Life Skills coaches noticed a great change in the behavior of youth after the initiatives were conducted. Coach Wafaa Derbali at Nabi Othman noted: “One of the beneficiaries whom I trained used to be very shy and introverted, her name is Batoul. Whenever I asked a question or arranged an activity where all of the beneficiaries need to participate, she would ask to be the last. Then, as the cycle came close to an end, Batoul gradually came out of her shell and gained self-confidence. She gained more ease at expressing her opinions”. Batoul is one of many beneficiaries who had a lifestyle shift after the Life Skills training, and at the same time influenced their communities in a fruitful and beneficial way.
Program Coordinator at LOST, Mr. Assem Shreif noted the following regarding the Life Skills program: “The Life Skills program is based upon Delors report 1996, which proposed a vision of education based on 4 pillars: to know, to be, to do, and to coexist. This program works on empowering youth with the training skills and offering them the opportunity to engage in public life. It changes youth from marginalized ones to contributors in their societies where they set themselves as role models to others. Above all, they defy the status quo of drug dealers and weapon traffickers in the region of Northern Beqaa by enabling qualified and educated youth to take a role in these development-seeking tangible projects”.
Thanks to the collaboration of UNICEF and LOST, and the funding of the German and Netherlands governments and UK Aid, this wave of development and positive energy is set out to the world targeting youth who are most in need of education, change, and empowerment, who in turn pass this on to their communities, as the domino chain effect carries on.
