On the 13th of December 2014 LOST hosted the “Workshop of Empowering Municipal Police” in northern Bekaa region with the collaboration of UNHCR.
The conference commenced by the word of Dr. Rami lakkis Director and founder of LOST, followed by speeches of both the representative of UNHCR Elizabeth Peters and the governor of Bekaa Mr. Bashir Khoder.
More than 29 participants from 20 different municipalities were present in the event. Dr. Rami presented the first workshop that focused on promoting communication skills and emotional intelligence. The audience showed interest in the topic as soon as the material started to be presented. Then, Mr. Ali Nowayhed representing UNHCR held the floor and gave a workshop on rights of refugees. It was very cheerful to see most of the audience participating and interacting with him considering the issues covered in the workshop dealt with their everyday life.
After sharing lunch at Baytona restaurant, Mr. Ahmad Tfaily,and Mr. Salah Zaaiter gave one workshops on the role of municipal police based on principles of human rights, covering civil, economic, and political rights. Participants were positive and an atmosphere of collaboration was implied. The workshop was the first initiative in Lebanon where UNHCR and LOST were joining hands to empower municipal police in the Northern Bekaa. The level of interaction was a critical proof how important in the life cycle of the Syrian crisis and its impact on Lebanon to consider capacity building and empowerment of front liners in addition to material resource distribution.
