LEBANESE TRANSPARENCY ASSOCIATION ANNUAL REPORT 2013

Transcription

1 LEBANESE TRANSPARENCY ASSOCIATION ANNUAL REPORT 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS About LTA Achievements 2013 Project Highlights : A- Democratization and Public Accountability - Lebanese Advocacy and Legal Advice Center (LALAC) - Time to Wake Up Campaign - Civil Advocacy and Mobilization for Electoral Reform B- Promoting Access to Information - Raising Public Awareness on Access to Information C- Transparency in Private Sector - Strengthening the Rule of Law in Lebanon through Rights Education D- Youth Against Corruption - Corruption Investigators - Youth Partnership for the improvement of Governance in Municipalities Musharaka - Baladi Plus 1 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

2 ABOUT LTA The Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA) is the national chapter of Transparency International in Lebanon. It was established in 1999 as the first Lebanese NGO focused on curbing corruption and promoting the principles of good governance. Recognizing the unacceptable level that corruption had reached in Lebanon and the need to act against it, a group of business professionals, academics, economists, lawyers and intellectuals joined forces in May 1999 to found LTA in a bid to curb corruption through civil society. LTA employs an effective combination of top-down and bottom-up efforts to fight corruption and promote good governance for a better quality of life for the people of Lebanon. We empower citizens to take action against cases of corruption and also work closely with public authorities and other organizations to encourage them to take measures towards transparency and accountability. LTA does not investigate or expose individual cases of corruption, instead, we advocate for reform by focusing on systemic improvement and by building coalitions with other anticorruption stakeholders, including the government, parliamentarians, the private sector, media institutions, the international community and civil society organizations. In its efforts to curb corruption and promote transparency in Lebanon, LTA is pursuing initiatives along the following four main programs: Democratization and Public Accountability Promoting Access to Information Transparency in the Private Sector Youth against Corruption 2 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

3 The four programs function in coordination with LTA's grassroots, and research and training departments. 3 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

4 1. ACHIEVEMENTS 2013 A. NEW PROJECTS SIGNED The Lebanese Transparency Association signed several new projects and project extensions in 2013: 1. Corruption Investigator, funded by USAID for the timeframe of March March Lebanese Advocacy and Legal Advice Center (LALAC), funded by the European Union (EU) for the timeframe of January July 2014 and by the Lebanese Renaissance Foundation (LRF) for the timeframe of November October Civil Advocacy and Mobilization for Electoral Reform funded by the European Union, for the timeframe of June 2013 November Baladi Plus funded by USAID, for the timeframe of December 2013 December Strengthening the rule of law in Lebanon through rights education, funded by CIPE for the timeframe of May 2012 March Raising Public Awareness on Access to Information, funded by the Foundation for the Future (FFF) for the timeframe of April 2013 December 2013 and by the Open Society Foundation (OSF), for the timeframe of May 2013 February National Integrity System funded by Transparency International for the timeframe of October 2013 February PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS A- DEMOCRATIZATION AND PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY LEBAN ESE ADVO CACY A ND LEGAL A DVI CE CEN TER (LALAC) On March 10, 2009, LTA launched the Lebanese Advocacy and Legal Advice Center (LALAC), based on the model implemented by Transparency International (TI) in more than 50 countries and adapted to the Lebanese context. 4 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

5 LALAC aims to inform citizens about their legal rights and encourages victims and witnesses to take action against cases of corruption. By generating dialogue on issues of corruption and developing working relationships with relevant government institutions, LALAC is able to shed light on citizens concerns and complaints about corruption on a national scale. LALAC draws on information gained from cases to lobby relevant authorities for concrete, evidence-based reforms that lead to better local governance. In January 2013, LALAC received funding to continue and expand its services in an 18- month project supported by three donors: 1- European Union (EU) 2- Lebanon Renaissance Foundation (LRF) 3- Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) The project is divided into two phases: 1- Raising awareness through media and social media campaigns and outreach sessions to encourage reports from witnesses and victims. 2- Translating complaints received into an advocacy and lobbying campaign for needed reforms, using guidebooks, media and social media campaigns and meetings with opinion leaders and officials. During 2013, the Beirut center has focused on the first phase of the project, operating a hotline for victims and witnesses of corruption and providing them with free legal advice, while also preparing to launch two new centers in the Bekaa and Nabatiye regions in southern Lebanon. The new centers will be active starting November 2013, and will each have 2 legal personnel on staff to evaluate reports of corruption and meet with victims and witnesses to provide them legal advice on their case. LTA has also met with several public institutions during this time, in order to build additional partnerships for LALAC to increase the efficiency of its services. The three centers will be working closely with these institutions to address specific cases of corruption raised by citizens, which will help sustain and build public trust in LTA and in the public institutions themselves. 5 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

6 A mass media campaign to promote LALAC and encourage citizens to call the hotline is under preparation and will launch at the end of November It is accompanied by a social media campaign that will culminate in a call to action on 9 December 2013, the International Anti-Corruption day. In 2013, LALAC staff also engaged in capacity building activities, organizing training sessions for the new legal personnel and taking part in Speak Up workshops in Germany and Morocco to exchange knowledge and expertise with other ALACs worldwide, and with the MENA region in particular. Contact LALAC Hotline: TI ME TO WAKE U P C AMP AI GN The Time to Wake Up campaign was officially launched in Lebanon on May 2012, as part of Transparency International's global communications campaign under the same slogan. The campaign, which aimed at raising citizen awareness of corruption, was a resounding success and resulted in significant media coverage and social engagement. LTA also collected thousands of signatures from citizens on a petition asking the Lebanese parliament to implement the UNCAC convention, through a mass mailing and online campaign that reached all of Lebanon's 26 districts. In 2013, LTA will undertake the second phase of the "Time to Wake Up" campaign, with an event aimed at reengaging those who previously signed the Time to Wake Up petition, as well as the LTA volunteers and supporters, while raising awareness among the community about corruption and the measures they can take to fight corruption. 6 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

7 CIVI L ADVO CACY AN D MOBI LIZATIO N FO R ELECTO RAL REFO RM During this year, LTA submitted as part of a consortium led by the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE)- a proposal to the European Union (EU) for an action entitled Support Electoral Reform in Lebanon. Similar to the previous activities in 2009, LTA will be responsible for the section of the project related to campaign finance during To this end, LTA has developed a set of activities aimed at introducing a new environment of transparency during the parliamentary elections in Under this action, LTA s objectives are as follows: 1) To create a new tendency in transparency implementation at the level of monitoring elections and adjusting candidates behavior; 2) To increase citizen understanding of transparency requirements during parliamentary elections; 3) To implement more fully-developed and comprehensive monitoring criteria; 4) To clearly define the characteristics of a transparent candidate. To meet these objectives LTA has planned the following activities to cover the period of 22 months: Activity 1: Hold meetings with heads of political parties, parliamentary blocs and electoral candidates from each political bloc, to identify a "Role Model MP"; Activity 2: Meet with candidates financial auditors and introduce them to the Transparency Portal Initiative; Activity 3: Establish a Control Unit within the Lebanese Advocacy and Legal Advice center (LALAC) Activity 4: Identify the Control Unit experts and trainers of the 900 young leaders; Activity 5: Conduct training for the Control Unit experts; Activity 6: Conduct training for 900 young leaders in the 6 governorates; Activity 7: Conduct awareness-raising sessions in the 6 governorates for more thousands of Lebanese citizens; Activity 8: Develop «I sold my vote» Facebook and smart phones application; 7 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

8 Activity 9: Develop two TV spots and one awareness documentary on vote buying; and Activity 10: Hold a conference to release the results of elections monitoring. B. PROMOTING ACCESS TO INFORMATION RAISING PUBLIC AWARENESS ON ACCESS TO INFORMATION In May 2013, LTA launched a project aimed at promoting the right to access to information in Lebanon by raising awareness, pressuring the parliament to ratify the draft law and providing citizens with tools to practice their ATI right. As part of the project, LTA has been elected as a board member at the National Civil Society Parliament (NCSP) liaison unit, where LTA lobbies to have the ATI draft law ratified. Although the political and security situation in Lebanon has complicated LTA's ability to push for the ratification of the law, with no government or parliamentarian meetings taking place, we are continuing our work to mobilize citizens around the cause. Since the project's launch, LTA has developed a media campaign, in cooperation with prestigious advertising agency Memac Ogilvy, to raise citizens awareness concerning the Access to Information law, and pressure Members of Parliament to vote for the law. The campaign will be launched in the first week of November, and focus on outdoor and radio advertisements. LTA is also developing a leaflet to explain the Access to Information legislation to citizens. The leaflet is being developed in plain language for the public, in collaboration with a freelance designer. Over the past several months, LTA has reached out to journalists interested in the Access to Information legislation, to recruit their help on the project. LTA is providing the journalists with funding to conduct investigative reports to support access to information. LTA will then work to place these articles in major Lebanese newspapers and the most highlyvisited websites. These articles will also feature prominently on LTA's website and social media platforms, in addition to the dedicated ATI website, which has been restructured and is now online at atilebanon.org. Currently, LTA and its Access to Information Network partners are working to arrange a series of meetings with influential parliamentarians to push for the legislation's ratification. LTA is working with the Lebanese Parliamentarians against Corruption (LEBPAC), MP 8 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

9 Ghassan Moukheiber s office and NCSP to organize a conference about ATI. The UNDP is planning to hold an event about corruption in early December 2013 and LTA is meeting with MP Ghassan in order to fix an agenda for a conference on the same dayabout Access to Information. In addition, LTA is an active member of NCSP and its Editorial Board. We produce a monthly newsletter which is delivered to all MPs and contains articles related to Access to Information. C- TRANSPARENCY IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR STRENGTHENING THE RULE OF LAW IN LEBANON THROUGH RIGHTS EDUCATION This project, funded by the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), has the following main objectives: Enhancing the capacity of the Lebanon Anti-Bribery Network (LABN) Enhancing awareness of citizens rights Empowering citizens to exercise their rights Over the past year, LTA undertook several activities for the project, most notably commissioning an administrative corruption survey, which was conducted by REACH, for the purpose of gathering information and data on where citizens and business are experiencing corruption. The final draft of this analysis will be delivered to LTA by the end of November 2013, and will be published in an Advocacy Handbook. Another major activity of LTA during 2013 was the development of the Lebanon Anti- Bribery Network (LABN). This network was launched during a full-day workshop held in the Riviera Hotel in Beirut this June, with participants from civil society, the media, the private and public sector, and NGOS. These participants identified key issues, cutting across various public and private sectors, for the network. In compliance with these priority issues, LTA defined LABN s vision, mission and main objectives, in collaboration with CIPE. After lengthy deliberation between LTA and LABN members and the LABN Advisory Council, LABN s representative structure was also released with the final membership of LABN s Advisory Council. 9 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

10 Within the project, LTA is also working with an expert consultant on the Know Your Rights: A Guidebook for Dealing with the Public Administration handbook, which aims to empower Lebanese citizens to fight bribery by educating them on their related rights. In addition, LTA is currently working on a series of eight workshops related to the Advocacy Handbook and a separate series of eight workshops related to the Know Your Rights: A Guidebook for Dealing with the Public Administration handbook. The first two workshops will be held on November 11, 2013 in coordination with the Beirut Bar Association. The first workshop will deal with bribery while setting up a business and the second will cover important legislative reforms to fight bribery, and the public procurement law, the whistleblower draft law and the electoral law in particular. D- YOUTH AGAINST CORRUPTION CORRUPTION INV ES TIGATORS In March 2013, LTA launched a one-year project entitled Corruption Investigator, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project aims at facilitating citizens access to the information throughout various media outlets to promote transparency and accountability and to advocate for a democratic community. During this project, LTA will target 240 young men and women from various areas in Lebanon to promote investigative journalism, thereby mobilizing a large youth base who will act as anti-corruption agents in their respective regions. A team of three journalists (two junior and one senior) were recruited at LTA to operate and run the project. These journalists investigate corruption cases occurring in Lebanese public administrations and institutions. As part of the project, LTA established a partnership with a well-known news site called Lebanon Files, where the articles developed by LTA will be published and publicized. Activities: Kick- offs: LTA has conducted nine kick off sessions to promote the project in the various regions as well as to mobilize and recruit youth. 10 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

11 Trainings: Trainings covering the following topics: corruption, transparency, access to information, good governance, social media and investigative journalism were delivered to 180 recruited youth. Further trainings will be conducted in order to reach out to the remaining target groups. In the months following these activities, the youth will start compiling information and producing articles and reports to be submitted to LTA s main office in Beirut and eventually be transformed into investigative reports and articles. This project will operate in parallel with the Lebanese Advocacy and Legal Advice Center (LALAC); cases received through LALAC will be investigated by the youth journalists and vice-versa; cases exposed by the journalists will be followed-up and advocated by the LALAC team in cooperation with the Corruption Investigator team. MUS HARAKA: YO UT H P ART N ER SHI P FO R T HE IMP ROV EMENT O F GOV ERNANCE IN MUNI CIPALI TI ES Overall program description In April 2011, LTA and Mercy Corps launched the project with the aim of ensuring active citizen involvement toward greater transparency in local governance through several achievable objectives: 1. Promoting good governance practices in municipalities by encouraging youth leaders to participate directly with local authorities as partners; 2. Integrating marginalized groups within the wider community, particularly women and youth, into local governance channels 3. Promoting practical methods of application for administrative decentralization. The overall goal of the Musharaka program is to ensure that citizens are engaging and advocating for responsive, transparent and accountable government institutions in Lebanon. 11 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

12 Phase I: The project s first phase included several activities and achieved the following: 1) 15 municipalities were selected from the 6 Lebanese governorates based on previous experience in the area, population size, municipality size and capacity, interest in the program and commitment to sharing its budget and location within the governorate; 2) 900 young leaders 60 youth from each of the 15 chosen communities, aged between 18 and 29, were recruited; 3) Trainings addressing the following topics: corruption, good governance, transparency, leadership, communication skills, proposal writing, project management, and techniques of running effective electoral campaigns were delivered to the 900 youth; 4) 300 youth (20 from each area) out of the 900 recruited youth were selected based on level of involvement, results of the training post examinations, gender and cultural diversity; 20 youth from each area ran for candidacy for the youth shadow council (YSC) and resulted in forming two lists of 10 candidates each. The formation of each list respected the representation of different educational backgrounds including students of engineering, medicine, environmental studies, finance and law, as well as those without university degrees. 5) The youth had two weeks to campaign in their communities, their schools, universities and youth centers to educate and convince their peers that their campaign issues best reflect the needs of the community. Those eligible to vote at the shadow elections were the youth in each region (university students, vocational students, etc ) and the members of the community at large. On Election Day, polling stations were positioned at neutral public locations identified in each municipality by the program team, and based on the level of support that the youth had gained for their platform, one group was elected. 12 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

13 Phase II: The second phase of the project was characterized by the following: 1) The 15 elected youth shadow councils received trainings that addressed key topics necessary for building their capacities and skills, namely: good governance, transparency and accountability; advocacy, strategy and tactics; awareness of rights: access to public services; conducting needs assessments and reading and analyzing municipal budget. 2) Community needs assessments were conducted in each of the targeted areas, which led the youth to develop their own project proposals. Each Youth Shadow Council developed a proposal that identified the goal, objectives, outputs, target beneficiaries, timeline and budget of their project. A number of winning project proposals was provided with funds for implementation through this program. The proposals were shared with the municipalities for their feedback and review, which strengthened the relation between the youth and their respective municipal councils; 3) Having received the budget training, the youth analyzed the municipal budgets of their municipalities in terms of budget allocation and responsiveness to the community s needs; 4) Based on the needs assessment and the budget analysis, several recommendations were issued by the youth which identified community needs requiring action from the municipality. 5) The YSCs developed project proposals and sent them to LTA for approval. Below is a table describing the project implemented in each area: Governorate Region Project North Lebanon Berkayel Culture & Sport Club 13 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

14 Beit Fakes Rehabilitation of the entrance of Bet El-Fakes and the ambulance Bechary Concrete Benches Street Lighting Beirut Beirut Concrete Benches and bus stops in Beirut Streets South Lebanon Harouf Habouch Ain Deleb Kfarsir Cultural Club Public Park Public Park Rehabilitation of public library Al-Rawda Establishing a Basketball court Yanta Culture Club / Sport Club Western & Central Bekaa Majdal Anjar Equipping three schools with LCD projectors, computers and Active board. Al-Kaa Establishing a Music & Sport club Northern Bekaa Ras Baalbeck Establishing a football Court Britel Providing a health care center with an Eco machine Mount Lebanon Ras El- Maten Public Park Phase III: 14 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

15 During the third phase the following activities took place: 1) The YSCs held meetings with their respective municipal councils, which aimed first at developing a petition- entailing demands and suggested reforms to be advance to the ministry of interior and municipalities (MOIM) - to be signed by all the YSCs, in addition to the actual municipal councils as part of the advocacy plan which the youth have decided to initiate. After several discussions with the youth, LTA worked on developing the letter/petition which resulted in addressing the following issues: a) To prioritize and identify the needs of the regions and define the areas where the fund is needed; b) To vote on the budget after being discussed with respect to all principles of democracy throughout the discussion and the voting process; and c) To monitor the budget expenditures throughout the financial year in order to avoid any corrupt practices and to promote transparency. Furthermore, the letter called for the need to form a committee to review the aforementioned standards and to adjust them accordingly, with the intention of adopting a participatory budget in the municipalities. Unfortunately, the petition was not advanced to the MOIM given that on March 22, 2013, the Prime Minister resigned, making the cabinet automatically ineffective. Even though LTA had made several efforts to hold a meeting with the Minister of Interior and municipalities before that period, the request was continually rejected because of the unavailability of the minister. Despite all that, LTA will maintain its advocacy efforts in that aspect and will - in the event where a new Prime Minister is appointed- lobby for its demands. 2) The 15 YSCs received a training session for trainers on the following topics: a- advanced good governance, transparency, and accountability in municipalities; b- reading and analyzing a municipal budget; c- advocacy, strategy, and tactics; and d- knowing your rights: access to public services. 15 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

16 3) Following the ToT, the Youth Shadow Councils reached out through visits, mass s and public announcements to many segments of their community. This included civil society groups such as political parties, youth organizations, womenfocused organizations, trade unions, regional syndicates, mass media, and interested individuals such as residents and businesses. Each Youth Shadow Council delivered two-day trainings to 600 community members. 4) The final activity in this phase was to conduct governorate level workshops; 6 workshops were conducted in the North, western Bekaa and central Bekaa, South, Beirut and Mount Lebanon. Success stories: 1) Five additional municipalities joined the program: Due to the positive reputation that the Musharaka project gained in the first year of its implementation, the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) provided LTA with a grant to expand the project to five new municipalities in the Central and Western Bekaa areas. These municipalities were selected and the project has already kicked off in five of them. 2) Beirut Municipal Council contributes additional funds to the developmental project: The municipality of Beirut showed a great interest in the developmental project and contributed 10 million Lebanese pounds to ensure greater exposure and impact. The mayor also promised the group of youth and the Musharaka team to contribute a higher amount to the program at a future stage. 3) Cost-sharing municipalities: 16 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

17 The municipalities that decided to join the program at their own expense have completed the first phase of trainings and are ready to go through the process of YSCs elections. 4) YSCs engagement and involvement in other activities: The youth of the Musharaka program participated in LTA s International Anti-Corruption day event in December 2012, coming from all regions of Lebanon to call for reform and advance their demands. Moreover, within the framework of the Time to Wake up campaign, which was launched by Transparency International (TI) and adopted by its chapters worldwide, LTA held a forum in Al-Sanayeh Garden (a public garden) to promote this campaign, which seeks to alert citizens towards the fight against corruption. This campaign included a petition calling for several reforms, including advocating for the implementation of the Access to Information law and introducing reforms to the electoral law. As a result, the youth volunteered to this forum with an aim to engage larger audience to sign the petition. - The youth participated in different trainings addressing the following topics: active citizenship, peace building, communication skills and social media. These trainings were mostly organized by the Development of People and Network Association- DPNA. - The YSCs contributed to different movements and events led by LTA, such as the one related to the electoral reform, access to information and transparency in the defense sector. 5) Activities in targeted municipalities: South Lebanon: - Ain Delb: In this region, which is situated in the south, the YSCs organized a summer camp to promote the principles of democracy and good governance for 60 youth, aged between 15 and 20 years. 17 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

18 - Harouf: The YSC of this region conducted an awareness campaign against drugs, targeted at the residents and specifically the youth. - Kfarsir: The official municipal council in this region decided to establish an accountability platform within the municipality; the residents will have the opportunity each week to attend a community gathering in the municipality to hold their officials accountable as well as to discuss issues related to the welfare of their regions. Furthermore, the YSCs in this region have organized an activity entitled The 1000 Lebanese Pounds Initiative ; the aim of this action was to collect money for rehabilitating the region's ambulance. - Bekaa: The YSC in this region assisted the official municipal council in compiling statistics about Syrian migrants. Furthermore, the YSC organized awareness sessions on HIV in collaboration with another association. Finally, the youth worked closely with Nahnoo Association on a project which aims at protecting and renovating public spaces in Bekaa and South Lebanon. - North Lebanon: The YSCs in the north participated in town meetings which call for stopping the war in Tripoli. Challenges: During the life of the program several challenges were faced: Political instability: Lebanon is a country where a lot of political conflicts and instability occur. In addition to internal conflicts between political parties (particularly movements of 8th and 14th of March), in 2011 the revolution in neighboring Syria came as an accelerating factor as well, particularly in the areas near the border like north of Lebanon, and the northern and central Bekaa. Many Syrian refugees moved into the surrounding regions and many conflicts and political instability were recorded;particularly in north and south 18 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

19 Lebanon, where different Salafist groups protested against the Syrian revolution and took progressive actions. Following these developments, the prime minister resigned and hence the cabinet became ineffective. The latter hindered our lobbying and advocacy initiatives, especially the effort related to the petition (previously mentioned in the above phases). Target municipalities: From the beginning of the program we faced some difficulties while approaching the municipalities. Several municipalities refused to engage in the action as soon as they knew that they would be requested to provide the municipal budget throughout the program. The same problem also arose among those who initially agreed to join the program, which resulted in their withdrawal from the program mid-way. In particular, the municipality of Saida (South Lebanon), Kfarrouman (south Lebanon), Baabda & Erbaniyeh (Mount Lebanon), Kob Elias (central Bekaa), Mrah Sfireh (North Lebanon) withdrew from the program and were respectively replaced by Ain Delb, Habbouch, Kfarsir, Yanta, Al-Rawda, Becharri. End note: The Musharaka program was definitely a success story in itself for LTA; the working team, the volunteers, the youth, facilitators and everyone who participated in this project learned a lot from this experience. Despite the difficulties faced, it remains one of the most motivating and empowering experiences. LTA will not stop at this stage but rather it will seek new opportunities in order to sustain its youth and to keep providing them with the needed support. Additionally, LTA will maintain its efforts to advocate and lobby for reform at the local level. LTA wishes to enlarge and continue this experience throughout other initiatives. BALADI P LUS: 19 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t

20 In April 2013, LTA signed a cooperation agreement with the Management System International (MSI) to implement a project entitled Baladi Plus, which is funded by USAID. LTA was approached by the responsible personnel of the project due to its extensive experience working in the regions and the municipalities. The project aims at providing the municipalities municipal councils- with technical assistance on three key topics: Project Cycle Management (PCM), Fundraising and Proposal Writing (PW). Hence, LTA reached out to relevant experts and organized five workshops targeting more than fifty municipal councils. Following these activities, one-to-one coaching will be provided to interested municipalities on the same topics. In the upcoming year, the project will be extended and deepened; a larger number of municipalities and CSOs in the same regions will be targeted and will receive trainings covering the following topics: 1) Internal bylaws, policies and procedures, code of ethics; 2) Local advocacy and community mobilization; 3) Skills of awareness raising and knowledge transfer in the local community; 4) Local development planning; and 5) Awareness on outreach, transparency, and active citizenship in local governance. 20 L e b a n e s e T r a n s p a r e n c y A s s o c i a t i o n A n n u a l R e p o r t