IMTI oversaw operations at the KCDC as part of our goal to assist in sustainable development efforts in the region.  IMTI hosted numerous cultural, social, and spiritual events at the multi-functional facility.  The facility and equipment were made available to local, national, and international not-for-profit organizations and business firms for training.  Thirteen events were hosted at the facility where a total of 415 people attended (Ref. attached list of IMTI 2005 events).

In addition, IMTI ran the public library, making it available to community members including children, students, women, elderly, etc.   IMTI also provided internship opportunities to three graduate students from St. Joseph University and the Lebanese University and has arranged for two new, summer 2006, interns - one graduate student from Seton Hall University in the USA and the other from the University of Sydney in Australia.  Interns engage in work in the areas of capacity building, human rights and public policies.

The KCDC has always been committed to assisting young women and youth in particular.  Assisting women in ways that will enhance their quality of life allows them to serve as conduits for change. Youth in Lebanon today, represent a generation many of whom were born and raised during the civil war.  Those young people need a brighter, more hopeful future to look forward to. And most importantly a future where the role they can play is recognized and encouraged rather than overlooked or dismissed.  Participation, be it their involvement in civil society organizations, elections or youth networks, is of paramount importance – for them and for Lebanon’s future.

Lebanon enjoys a theoretically functional democracy.  Although democratic practices exist, the mechanisms supporting them require on-going support and attention for Lebanon to achieve a more applicable and working democracy with higher standards and expectations from the citizens and the leaders they elect.

Women and youth in the Kesserwan area are encouraged to share their concerns and their priorities with CSOs and the media, and to acquire skills that will enable them to influence public policies.  By offering women and young citizens an environment that supports political and cultural interaction with CSOs and the media, we increase the level of participation in general and encourage the largest two segments of the population, women and youth, to get more actively involved in the democratic processes within the country.  Most importantly, we demystify their image of “untouchability” to the people.  The following two examples demonstrate our commitment to achieving our goals:

Entrepreneurial training for small and medium enterprises (SMEs):  Special training sessions on Management, Marketing and Finance related issues were conducted for women active in the agro-industry (food processing) sector.  The sessions were held at various women owned and run cooperatives in the Kesserwan and Jbeil areas (Kfardebian, Lehfed, Qartaba and Mayrouba).  The sessions were held as part of small business incubator projects launched by the YMCA and sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in an effort to improve their standard of living, make use of technology, and create new job opportunities.  In addition, the women were trained in planning and implementing a promotional campaign for their products and were taken on field visits to major supermarkets in the area to further train them on consumer needs, demands, what a Point of Purchase means, how it affect them, what a Shelf Keep Unit (SKU) is, etc.

Civic empowerment and active citizenship:  A series of training andcommunity mobilization activities were implemented in an effort to encourage marginalized young people to become active citizens and to involve them in "public issues" so that they can develop public skills, create awareness on public services and cultivate a public identity.  A five-day basic training session on “Citizenship and Leadership” was implemented. Around 70 young men and women from the Kesserwan area attended.  The activities focused on enhancing democracy and a democratic culture, their rights and duties and decision making.  The goal was to instill in the youth the ideas of transparency and accountability of citizens and their leaders and to foster better cooperation between CSOs and the media.  The activities’ purpose was to encourage civic participation in public life, particularly among women and youth, through the promotion of the values and practices of active citizenship.