Lebanon
RTC's work in Lebanon in partnership with the University of York's Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU)
Lebanon: Governance and Human Rights
In Lebanon, democratic governance and human rights have been undermined by violent regional conflict and hindered by entrenched interests within the domestic political system. The complex, mutually reinforcing relationship between the regional conflict situation and the internal political system has been exacerbated by the absence of a political consensus on the nature and implementation of the reform needed for a more stable society.
Our work
RTC and the Post-war Reconstruction and Development (PRDU) of York University have proposed a partnership action to the EC Country-based Support Scheme to build Lebanese civil society's capacity to promote human rights and reform, through enabling civil society organisations to tackle more effectively the blockages to reform which affect all sectors, geographic regions and thematic issues, and to create common platforms within civil society to present coordinated recommendations for promoting reform and human rights. Finally the programme also proposes to strengthen state-civil cooperation in these critical areas.
Who we will work with
The two target groups for the programme are civil society organisations who work on issues of democratic and political reform and the promotion of human rights who are mandated to engage at grassroots level and advocate at decision-making level, and who are willing to work cooperatively across confessional, ethnic and sectarian divisions. A second target group is selected municipal council members who will become an increasingly powerful force for development, human rights, and the promotion of participatory principles and practices.