Activities

Please find information on our recent activities below. You will be able to read more about them in our next newsletter which comes out very soon.

Workshop Series:

Strengthening the Independence of the Judiciary and Citizen Access through Enhancing the Organizational System of Nabatieh Court
(Nabatieh, March – October 2011)

In an intensive workshop series prepared by the FES and Sheild, local court employees were informed, educated and trained on issues ofinternational Human Law and Human Rights and invited to discuss and implement them from a local perspective. Special focus was inter alia put on international laws and regulations dealing with war crimes, suspicions of torture and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), and the controversy how international Human Rights mechanisms focus on dealing only with governments without explicitly including individuals’ Human Rights in particular.

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Seminar:

Administrative Decentralization
(Rachaya El-Wadi, 9th – 10th September)

Paradoxically, Lebanon’s political fragementation does not lead to a de-centralization but to a monopolization of power by centralized and rival political parties. However, in order to support local socio-political and economic development, targeted and structured administrative decentralization is vital. In cooperation with Afak association, the FES supports the strengthening of the role of stateinstitutions, the implementation of good governance, transparency, and accountability, and the fight against corruption and cronyism. The aim of this seminar was to build capacities and to strengthen civil society locally in order to support its contribution to the implementation of socio-economic and political reforms. The seminar furthermore served as a platform allowing for the networkingof different actors concerned enabling them to effectively lobby for decentralization.

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Conference:

The Copenhagen Climate Change Conference: A Year and a Half Onward, Gauging the Realities of Lebanon’s Pledge to Produce 12% of the Country’s Energy from Renewable Sources by 2020
(Beirut, September 27th)

Lebanon’s government pledged in 2009 that the country would produce 12% of its energy from renewable resources. Yet, more than a year later we can see that still almost all of the energy is produced from fossil fuels. The Conference organized in collaboration with the Lebanese Environmental Party aimed at bringing together political actors and civil society in order to evaluate the present situation concerning the progress and to give inspirations for future engagement. Ministers, members of parliament, ministry servants as well as experts, academics and other interested people, participated in the conference and engaged in lively discussions.

Note: The FES launched a publication on the topic in cooperation with the LEP which is available in Arabic