Based on having faith in the
human being and feeling his pain, BCTS (Business Consultancy and Training
Services), under the patronage of the Ministry of Labor and in collaboration
with the General Labor Union in Lebanon and the Participation of the Ministry
of Social Affairs, has organized a forum to reveal the latest news and updates
of the “MoreThanAjob” project – “Reinforcing Social and
Solidarity Economy for the Unemployed, Uneducated, and Refugees” after 18
months of intensive work on meetings and discussions between the public and
private sectors to achieve the project's goal, in addition to the
"Training of Trainers" trainings with our partners in Lebanon,
Palestine, Jordan, Greece, and Italy. The European Union is funding this
project through the ENI CBC MED Initiative.
The Forum was opened with a video
presentation of the project, followed by a press conference featuring speeches
from the National Contact Point of the Cooperative Program across borders for
the European Union, Eng. Mohammed Itani,
the Ministry of Labor's Representative, Eng. Mariam Al Akoum, and the Ministry
of Social Affairs' Representative, Dr. Asem Abi Ali, the President of the
General Labor Union in Lebanon, Dr. Bechara Asmar and finally, Dr. Wafaa Haidamous, the Managing Director of BCTS
Mrs. Laila Al Dahouk was the Host
of the event.
Eng. Mohammed Itani
Eng. Mohammed Itani, the National
Contact Point of the Cooperative Program across borders for the European Union,
spoke about the project’s importance that will offer many job opportunities.
He also pointed to the project's
stages of training leaders in the Public Sector, particularly the Ministry of
Education (General Directorate of Vocational and Technical Education), the
Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Social Affairs, also with the
contribution of the Private Sector and organizations from civil society. Itani
also stressed on convoying all the stages of the work execution until reaching
its success as we are used to from The European Union. Furthermore, Itani
affirmed the aptitude of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers to offer
the needed support to accomplish the intended goals.
Eng. Mariam Al Akoum
Eng. Mariam Al Akoum, the
Ministry of Labor's Representative, expressed her Excellency Minister of
Labor's, Dr. Lamia Yammine's, gratitude for the efforts made within the
framework of the project to strengthen socio-economic solidarity for the
unemployed, uneducated, and refugees. She has also emphasized the Ministry of
Labor's support and inducement for this project until it achieves its righteous
goals, and to overcome the obstacles that obstruct the accomplishment of its
various stages due to its unique value, particularly in this difficult time
that Our Country is going through, and in the midst of a severe economic
crisis.
She added: “Working together to
establish a real connection between the parties involved in order to stimulate
economic activity and create a suitable environment to solve unemployment and
achieve the highest degree of solidarity with refugees and immigrants without
education. Eliminate potential risks, and enhance their educational capacity
and experience, and restrict them to provide the necessary support to small and
medium-sized institutions to achieve the improved state that we will rely on to
create future economic development and encourage economic growth.” Al Akoum
noted that the results of the project began to be reflected in the increase of
the vocational training of young people and their real contribution to
production and work, which of course marked an important success.
Dr. Asem Abi Ali
Dr. Asem Abi Ali, the
representative of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Chief Supervisor of the
Lebanon Crisis Response Plan, thanked BCTS and all partners, especially the
European Union for the project, and wished the success of this project due to
its optimistic outcomes on our social and economic actuality. The crisis is
being repressed and accelerated, from the financial and monetary crisis to the
COVID19 crisis that affects the powerful country and the most powerful economy,
to the port explosion and its impact. more than 60% of Lebanese and 9 out of 10
refugees live below the poverty line, much less more than 40%. The unemployment
rate is high, all of which has enabled Lebanese people to live a dignified life
and achieve almost impossible youth dreams and goals. From here, the project is
symbolizing hope and efforts to improve this. This is an opportunity to build
capacity and create jobs for the Lebanese host community as well as the refugee
community. Similar projects will reduce pressure and confrontation, increase
harmony and contribution, provided that they comply with general laws and
conditions and are under the control of the Ministry of Labor, especially in
sectors permitted by law to regulate refugee employment.
Dr. Asem emphasized the important
role of the civil society in the process of rejuvenating the crisis. He added
that without the synergy and collective efforts of the country, the cooperation
of the civil society and public institutions, and the support of friends from
all Lebanon's countries, especially the EU, the crisis couldn’t be overcome.
Finally, on behalf of the
Ministry of Social Affairs, he emphasized the need to separate the principle of
social solidarity of host communities and refugees from the legal principle of
prohibition of mergers and any form of relocation, and emphasized the complete
rights of refugees. This is an honor to be able to return to Syria safely and
voluntarily. The skills they acquired here rebuild their country.
Dr. Bechara Al Asmar
The president of the General
Labor Union in Lebanon, Dr. Bechara Al Asmar, stated that the alliance between
the Federation of Trade Unions and the Forum is based on supporting the
workforce in various ways, from an initiative to strengthen solidarity in all
scopes to a target group using well-designed, tangible technology to achieve
this goal of justice. Al Asmar believes that this forum and other similar
seminars are the glimpses of the road coming out of the tunnel in this deep
darkness, while the Federation of General Labor Union takes steps to deal with
the repression of citizens and residents and even dangerous crises in all the
groups. The ultimate goal of the General Labor Union is to resolve and maintain
the remaining dignity of those who are humiliated in front of gas stations,
pharmacies, and bakeries every day in the Lebanese society.
Finally, Al Asmar expressed
gratitude to the countries committed to the project and expressed willingness
to carry out cooperative initiatives with all relevant parties and this
specific organization. He also asked different donors to disseminate this
approach, these experiences, ambition and financial support to all parties who
hope and can contribute to the success of the project.
Dr. Wafaa Haidamous
After welcoming the audience and
journalists and thanking them for their contributions to this forum, Dr. Wafaa
Haidamous, the Managing Director of BCTS who planned the forum, noted that the
project has inspired people to believe that Lebanon is an end goal. A country
that will not perish even in the difficult economic, social and medical
conditions that we live in.
She added: “From here on, we will
draw attention to the role and importance of social integration in the sectors
with which our institution has been collaborating over the years, especially in
this project for about 18 months, as well as in the dialogue between
governments. The importance of this. On one hand, the institutions, on the
other hand, are participants in the organizations and institutions involved in
the work of social integration”. She also briefly presented the objectives of
the meeting, which began in the early stages of the project launched in 2019
and will continue until September 2022. Effective cooperation at all levels and
comprehensive explanations of the current policies of public institutions by:
First, she noted the importance
of recommendations to adjust these policies, provided that the public and
private sectors cooperate.
Second, she emphasized on the
important role played by the European Union in strengthening local partners in
the Mediterranean region, especially in Lebanon. It should be noted that around
forty projects are currently being implemented.
Third, it believes that the
digital communication platform provides a continuous component of the project,
and any part of civil society can benefit from it to show any progress that
each relevant country is making, which will create employment opportunities for
minorities. and for those in serious need.
Fourth, Training of Trainers is
necessary for the project, and BCTS was responsible for preparing training
materials for participating countries. These trainings are carried out
virtually. Subsequently, each team of trainers from each country that
participates in the partner has received training from the person in charge of
the public sector and from the participants of the social and solidarity organization.
They are more than 150 people.
Dr. Haidamous highlighted on the
"Sub grants” that will be granted to the best project in each country with
a value of 20,000 Euros for each project, abiding to the formerly declared
conditions. The results will be announced between August and September 2021.
She concluded her speech by
conveying gratitude to the project’s partners due to the challenges and
difficult situations they faced, and they have demonstrated the ability to
conquer any obstacle and produce successful cross-border partnerships.
Dr. Wafaa has expressed her
gratitude to BCTS team, and greeted the hard work of the friends and beloved
ones, who have put all their efforts with sincere love, to make this forum
successful. She added: “Together, we can create job opportunities especially
for young people in Lebanon to keep them in their home country”.
Participants: The Administrative
and Legal Advisor to the Minister of Social Affairs, Mr. Pierre Baz, Mr. Hassan
Fakih, the Vice President of the General Labor Union, Dr. Ahmed Jaber, the Chairman
of the Social Affairs Committee of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists,
and Ms. Hanadi Mikdash, Head of the Employment and Guidance Directorate at the
National Employment Office, moderated the panel, Mr. Joseph Farah.
With the virtual live presence of
Dr. Imad Ibrik, the main Beneficiary, from An-Najah National University
(Palestine), the project manager, Ms. Giulia Tarantino from (CESIE),
responsible of the project in Italy, and Dr. Nabil Constantine, specialist in
educational administration and the Managing Director of BCTS, Dr. Wafaa
Haidamous, moderated the session Dr. Pascale Chemali.
Finally, the certificates were
awarded to the trainees. Dr. Camale Cherfane read out the lectures of the
trainees and thanked BCTS for organizing the project during these difficult
days, especially the training theme and its importance.
Participants visited the booths
of participating organizations and institutions under the initiative of the
European Union to achieve coordination and unity between them.
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