Lebanon: Promoting collaboration among charitable associations with different religious affiliations

17 أغسطس 2017 Lebanon

Beirut, 17th August 2017

The project, conducted in partnership with the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs, is aimed at promoting living together within a national space (Lebanon) based on the principles of citizenship and respect for pluralism. The objective is to foster joint actions on issues of common interest. The Theory of Change is that concrete collaborations contribute in building trust among the different parts of the society and go beyond potential ideological differences to gather people of different communities in a practical manner on the basis of common interests in a shared national space.

The issue of the response to the Syrian refugee crisis has been identified as a common area of concern for the whole of Lebanese society. This project proposes therefore to support a joint initiative by a number of charitable NGOs of different religious backgrounds. The combination of their respective assets might bring a significant advantage in their work in favour of Syrian refugees. Moreover, such collaboration will contribute to preventing the erosion of the social fabric.

After a year of regular meetings, six charitable associations decided to launch an umbrella association, the “Humanitarian Charities Forum”. On August 17, 2017, they held an event in Beirut and signed a MoU that establishes the framework of their future cooperations.

Facebook page of the “Humanitarian Charities Forum”:

https://www.facebook.com/HumanitarianCF

Media coverage:

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Lebanon: Promoting collaboration among charitable associations with different religious affiliations