PVE Lebanon — National Unit for Preventing Violent Extremism
About the Unit
The Lebanese National Unit for Preventing Violent Extremism, presided by the PVE National Coordinator, is responsible for leading the government’s agenda on PVE, acting as the single point of entry for international cooperation and coordinating implementation of the National Action Plan, in partnership with relevant ministries, civil society organizations, local stakeholders, academia, and members of the National Network for Preventing Violent Extremism.
The overarching objective of the National Strategy is to pre-emptively immunise the Lebanese society from causes of susceptibility to violent extremism.
General Objectives
The overarching objective of the National Strategy is to pre-emptively immunise the Lebanese society from causes of susceptibility to violent extremism.
Regaining Social Trust
Trust among the members of a society and between the society and the state are the primary sources of social cohesion and stability. Its presence is positively correlated with increasing and sustained economic growth, effective institutional performance and the development of capacities necessary to confront the challenges of violent extremism. Increasing trust within Lebanese society is the most important way to counter the polarizing power of extremist narratives.
Promoting Citizenship
Promoting identity, citizenship and the sense of national belonging among all members of Lebanese society is a key goal for the strategy of preventing violent extremism.
Achieving Social Justice
Social justice is a general principle that should be pursued and that should be the starting point of all public policies.
Monitoring Social Transformations
As a result of the complex and cross-cutting nature of the challenge of violent extremism, as indicated in Section 2 of the General Framework, a preventive and proactive response requires that its signals be monitored and considered within the context of social transformations occurring at national and local levels, by focusing on the interactions among the components of society and understanding their determinants, causes and effects. This should be done over an extended period of time, since such interactions occur in a cumulative way over time.
Strategic Pillars
The strategic pillars focus on the Lebanese government's primary responsibility for preventing violent extremism in order to prevent the existence of an environment conducive to the development of such extremism. The government does this by virtue of its function as a guarantor of social peace and stability, as well as in affirming the principles of the culture of the national state; promoting citizenship and the values of the national belonging of all the Lebanese; ensuring that the requirements for equitable and sustainable development are met; and that public and individual rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and the law are respected.
Pillar 1
Dialogue and Conflict Prevention
Pillar 2
The Promotion of Good Governance
Pillar 3
Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law
Pillar 4
Urban/Rural Development and Engaging Local Communities
Pillar 5
Gender Equality and Empowering Women
Pillar 6
Education, Training and Skills Development
Pillar 7
Economic Development and Job Creation
Pillar 8
Strategic Communications, Informatics and Social Media
Pillar 9
Empowering Youth
National Consultations
Throughout the year 2019, nine consultative workshops were organized, each tackling one of the nine pillars of the PVE strategy. The workshops engaged 850 participants representing over 300 organizations from civil society, government entities, academia, private sector and international organizations. The workshops represented an opportunity for the application of a multi-agency approach in Lebanon.
Government ministries engaged through the Inter-Ministerial Working Group
Consultative workshops held throughout 2019, one per strategic pillar
Participants in the national consultations
Organizations represented, from civil society to government and academia
Official Documents
National Strategy for Preventing Violent Extremism
This document presents the Lebanese National Strategy for Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE). Resulting from the national coordination with all of government, the strategy was endorsed by the Government of Lebanon on 27 March 2018. It provides a general background of the reality …
The Lebanese National Action Plan for Preventing Violent Extremism
This document presents the Lebanese National Action Plan for Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE). Resulting from the national consultations with all of society and released by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the document is consistent with the objectives, standards, an…
Strategic Partners
- European Union
- The Canadian Government
- The Danish Government
- The Swiss Government
- United Nations Development Programme
- The National Initiative for the Centennial of Great Lebanon
Endorsed 27 March 2018
National Strategy for Preventing Violent Extremism
Developed through consultation with the whole of the Lebanese Government and endorsed unanimously by Cabinet at Baabda Palace.
The Strategy Document
This document presents the Lebanese National Strategy for Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE). Resulting from the national coordination with all of government, the strategy was endorsed by the Government of Lebanon on 27 March 2018. It provides a general background of the reality of violent extremism in Lebanon, the rationale behind its development and the steps that were taken to formulate it. It outlines the key governmental positions adopted by the strategy, its general framework and the definitions of violent extremism and prevention, in addition to the standards that have been taken into consideration when developing it. Finally, the document introduces the nine pillars and areas of activity for the strategy that have been agreed upon by the ministries.
The Roadmap
In 2016, the Government of Lebanon (GoL) initiated a process to develop a national strategy for Preventing Violent Extremism, which came as a positive response to the United Nations Secretary General’s global Plan of Action for Preventing Violent Extremism. The Strategy’s key positions and strategic objectives were developed and endorsed throughout two high-level consultative meetings presided by the Prime Minister and attended by the GoL ministers and the international community. The GoL endorsed the strategy on the 27th of March 2018.
Foreword
The Lebanese people have shown a high degree of national and social cohesion and solidarity, as they have rallied around their national state and its executive, legislative and judicial institutions to counter violent extremism which targets social peace and socioeconomic stability. The Government has entrusted an all-ministry national committee with developing a national and scientifically-based strategy in accordance with international standards to prevent violent extremism; and based on the premise that social cohesion and order within the framework of a modern, strong and just national state are the main deterrents to violent extremism.
Furthermore, a national definition of violent extremism that is inspired by the characteristics of the Lebanese reality has been developed and helps to further understand the role of and need for a national state.
The Government considers the unanimous adoption of the national strategy, at the Cabinet meeting on 27 March 2018 at Baabda Palace, a national achievement that reflects the will of the Lebanese people to protect their national unity and social and economic cohesion against the threats and risks of violent extremism.
The Government highly values the cooperation that culminated in the production of this strategy, including with the Office of the Resident Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Swiss Government, the National Initiative for the Centennial of Greater Lebanon and the international entities and institutions that have expressed their readiness to cooperate in the implementation of the strategy and the achievement of its national objectives.
Saad Hariri President of the Council of Ministers
Foreword to the National Strategy for Preventing Violent Extremism, 2018.
General Objectives
The overarching objective of the National Strategy is to pre-emptively immunise the Lebanese society from causes of susceptibility to violent extremism.
The general objectives of the strategy are:
Trust among the members of a society and between the society and the state are the primary sources of social cohesion and stability. Its presence is positively correlated with increasing and sustained economic growth, effective institutional performance and the development of capacities necessary to confront the challenges of violent extremism. Increasing trust within Lebanese society is the most important way to counter the polarizing power of extremist narratives.
Every public policy and program aimed at supporting trust-building among the various components of society on the one hand, and state institutions on the other, is seen as a strategic priority.
- The State encourages every scientific research effort that focuses on measuring the concept and indicators of trust among Lebanese citizens and institutions as well as the means of promoting and building trust and the subsequent effects on social peace and prosperity.
- Complying with the approach of the Government to regain trust is based on the importance of national engagement in this process.
- Promoting identity, citizenship and the sense of national belonging among all members of Lebanese society is a key goal for the strategy of preventing violent extremism.
- Promoting the national culture of the state as the guarantor of identity, citizenship and national belonging with responsibility for the implementation and follow-up of this strategy is essential.
- Social justice is a general principle that should be pursued and that should be the starting point of all public policies.
- The concept of social justice is an integrated concept that includes individuals, social components and geographic areas.
- As a result of the complex and cross-cutting nature of the challenge of violent extremism, as indicated in Section 2 of the General Framework, a preventive and proactive response requires that its signals be monitored and considered within the context of social transformations occurring at national and local levels, by focusing on the interactions among the components of society and understanding their determinants, causes and effects. This should be done over an extended period of time, since such interactions occur in a cumulative way over time.
- Universities, research centers and official, community and international institutions will undertake a scientific effort to monitor, study and follow up on social transformations in order to prevent the emergence of violent extremism.
The Lebanese Context
Due to the geographical and strategic location of Lebanon, its presence in a regional environment where violent extremism is proliferating, there is a need to maintain security and social peace and safeguard Lebanon’s social diversity. The prevention of violent extremism in Lebanon, as an effort to address this need, is particularly important now.
The PVE activity has been constantly ongoing since the launch of the Strategy Development Process in 2016. Although Lebanon has gone through hard times and has undergone vacancies in executive posts such as the Presidency and Government, the PVE Unit has been able to operate and engage with all-of-government and all-of-society, as well as establish its lead partnerships, ever since its establishment.
However, the situation has changed ever since the Lebanese PVE agenda was launched. An unprecedented socioeconomic and political crisis, a pandemic that devastated lives and exhausted the health system, and the port explosion in Beirut, in addition to the 1.5 million Syrian refugees, the 23 months of government vacancies, national uprising and political instability and fragility, all have been challenges forming a multi-faceted crisis. On the other hand, with the recent developments in the Syrian crisis, there is a pertinent risk of return of radicalized individuals to Lebanon.
Moreover, COVID-19 has caused different consequences active and also responded to the pandemic. This reality created new risks and challenges for the effort to prevent violent extremism. Hence, PVE is a priority now more than ever.
Definitions and Lexicon
PVE Concepts
Based on inter-governmental coordination through conceptual papers, studies, meetings and consultations.
Agreed Definitions
Based on the inter-governmental coordination through conceptual papers, studies, meetings and consultations, the ministries of the Government of Lebanon have agreed to the following basic definitions of Violent Extremism and Prevention.
Definition of “Violent Extremism”
The definition of “violent extremism” varies according to the approach adopted. Therefore, the Strategy adopted a definition of “violent extremism” that includes the following three points:
- The spread of individual and collective hatred that may lead to extremist violence.
- The rejection of diversity and nonacceptance of others, and the use of violence as a means of expression and influence.
- A behavior that threatens values that ensure social stability.
Definition of “Prevention”
Prevention entails the development of policies that can be transformed into a societal culture that will enhance the community’s abilities to protect itself against violent extremism.
Communities are subject to permanent social, economic, cultural and developmental transformations. The culture of prevention should become a sustainable behavior that materializes through:
- Raising awareness about the risks of violent extremism and by monitoring and anticipating social, cultural, developmental and behavioural transformations at the individual and community levels that may lead to violent extremism.
- Developing a list of social, economic, environmental, cultural, security and other risks and developing targeted responses through the establishment of specialized social observatories.
Lexicon
It is important to differentiate between key intersecting concepts which could impact the understanding and intervention of policymakers and researchers. The NAP recognizes that although fundamentalism, radicalization and extremism are interconnected phenomena, using these terms interchangeably is an analytical error.
As illustrated in the figure below, this NAP defines the concepts as follow:
- Fundamentalism is belief in the strict and literal interpretation of texts, teachings, or content of a given ideology.
- Radicalization encompasses the features of fundamentalism but distinguished by the deep intention to transform and influence society towards the adoption of the ideology or mental image of the world.
- Extremism is the rejection of diversity, the non-acceptance of the other. Extremism becomes violent when extremists resort to the utilization of violence as a means to influence society and transform it.
2021 – 2023
The Lebanese National Action Plan
Developed through consultation with the whole of Lebanese society and released by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
The Action Plan
This document presents the Lebanese National Action Plan for Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE). Resulting from the national consultations with all of society and released by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the document is consistent with the objectives, standards, and 9 pillars of the National Strategy for PVE.
Since the national consultations, the PVE Unit has worked closely with its technical partners to detail the plan and developing its theory of change. The NAP classifies its actions under all 9 pillars of the National Strategy, allocating a timeframe per action over the timeframe of the NAP (2021 – 2023). The NAP crosscuts with 2 principles: Consistency with the National Strategy as well as Agility and Responsiveness. The NAP covers 4 specific target segments while aligning to the standards of the strategy: “No category, group, region, or belief shall be stigmatized.”
PVE actions
Strategic pillars
Types of activity
Target segments
Official PDF · 82 pages · opens in a new tab
National Consultations
The key objectives of the GoL for the post-strategy-endorsement phase were to formulate an action plan to transform the strategy’s objectives into concrete actions based on a whole-of-society approach; to form the National PVE Network (PVEN); to develop systems of early warning and monitoring and evaluation; and to commission research on violent extremism.
Preparing for the National Action Planning process, several activities have been implemented with key stakeholders. Mainly 8 preparatory meetings have been conducted with 59 organizations (Religious leaders, parliamentary committees, banks, ministries, the Strong Cities Network, international organizations, & international experts) represented by 192 participants. These meetings focused on the purpose and scope of the NAP.
Throughout the year 2019, nine consultative workshops were organized, each tackling one of the nine pillars of the PVE strategy. The workshops engaged 850 participants representing over 300 organizations from civil society, government entities, academia, private sector and international organizations. The workshops represented an opportunity for the application of a multi-agency approach in Lebanon.
While the strategy was developed through an extensive process of dialogue and engagement with the Whole of Government, (involving all twenty-nine government ministries in 2017-2018), the action plan was developed through a similar engagement and consultation exercise, only with the Whole of Society.
Scope
The scope of the national action plan focuses on the following 8 types of activities.
Capacity Building
NAP shall include capacity building opportunities for governmental, non-governmental and international actors on the necessary tools and concepts of PVE in the Lebanese context.
Research and Evidence Development
NAP shall support scientific research and evidence development that focus on identifying and understanding the root causes of VE and impact analysis for potential PVE activities.
Policy Reform
NAP shall include programs which aim to change policy and legislations necessary for achieving the designated outcomes.
Early Warning
NAP shall include early warning instruments that help the government and the different stakeholders be informed about emerging factors and events which could potentially stimulate or otherwise precipitate violent extremism.
Rehabilitation and Disengagement
NAP shall step on specific grey areas between Counterterrorism (CT) and PVE. Particularly, NAP shall include programs and projects which are related to prisons rehabilitation and human rights respect in CT efforts.
National and Local-level Programs
NAP shall aim at achieving its outcomes on the local and national levels taking into consideration the PVE strategy’s key standards concerning stigmatization and labelling of specific group with VE.
Modus Operandi
NAP shall include programs and interventions which understand and utilize the tools, technologies, and spaces which the VE groups utilize in recruitment, indoctrination, and public communication for their cause.
Strategic Communication and Awareness
The NAP shall include strategic communication programs which deal with the narratives component of the violent extremism system. The role of these programs is to counter the narratives spread by VE groups and introduce alternative ones which introduce social values and norms that support social cohesion and citizenship. In addition, NAP shall support the development of local and national networks among concerned actors.
Target Segments
Although NAP shall target all sorts of social groups in Lebanon by national-level and local-level programs, it shall give specific attention to the following social groups.
Youth
The PVE Unit consider young people to be at the frontline of preventing and responding to violent extremism. Youth in the age brackets between (16-35) are among the key targets for radicalization in Lebanon. However, this does not suggest that youth should be labelled or stigmatized by violent extremism. Youth shall rather be approached as both targets and partners in the implementation of the NAP.
Women
PVE is considered to be a highly gendered issue in which gender and women empowerment interventions are necessary for maintaining social peace. Even though there is no available evidence on the role of women in radicalization or deradicalization in Lebanon, “women-led and/or women-focused interventions that reflect the complex realities of women’s roles and relationships within their own families and communities, as well as their potential or actual roles in violent extremism itself, can play an important role.”
Prisoners
NAP includes interventions in Lebanese prisons which aim at rehabilitation of prisoners with VE linkages and prisons system reform with the objective of preventing radicalization in prisons as well as helping the reintegration of prisoners in society.
Vulnerable Communities
NAP includes activities that target communities which suffer from exclusion; face socioeconomic hardship and deprived from basic services, including host communities which suffered from the influx of refugees and host refugees’ camps. In addition, social reconciliation and cohesion activities are important to be conducted between segregated and polarized groups.
Actions by Pillar
The plan sets out 45 actions across the nine strategic pillars. Each action below opens the official Action Plan PDF at the page where it is set out in full, with its outputs, assumptions, timeframe, partners and indicators.
- P3.A1 Rehabilitation & Reintegration of Children Associated with Armed Groups p. 35
- P3.A2 PVE Capacity Building for Prisons Personnel p. 35
- P3.A3 Study on the Construction of New Prison Buildings p. 36
- P3.A4 New Beginnings Program: Rehabilitating Violent Extremists p. 36
- P3.A5 PVE Capacity Building for Justice and Rule of Law Professionals p. 37
- P3.A6 At-Risk Child Protection p. 38
- P3.A7 Rehabilitation of Minor/Juvenile Prisoners p. 38
- P5.A1 Media Capacity Building on Gender Sensitivity & Awareness p. 45
- P5.A2 Women-related Obligations Review and Vulnerability Assessment p. 45
- P5.A3 Rehabilitation of Women Prisoners p. 46
- P5.A4 Increasing Resilience of At-Risk Women p. 46
- P5.A5 Women as Actors in Building Resilience p. 47
- P5.A6 Gender Mainstreaming in PVE p. 47
- P6.A1 General Students’ Social Survey p. 51
- P6.A2 Assessment of Educational Institutions Ecology and Vulnerability p. 51
- P6.A3 Non-Formal Education Activities on Dialogue and Resilience p. 52
- P6.A4 Formal Education Promoting Active Citizenship p. 52
- P6.A5 Safe Education at Home p. 53
- P6.A6 Governmental Plan to Decrease School Drop-out p. 54
- P6.A7 Enhancing Vocational Education in Vulnerable Communities p. 54
- P8.A1 Research on Online Radicalization & Strategic Communication p. 61
- P8.A2 Standardized PVE Strategic Communications Framework p. 62
- P8.A3 Capacity Building on PVE Communications and Alternative Narratives p. 62
- P8.A4 Media Campaigns & Media Spaces for Youth p. 63
- P8.A5 Lebanese Internet Referral Unit & Prevention of Hate Speech p. 64
Official PDF · 82 pages · opens in a new tab
Actions at a Glance
Nine Pillars
Strategic Pillars
Each pillar sets out objectives and the policies and areas of activity contributed by the ministries of the Government of Lebanon.
The Pillars
The strategic pillars focus on the Lebanese government's primary responsibility for preventing violent extremism in order to prevent the existence of an environment conducive to the development of such extremism. The government does this by virtue of its function as a guarantor of social peace and stability, as well as in affirming the principles of the culture of the national state; promoting citizenship and the values of the national belonging of all the Lebanese; ensuring that the requirements for equitable and sustainable development are met; and that public and individual rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and the law are respected.
In this context, the conceptual papers presented by all ministries emphasized their inherent role in preventing violent extremism, and the need to develop new programs to accomplish this goal in addition to maintaining existing programs. The papers also stressed the need for continuous coordination among ministries in implementing this strategy due to the intersecting roles and functions and the need to consult with the non-governmental economic, social, and cultural organizations in setting, implementing, and evaluating the strategy.
The papers submitted by the ministries emphasized the vital role that the international community—organizations and donor countries—should play in supporting the Government of Lebanon in the implementation of this Strategy, including technical support, transfer of international expertise, and capacity building of national institutions and their staff.
The strategy’s pillars are as follows:
Pillar 1
Dialogue and Conflict Prevention
Pillar 2
The Promotion of Good Governance
Pillar 3
Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law
Pillar 4
Urban/Rural Development and Engaging Local Communities
Pillar 5
Gender Equality and Empowering Women
Pillar 6
Education, Training and Skills Development
Pillar 7
Economic Development and Job Creation
Pillar 8
Strategic Communications, Informatics and Social Media
Pillar 9
Empowering Youth
Pillar 1
Dialogue and Conflict Prevention
Objectives
The pillar of Dialogue and Conflict Prevention is central to the implementation of the Strategy for Preventing Violent Extremism. Dialogue is indeed both a goal and a means: it is a goal since it establishes the values of pluralism, acceptance of others and reliance on peaceful means to resolve problems. It is also a means used by civilized democratic societies to deal with their social components. This is linked to the fact that the greater the space of dialogue among individuals and groups, the less likely that conflicts will erupt. Therefore, Dialogue and Conflict Prevention should be seen not only as a stand-alone category, but rather as one in which all the following areas intersect.
Policies and Areas of Activity
Ministry of Education and Higher Education
- Engage in civic education and the promotion of the concepts of citizenship, social order and the role of state institutions in the prevention of conflicts and violence.
- Provide training in nonviolent conflict resolution in schools and universities, training in mechanisms and strategies for nonviolent action, as well as engaging in social and civic work.
Ministry of Culture
- Use locations and heritage and cultural sites as platforms to highlight the culture of peace and renounce violence and extremism.
- Support cultural events and programs that promote the culture of diversity, respect for difference and citizenship, and allocate funds from art and heritage funds to support artistic and cultural initiatives that call for the rejection of violent extremism and the promotion of a culture of constructive dialogue.
Ministry of Youth and Sports
Develop training programs for young people in the concepts of citizenship, prevention of violent extremism, social integration and respect for national diversity, in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Ministry of Social Affairs
These objectives include a variety of approaches to countering divergence from social norms and tensions that may lead to polarization and conflicts.
- Supporting the efforts of municipalities and local communities to reduce tensions between Lebanese society and Syrian refugees.
- Providing support to the poorest families through social programs such as the electronic food voucher, which would lessen the anger and resentment of the poor.
- Supporting the National Program for the Prevention of Addiction through the provision of training in ways of preventing addiction, adopting community dialogue and mobilizing efforts to promote a culture of dialogue.
- Organizing individual and family meetings aimed at reconciliation within the family, raising awareness about the role of parents and strengthening family ties.
- Organizing training sessions for the reintegration and rehabilitation of prisoners before their release and upon their return to their family, in collaboration with Ministry of Justice.
Ministry of the Displaced
- Complete the deepening of national reconciliation at the national and local levels in order to diminish all forms of divisive and polarizing discourse and narrative by encouraging opportunities for interaction between residents and returnees.
- Establish non-formal activities for school and university students, including topics of dialogue, conflict resolution and rejection of discrimination, in the same way the Ministry made sure to establish a “safe passage” in the aftermath of the civil war, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
Minister of State for Women’s Affairs
Invest in the creation of spaces for social dialogue and trust-building through:
- Supporting local and community organizations’ efforts to build and maintain safe spaces for societal dialogue that brings together various sectors within society to discuss issues of common interest in order to enhance communication that crosses gender and age barriers.
- Engaging, supporting and strengthening civil society organizations to allow them to play their role in building peace, promoting a culture of dialogue and democracy, and in policy development and implementation.
Ministry of State for Displaced Affairs
Strengthen the culture of the centrality of the human being, all of whom should be entitled to respect, in recognition of the right of all to their differences.
Ministry of State for Parliamentary Affairs
Organize a national consultative process for dialogue on the role of the legislative authority in preventing violent extremism.
Pillar 2
The Promotion of Good Governance
Objectives
- Develop the institutional capacities of the state agencies and their coordination mechanisms.
- Build the capacities of technical and administrative staff of state and social institutions.
- Affirm the values and practices of transparency, accountability and the fight against corruption.
- Rely on research institutions and the findings of scientific research, especially in the field of early warning signals.
Policies and Areas of Activity
Ministry of Interior and Municipalities
Train and qualify security agents in effective communication skills and mechanisms to prevent violent extremism and ways to read early signs and indicators of extremism through its basic messages.
Ministry of Tourism
- Establish a human resources management department in each ministry, as is the case with the private sector. These will follow up on employees’ situations, identify their problems, and contribute to the provision of solutions by motivating them materially and morally to effectively perform their tasks, so as to make them better able to enhance trust and reduce tensions associated with their work.
- Expand the role of the Department of Tourism Development through the dedication of units concerned with the most important types of tourism (sports, health, environmental, religious, etc).
- Prepare and train agents of the tourist police in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities in anticipation of any acts that may fall under the category of violent extremism, as well as to maintain stability and tourism security.
Ministry of Social Affairs
- Provide an accurate database of the poorest households to government decision-makers to improve performance and distribute aid equitably.
- Develop a strategic plan to streamline procedures and human resources management, in cooperation with the Ministry of State for Administrative Reform (OMSAR).
Ministry of Industry
- Establish information systems that allow all ministries to deliver their services electronically in order to save citizens’ time and effort, and hence, increase citizens’ trust in the State.
- Increase the investment in developing the capacity of administrative cadres in the ministry.
- Reinforce the coordination among various departments like the customs department and the ministries of public works and transportation, economy and trade, agriculture and finance.
Minister of Justice
- Identify the needs, develop and build capacities of the prison administration, and provide logistical and material support to the inspection team in the prisons’ directorate, in addition to supporting auxiliary personnel in order to increase the effectiveness of prison oversight.
- Cooperate with the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities with regard to prisons and the transfer process of the prison administration from the Ministry of Interior to the Ministry of Justice.
Ministry of Finance
Balanced and equitable development of financial policies requires capacity building for the administrative and technical cadres within the ministry and its various directorates, on the one hand, and executive units at the level of ministries and municipalities, on the other.
Ministry of State for Planning Affairs
Develop and rehabilitate the infrastructure of the national planning system to allow for the development of balanced development policies and the establishment of a mechanism for coordinated planning among the state departments in order to achieve equitable development and social integration.
Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform (OMSAR)
- Link administrative reform plans with the objective of preventing violent extremism, especially through a rehabilitation program of the government administration system staff, including appropriate material in the training programs to help staff understand violent extremism and ways to confront it.
- Link the digital transformation project to prevent violent extremism by including therein cyber-violence and terrorism-prevention programs and systems.
- Develop the digital transformation project to the level of open government, providing the citizenry with interactive participation in decision-making and policy-making processes, thus easing the feeling of marginalization which is one of the reasons behind violent extremism.
- Introduce the principles of public service into the Lebanese system of public administration. These principles aim at turning the administration into a means to encourage active citizenship and work for the achievement of public benefit.
- Work towards the implementation of laws regarding access to information in view of the relevance of such access for strengthening the accountability of the government to the citizens’ needs as a proactive measure to prevent violent extremism.
- Accelerate the implementation of the anti-corruption strategy and seek to activate it at various levels, especially the legislative level. The Ministry has submitted a number of draft laws, the most important being the law regarding conflicts of interest.
- Work on prison reform programs (so that the Ministry of State for Administrative Reform bears responsibility for the administrative aspects of the prisons from a technical standpoint) in coordination with the concerned ministries, especially the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Ministry of State for Women’s Affairs
- Invest in gender-sensitive research and data collection and translate this into mainstreaming gender rights as a cross-cutting theme in all national policies.
- Harmonize national programs and laws with international resolutions and action plans aimed at preventing violent extremism while working towards the implementation of international covenants and resolutions ratified by Lebanon, in accordance with the Constitution.
Ministry of State for Displaced Affairs
Achieve national consensus to mitigate the consequences of decampment and refugees with all its political, sovereignty, economic, social, environmental, cultural, educational, health, legal and security dimensions in order to achieve the balance between human rights and the protection of Lebanon’s national security. In summary, form new public policies on the basis of the Constitution, the charters of the League of Arab States and United Nations, bypass narrow, partisan disagreements…
Ministry of State for Human Rights Affairs
- Amend the laws in line with international conventions that Lebanon has committed itself to, in cooperation with the relevant ministries, the Human Rights Parliamentary Committee, the research centers and civil society organizations.
- Establish a National Human Rights Commission, including the Independent Commission for the Prevention of Torture, and enhance its role and effectiveness through on-going training and support.
- Follow up on the implementation of the law relating to the Ombudsman in order to appoint him/her, appoint the assistants, and issue the necessary implementation decrees to allow him/her to take up the assigned functions.
Ministry of State for Parliamentary Affairs
- Study the map of the legislative requirements necessary to prevent violent extremism in cooperation with scientific research institutions and legislative research centers.
- Organize a dialogue process with the relevant parliamentary committees to study the strategic objectives and key premises to prevent violent extremism and discuss the fundamental role of the legislative authority in achieving these strategic goals and developing social immunity against violent extremism.
Ministry of State for Combating Corruption
- Conduct a national consultative process to discuss anti-corruption mechanisms and the role of the various national institutions so as to boost the trust of citizens in the state's fight against corruption and its pursuit of good governance.
- Work on the implementation of the national anti-corruption plan in collaboration with the concerned ministries.
- Organize national programs and awards to celebrate the most committed staff and departments in combating corruption.
- Organize workshops and consultation programs for municipal councils to support local municipalities in their attempts to develop local anti-corruption plans.
- Organize national programs to raise national awareness against the dangers of the culture of bribery and nepotism.
Pillar 3
Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law
Objectives
- Enforcing the constitution and the law equitably without discrimination.
- Respecting human rights as stipulated in international conventions and the Lebanese constitution and following up on their implementation.
- Adopting balanced, fair and sustainable public policies.
- Empowering disadvantaged and marginalized groups.
- Improving the environment of prisons and rehabilitating prisoners to facilitate their integration into society.
Policies and Areas of Activity
Ministry of Education and Higher Education
- Develop innovative and interactive curricula on human rights principles that would be mandatory in various levels of basic or tertiary education.
- Establish a culture that respects human rights and the rights of the child in practice through classroom and non-classroom activities that would be one of the requirements for academic success.
Ministry of Culture
- Spread the culture of human rights among all men and women.
- Increase the cultural awareness of prisoners, especially with regard to topics related to non-violence, respect for diversity, and train social and psychological consultants to fulfill this task, in cooperation with the Ministries of Justice and Interior.
Ministry of Interior and Municipalities
- Deepen the concepts of human rights, social justice and respect for diversity through workshops and capacity-building programs for members and staff of the security forces.
- Building the human-rights-related capacity of prison administrators, emphasizing mechanisms, concepts and systems and methods for dealing with those accused of crimes related to violent extremism.
- Reform the reality of prisons to prevent the spread of violent extremist ideology to prisoners not involved in violent extremist crimes, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice.
- Train and rehabilitate prisoners sentenced for crimes related to violent extremism and other crimes in order to integrate them into the society, in cooperation with the Ministries of Social Affairs and Justice.
Ministry of National Defense
- Deepen the understanding of human rights concepts, social justice and respect for diversity through workshops and capacity-building programs for members and staff of the armed forces.
- Build the human-rights-related capacities of military prison administrators, emphasizing mechanisms, concepts and systems and methods for dealing with those accused of crimes related to violent extremism.
Ministry of Agriculture
- Introduce the principles of human rights in the agricultural technical education curricula.
- Build the capacity of agricultural extension workers and technical workers at the Ministry of Agriculture to disseminate human rights concepts.
- Spread the culture of human rights in the extension courses of the Ministry.
- Enforce laws to prevent child labor in the agricultural sector and determine the working age according to international conventions.
- Amend the Labor Code to allow farmers and rural women to benefit from social security.
- Establish a mechanism for resolving disputes between the landowner and the administrator of the agricultural land.
- Activate the role of women in the agricultural sector to avoid violent extremism.
- Contribute to the development of the capacities of farmers and fishermen and create jobs for the most marginalized groups.
Ministry of Youth and Sports
- Disseminate the culture of the Constitution and human rights among young people.
- Organize sports activities in prisons and develop sporting values among them in order to facilitate their reintegration into society.
Ministry of Social Affairs
- Develop programs to train people with special needs and enhance their skills, allowing their full integration into society in accordance with law No. 220 on the rights of persons with special needs.
- Take care of juvenile delinquents and prisoners and study their social situations and the means of intervention to raise their awareness about the dangers of violent extremism, as well as to reintegrate them into society after they have served their sentence, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice.
Ministry of Public Health
- Emphasize early detection, treatment and social reintegration of persons with psychosis. This is a preventive measure because the medical disorder of psychosis may lead to psychotic episodes that increase persons’ vulnerability to manipulation (in relation to their thoughts and acts), which may lead them to become easy targets for manipulation by extremist parties. The emphasis will be on the fact that studies show that persons with psychosis are in the majority of cases victims of violence and not those who commit violence. The implementation of this goal shall be consistent with the National Mental Health Strategy for Lebanon 2015-2020.
- Improve the living conditions, treatment of, and respect for persons in prisons in compliance with the Optional Protocol for the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT), as well as providing necessary health services. This shall also be implemented in alignment with the National Strategy for Mental Health and Substance Use in Prisons which will be launched in 2018, in collaboration with the Ministries of Justice, Interior and Municipalities, and Social Affairs.
- Revise national legislation in order to decriminalize the use of illicit drugs, in compliance with international treaties and public health principles, emphasizing that a person with a substance use disorder is not a criminal but rather a person who suffers from a medical condition (addiction) and who should be provided with medical care and assistance for recovery and reintegration in society. Criminalization currently stands as a barrier to the latter.
Ministry of Industry
Widen the scope of the application of laws in all factories without discrimination, in compliance with the technical, technological and environmental standards identified internationally and legally in order to guarantee public safety and cause no harm to citizens and their environment.
Ministry of Energy and Water
In providing equitable and sustainable energy and water to all citizens, the Ministry of Energy and Water would be aligning its strategies and objectives with human rights and with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN, which identify access to basic services as a right to all.
Minister of Justice
- Intensify education and rehabilitation programs for prisoners to avoid cases of violent extremism within the prisons and to facilitate prisoners’ reintegration into society.
- Accelerate the implementation of the plan aiming at transferring the prison administration from the Ministry of Interior to the Ministry of Justice.
- Conduct a scientific study drawn from work in the field to determine whether it is better to separate those in prison for violent extremism (including juveniles) from others, or to mix the groups.
- Develop training programs for the Judicial Police, social workers, and juvenile court judges, in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, with respect to the following knowledge and skills: preventing and predicting criminal risks with regard to violent extremism and related legal procedures; international judicial cooperation in the prevention of violent extremism; best practices for dealing with the persons accused of crimes relating to violent extremism; human rights and the rule of law in preventing violent extremism; legal tools to prevent violent extremism through digital technology and social media.
- Examine the prison sector’s infrastructure and identify its needs in terms of increasing current prison capacity.
- Specify the role of the Ministry regarding the execution and implementation of human rights laws, in cooperation with the Ministry of State for Human Rights Affairs.
- Consider the possibility of establishing rehabilitation centers for minor girls that guarantees a process of social inclusion.
- Prepare studies on the social backgrounds of current prisoners and defendants imprisoned on charges related to violent extremism in an attempt to understand the backgrounds and inclinations of the perpetrators of these crimes and their motives, then to use the findings of the studies when designing programs and policies to prevent the involvement of members of society in any form of violent extremism.
- Establish juvenile detention centers, especially in the big cities.
- Activate, expand and support alternative measures such as requiring youthful prisoners to engage in public works activities, because this would help to reintegrate juveniles and keep them away from violent extremism, in cooperation with the other ministries.
- Develop custodial centers such as prisons, detention centers, reformatories and others, in accordance with the principles of human rights, ensuring that these become places for developing prisoners’ skills and facilitating their integration into society.
Ministry of Labor
- Activate the role of the Ministry in combating child labor and implementing the relevant Arab and other international conventions, which would help to create a comprehensive and sound environment that is based on an understanding of developmental issues and cares for children, contributing to the development of their mental, cultural and scientific abilities.
- Develop a process to resolve disputes that may arise between employers, on the one hand, and employees, on the other, in private sector institutions and to perform mediation roles to safeguard workplace rights of workers through dialogue and mediation under the guidance of the Ministry of Labor.
Ministry of State for Women’s Affairs
- Promote women's participation in the law enforcement and security sectors and improve the level of employment of women in security institutions and agencies concerned with the prevention of violent extremism.
- Address gender-based violence practiced by violent extremist organizations.
- Amend and extend the standards of penal systems to include human rights violations committed by extremist groups, including violations of women's rights.
Ministry of State for Displaced Affairs
- Conduct a comprehensive survey of the numbers of the displaced population and their humanitarian and social conditions in order to deal with this situation in a productive manner and reduce its negative impact on Lebanon.
- Rehabilitate the basic and service infrastructure in the refugee-hosting communities at all levels of education, hospitalization, transportation, electricity, water and communications.
- Provide relief services to refugees and displaced persons through United Nations agencies and concerned state departments.
- Develop host communities and conduct interventions aimed at reducing the pressure on local resources, thereby contributing to reducing tensions between refugees and these communities.
Ministry of State for Human Rights Affairs
- Disseminate a culture based on respect for human rights and an awareness of international covenants to which Lebanon is committed as stated by Article (2) of the Lebanese Constitution.
- Spread information about Lebanese laws dealing with human rights and the penalties that can be incurred for violating them.
- Promote human rights education, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, to introduce such education as a cross-sectional subject in the school curricula at all stages, and with universities to introduce human rights as a cross-disciplinary “general requirements” subject. Partnership is also needed with civil society organizations, supporting them to play a role in this area.
- Strengthen trust between citizens and the security institutions entrusted with protecting the rights of individuals and assisting victims of human rights violations by continuous training for staff in these institutions about how to undertake the tasks assigned to them in a manner that ensures respect for human rights in accordance with international conventions and Lebanese laws.
- Safeguard the independence of the judiciary and the development of criminal justice in order to preserve human rights, activate the rehabilitating role of prisons, and improve the protective mechanisms to assist and protect juvenile at risk.
- Ensure coordination between all associations concerned with human rights, in cooperation with the concerned ministries including the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Social Affairs and others.
- Develop individual capacities and raise awareness about human trafficking among various groups in society, especially the marginalized and vulnerable groups, such as children, women, youth and the poorest communities and most vulnerable ones, while empowering them to find proper job opportunities in collaboration with the concerned ministries, civil society organizations and the private sector.
Pillar 4
Urban/Rural Development and Engaging Local Communities
Objectives
- Develop balanced, equitable and sustainable development, economic and financial policies at the national and local levels.
- Consider the developmental balance between regions.
- Develop community participation in local development programs.
- Develop national industries and local handicrafts.
- Monitor urban transformations and predict their effects and implications.
Policies and Areas of Activity
Ministry of Public Works and Transport
- Achieve balanced development in all Lebanese regions so that public works are distributed equally among all regions in order to achieve balance between urban and rural areas.
- Develop road, land, sea and air traffic networks in Lebanese regions to achieve balanced growth and give priority to marginalized and underprivileged areas that constitute fertile ground for violent extremism.
Ministry of Environment
- Promote adherence to international conventions and treaties that Lebanon has joined on the preservation of the environment which encompass the principle of the human right to a sound and healthy environment.
- Achieve the commitment to environmental well-being of development projects through the implementation of appropriate environmental conditions stipulated by the law in order to limit and control pollution in all ecosystems, including water, air, soil and biological diversity, in a consistent manner, and including the sustainable use of natural resources and land.
- Manage environmental risks by reducing environmental pollution and responding productively to risks that may arise.
- Achieve sustainable environmental management in order to preserve Lebanon’s natural heritage and natural resources, considering this an integral part of environmentally sustainable development.
Ministry of Culture
- Achieve equity in cultural development through the promotion of cultural activities and programs for marginalized and disadvantaged groups and regions.
- Map national cultural needs, initiatives and aspirations.
- Monitor global cultural transformations and their impact on the national cultural reality, in addition to the opportunities and risks they pose to the potential for violent extremism at the level of individuals and groups, especially national transformation towards urbanism and its relationship to cultural planning aimed at renouncing violence and extremism.
- Promote local cultural policies tailored to local cultural needs in light of regional specificities, in cooperation with municipalities.
Ministry of Interior and Municipalities
- Build local networks with stakeholders, schools and local NGOs to interact with target groups and respond to the needs of youth and other individuals at risk of violent extremism, in collaboration with municipalities.
- Activate the community police by building networks of trust with the community and mechanisms for sustained communication with local community components.
Ministry of Tourism
Support domestic tourism programs as a tool for enhancing closer relationships among regions and as a means for social and economic support to local communities.
Ministry of Social Affairs
- Support and develop craft activities, especially rural ones, and market them widely to increase employment and social integration of rural craftsmen.
- Monitor and study population movements and their causes, organizing the state's efforts in this arena, as well as coordinating with the civil society organizations in this regard.
- Develop the Ministry's social services centers as local and national development tools in such a way that increases their contribution to the prevention of violent extremism, especially in the most deprived areas. This development includes: contributing to supporting and building the capacity of the centers to examine, study, discover and identify local development needs and problems, as well as working on classifying and prioritizing them; setting up a mechanism for local consultations and activating the participation of citizens in proposing local development programs and overseeing their implementation; developing the capacities of the centers to propose local development projects and supervise their implementation in cooperation with local official and grassroots committees and organizations; supporting and building the capacity of the centers to provide services related to the treatment of social problems in order to increase local immunity to the narratives of violent extremism.
Ministry of Industry
- Develop national industries in all regions of Lebanon to ensure economic, social and development stability.
- Implement the new industrial zones project on public land in order to achieve green, advanced and innovative industries in various regions, aiming at achieving balanced economic development with the involvement of local communities, in addition to setting anti-pollution standards and promoting the management of garbage. These industrial zones shall be developed with environmentally-friendly infrastructure after securing the necessary funding from specialized funding entities in order to reduce the real estate costs to industries in order to secure the necessary services.
Ministry of Energy and Water
- Achieve a developmental balance in the distribution of electricity and water services and ensure developmental justice which helps prevent the spread of violent extremist narratives.
- Ensure fair access to services, energy and water security, so as to increase the community's immunity to violent extremism.
- Expand infrastructure projects for public water providers, EDL and other public service providers, ensuring the provision of services in all regions.
Ministry of Finance
- Enhance citizens’ trust in society and in the state through mechanisms of public spending and other financial and development policies.
- Boost the sense of economic and developmental justice among citizens through public investment policies that take into consideration the balance among regions. It is necessary in this context to conduct scientific studies of regional development disparities.
- Take into account the needs of the most deprived areas in developmental expenditure in order to create a social environment that is immune to the narratives of violent extremism.
- Communicate and interact with citizens on local and national priorities of public spending to ensure greater social participation in the decision-making relating to development, which helps to restore public trust in the development activities of the government and weakens the impact of extremist discourse which uses frustration relating to the lack of development as a way to promote individuals’ and groups’ disaffection and feeling of isolation from society and the state.
Ministry of State for Planning Affairs
- Develop national urban policies to address the consequences of urbanization, which is a structural reason for the weakness of public services and developmental inequalities among regions.
- Ensure coordination between the Ministry and municipalities to study the means of harmonization between the central and local development plans.
Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform (OMSAR)
- Include the objective of preventing violent extremism in all programs organized by the Ministry with local authorities, civil society organizations and the private sector.
- Involve citizens in decision- and policy-making through the digital transformation project and open government in order to reduce the feeling of alienation which is a main cause for resorting to violent extremism.
- Enhance the principles of public service among Lebanon’s public administrators. These principles are based on making administration a tool for active citizenship and working for the benefit of the public.
Ministry of State for Displaced Affairs
Build development strategies based on the concepts of public and private partnerships, as well as civil society in order to guarantee effective implementation and transparency, while assessing the prospects of collaboration in the implementation of projects suggested in displaced and host communities.
Pillar 5
Gender Equality and Empowering Women
Objectives
- Raise women's awareness on their constitutional and legal rights and on the risks of violent extremism at the individual and family levels.
- Amend legislation relating to women so as to achieve justice and eliminate all forms of discrimination against them.
- Encourage women's participation in social, cultural and development activities.
- Encourage women's participation in decision-making and policy-making processes.
Policies and Areas of Activity
Ministry of Economy and Trade
Create an ecosystem that encourages entrepreneurship among youth and women.
Ministry of Culture
- Support the cultural development of women and girls and facilitate their participation in various cultural activities in all regions.
- Encourage programs that showcase the creativity of women and girls in all cultural fields.
- Change preconceived stereotypes about women and promote a culture of gender equality.
Ministry of Agriculture
- Support the implementation of social and economic development programs for rural women.
- Enable the role of women in eco-tourism and their role in traditional food processing and national heritage.
- Introduce the concept of gender equality in agricultural curricula.
- Network with the concerned departments and institutions to amend the Labor Law in terms of its coverage within the provisions of male and female workers in the agricultural and food sector.
Ministry of Tourism
- Describe the contribution of women in the tourism sector.
- Empower women by making use of their capacities and increasing their economic productivity in the tourism sector.
- Support entrepreneurship for women in various tourism activities.
Ministry of Social Affairs
- Support women's participation and awareness programs on the impact of violent extremist thought on individuals and families in cooperation with the Ministry of State for Women's Affairs.
- Develop programs to empower women in order to ensure their participation in economic life.
- Implement projects to support women in rural and disadvantaged communities.
- Improve the conditions of women prisoners and provide them with assistance to facilitate their reintegration into society.
- Provide education on basic concepts and principles for the empowerment of women, achievement of equality and prevention of violence against women.
Ministry of Industry
Monitoring the implementation of the regional project for empowering women in entrepreneurship in partnership with the United Nations.
Ministry of State for Women’s Affairs
- Integrate the concepts of gender equality into the monitoring and evaluation of policies, programs, procedures and practices related to the prevention of violent extremism, based on scientific research and an accurate diagnosis of Lebanese realities.
- Research the conditions and characteristics of the social environment that make women prone to accepting the discourse of violent extremism and engage with its organizations.
- Study the strategies of violent extremist organizations aimed at recruiting women, manipulating gender equality standards and using their own stereotypes about women.
- Enhance the rule of law and gender equality by amending and repealing discriminatory legislation and guaranteeing women access to justice, in cooperation with governmental institutions, civil society organizations and the private sector.
- Promote women's participation in decision-making and policy-making at the local and national levels.
- Support Lebanese women’s representation at regional and international levels.
- Encourage the participation of women and their access to leadership positions in representative bodies, political parties, trade unions, civil society organizations, economic entrepreneurship and public institutions.
Ministry of State for Displaced Affairs
- Empower and train women in host and displaced areas on life skills, conflict resolution and vocational skills, in order to allow them to protect themselves and their families against all forms of violence and exploitation.
- Provide psychosocial support to displaced women and host areas.
Pillar 6
Education, Training and Skills Development
Objectives
- Develop educational curricula at all levels to protect youth from the risks of violent extremism and spread awareness among those involved in the educational process.
- Develop creative and intellectual skills among young people.
- Develop training programs to make young people more responsive to market needs and job opportunities.
Policies and Areas of Activity
Ministry of Telecommunications
Train specialists in public entities in early detection skills so they can recognize violent-extremist-related material that is broadcast on social media.
Ministry of Environment
- Disseminate environmental awareness and knowledge about environmental issues and problems as well as the reasons behind them, through the dissemination of environmental facts and information. Consider environmentally unsustainable behavior as a form of violence that could lead to violent extremism.
- Enhance cooperation and partnership between the public and private sectors, including educational, media and non-governmental organizations, with a view to developing environmental education programs, including awareness and concepts of sustainable environmental development.
- Embed awareness about environmental concepts in educational curricula and update it regularly, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
Ministry of Education and Higher Education
- Develop educational curricula to provide students with skills to prevent them from falling victim to violent extremism, through cognitive skills (critical analysis and thinking, problem-solving skills, awareness of local, national and global challenges and issues, including the extent of overlap and interlinkages); social and emotional skills (recognizing, respecting and understanding the characteristics of the various forms of diversity, as well as the establishment of the philosophy of education for nonviolence that includes peaceful communication, the concept of miseducation, alternatives to punishment, etc.); and behavioral skills, including constructive dialogue skills that involve interactive behavior during dialogue, the free expression of differences, and a culture of positive communication.
- Include religious education courses that include teaching the common denominators of all religions to all the students without exception.
- Facilitate access to vocational/technical education, emphasizing the importance of this type of education in the labor market as one of the most important means of social integration in marginalized and disadvantaged communities.
- Establish an early warning system and direct intervention vis-a-vis signs and behaviors of early extremism among students, rehabilitate educational institutions for early detection and constructive intervention, and involve relevant local actors such as the municipalities.
- Incorporate the foundations of education on nonviolence within university curricula as a core subject in all disciplines.
- Provide certification for and build the capacities of teachers, principals and social affair officers in schools, given the importance of their personal and cognitive readiness which is an essential part of the educational process that prevents violent extremism. The training requirements include awareness about the need to renounce marginalization, disregard, stereotyping, and to respect diversity and difference, get to know other cultures and respect human diversity in general; awareness about the mechanisms by which networks or student groups adopt and form violent extremist ideology within the educational institution and mechanisms of prevention and treatment; and the importance of networks and cooperation among schools, universities and cultural and arts institutions within the community to organize events and programs that increase students' awareness of their immediate environment.
- Strengthen the link between schools and their social environments and organize extracurricular activities for students that will improve their surrounding environment and serve as means of training and skills acquisition for them.
Ministry of Culture
- Develop programs to explore the talents of students and develop their creative abilities, especially in the most disadvantaged areas in terms of development and income, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
- Design and implement programs to increase students' cultural awareness, especially in relation to accepting diversity and respecting others, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
- Support studies on the discourse of violent extremism, its characteristics, its claims and motives, and its attractiveness for some people, in order to dissect it and explain the corrupt foundations in which it is grounded and identify the cultural mechanisms necessary to prevent it, as well as the role of cultural policy in making the society immune to it.
- Consolidate the values of national belonging and citizenship among students in schools and universities.
Ministry of Interior and Municipalities
- Study and analyze the psychological, social and economic backgrounds of prisoners accused of crimes of violent extremism.
- Build the capacities of municipalities and raise awareness of violent extremism and its risks, as well as early warning mechanisms.
Ministry of National Defense
- Strengthen and protect all social institutions and individuals against violent extremism by encouraging scientific research on the root causes and conditions that contribute to the emergence of this ideology.
- Train and provide certification for members and officers of the armed forces in mechanisms to prevent violent extremism and ways to predict early signs and messages of extremism.
- Organize awareness programs and lectures in universities on the role of the military in promoting civil peace.
Ministry of Agriculture
Raise awareness about agricultural and food wealth in the framework of sustainable development and management of natural resources through the Ministry's programs, the agricultural guidance and the forests’ centers, and amend the curricula in the eleven agricultural schools affiliated with the Ministry.
Ministry of Tourism
Introduce students to various Lebanese cultures and traditions, bring them closer to each other and break down the fear of the other groups in society, be these distant or merely different, in the future through tourism trips and cultural programs as part of the compulsory school curricula, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
Ministry of Youth and Sports
Disseminate the knowledge of early warning mechanisms concerning the symptoms of violent extremism and ways to address these and involve youth in the awareness process by training and building the capacities of the youth sector’s employees and departments in the various state institutions.
Ministry of Social Affairs
- Educate students about the importance of volunteering and community participation in their cities, villages, and their school or university’s neighborhood in order to deepen their ties with their communities, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
- Empower economically poor families and provide job opportunities for some of their members, in order to remove them from the cycle of poverty and integrate them into society.
- Cooperate with welfare institutions specialized in child care (under 18 years) to provide shelter, education and vocational training services for orphans and those with difficult social situations, to qualify them for decent work opportunities and raise their awareness about the values of social diversity, tolerance and respect for others, and to reject the narratives of violent extremism.
Ministry of Public Health
- Implement programs aimed at the promotion, development and protection of early childhood - including those programs that aim at promoting the expression of feelings, the acceptance and respect for others, and the acceptance of diversity - which positively affect the social achievements of children and their mental health and well-being later in life. This shall be implemented in cooperation with the Ministries of Social Affairs and Education.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of life-skills education programs that are currently implemented in schools and in psychosocial support programs before their scale-up, as part of the implementation of the “Inter-ministerial Substance Use Response Strategy for Lebanon 2016-2021” launched by the Ministries of Public Health, Social Affairs, Interior and Municipalities, Justice, Education and Higher Education in December 2016.
- Based on scientific evidence and the evaluation of their effectiveness in the Lebanese context, develop and implement life skills education programs adapted to the local context, in collaboration with the Ministries of Education and Social Affairs.
- Build the capacity of health workers in various sectors on the mechanisms for early detection of violent extremism and ways to deal with it effectively.
- Develop programs for rehabilitation and social reintegration, supervise their implementation, and participate in organizing interventions for the prevention and response to substance use disorders on all levels, in coherence with the “Inter-ministerial Substance Use Response Strategy for Lebanon 2016-2021”.
Ministry of Industry
- Cooperate with universities, institutes and schools in increasing the awareness about the importance of Lebanese industries in formal curricula.
- Conduct studies that aim to identify the competences which graduates of vocational institutes and universities shall acquire in order to obtain jobs in the industrial sector and linking these to curricula.
- Organize workshops, seminars, scientific conferences and research in order to spread innovative and environmentally friendly industrial thinking.
- Form partnerships between public and private sectors in order to activate practical training for students in factories.
Ministry of Justice
Cooperate with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education about situations facing juveniles under threat of violent extremism, and train social workers on social and legal measures necessary to prevent violent extremism, in cooperation with the other ministries.
Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform (OMSAR)
Organize programs to stimulate innovation for youth and their participation in administrative development through working on partnerships between public administration institutions and universities.
Ministry of State for Women’s Affairs
- Develop women's professional skills through education and training programs, so as to increase their employment opportunities and economic integration, in cooperation with the concerned ministries, the private sector and civil society organizations.
- Raise awareness of women—especially housewives—on the dangers of the ideology of violent extremism for their family members and provide them with knowledge and skills to detect early signs of violent extremism, in cooperation with the Ministries of Education, Culture and Social Affairs.
Ministry of State for Displaced Affairs
Implement psychosocial support programs for displaced children in primary, intermediate and secondary education, and activate vocational and technical training, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the Ministry of Social Affairs, and concerned authorities.
Ministry of State for Combating Corruption
Educate students against corrupt practices and their relation to the risks of violent extremism through the organization of curricular and extra-curricular educational programs, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
Pillar 7
Economic Development and Job Creation
Objectives
- Develop fiscal, tax and industrial policies that stimulate sustainable economic development, achieve developmental justice and create more job opportunities.
- Address all forms of economic inequality and poverty through economic and financial development policies and plans, especially marginalized and disadvantaged groups and regions.
- Encourage innovation, creativity and capacity building, especially among young people and women, enabling them to participate in the labor market.
- Develop a stimulating economic environment for entrepreneurship at national and local levels in partnership with private and civil sectors.
Policies and Areas of Activity
Ministry of Telecommunications
Open the way for online entrepreneurship to provide jobs for young people and facilitate their access to knowledge economy mechanisms and digital entrepreneurship models.
Ministry of Public Works and Transport
Spread messages promoting social peace, respect for diversity and building social trust among citizens and groups and with the state institutions through the use of road, land, sea and air networks as communication platforms.
Ministry of Economy and Trade
- Create an enabling economic climate for entrepreneurship, especially among youth and women.
- Increase opportunities for youth access to the loan market and investment financing.
- Establish incubators in various regions, especially in marginalized and disadvantaged ones, to support and qualify innovative entrepreneurs, especially youth and women.
- Support programs to raise awareness on the risks of violent extremism and partner with the private sector to communicate with employees, consumers or service users to raise awareness via counter-messages and alternative messages to violent extremism.
- Organize training programs for youth to provide them with the skills required by the labor market.
- Conduct an interactive consultative process with all youth groups to raise awareness about the role of the Ministry in protecting and promoting the national economy, in addition to identifying their development priorities.
- Design policies of rapid economic and development intervention in less advantaged and marginalized areas to enhance the role of the State in these areas.
- Examine the reality of economic inequality and propose policies necessary to address its causes and deal with them in a strategic manner.
- Encourage labor-intensive infrastructure projects to provide more jobs and improve the level of public services.
- Invest in the infrastructure required to develop a knowledge-and-innovation-based economy as a current and future-oriented economic lever of the economy.
Ministry of Environment
- Create natural reserves in order to maintain the ecological system and biological diversity.
- Involve local communities in supporting natural preservation by creating job opportunities for communities surrounding nature preserves, and the implementation of supporting projects like environmental tourism.
Ministry of Education and Higher Education
Restructure educational curricula and systems to suit the requirements of the labor market in order to eliminate the frustrations resulting from the long periods of unemployment after completion of various academic degrees, without compromising the educational and cultural components that help to build awareness and expand the horizons of young people.
Ministry of Culture
- Establish incubators for small and medium-sized industries and cultural initiatives, especially those that help create jobs in the cultural field and contribute to the prosperity of social capital and the national knowledge economy.
- Cooperate with the private sector and strengthen partnerships between the private and public sectors for the promotion of cultural development by activating social responsibility within the private sector.
- Support the Directorate of Cultural Industries and Knowledge Economy with capacity-building programs and field visits to identify the actual circumstances of the existing knowledge economy and investment mechanisms in developed countries.
Ministry of Agriculture
- Promote food security and encourage agricultural policies that support the agricultural production necessary to satisfy the food needs of the citizens due to the impact of the food security situation on social stability and the conducive environment that food insecurity provides for the rise of violent extremism.
- Target smallholder farmers and introduce them to agricultural practices that increase the productivity of their fields and their incomes.
- Adopt policies and programs for the financial integration of farmers, targeting women and youth in particular.
Ministry of Tourism
Create job opportunities for youth to deepen their involvement in society by promoting tourism investment in the various regions.
Ministry of Youth and Sports
- Develop programs and policies to combat unemployment and disguised unemployment and reduce the time gap between graduation and entry into the labor market.
- Develop a digital communication mechanism to disseminate updated information on the specializations required by the labor market and showcase the required job opportunities in cooperation with the private sector, economic representative bodies, civil society organizations and various state institutions.
- Form a standing coordination committee between the Ministries of Education and Higher Education, Labor, Economy, and Finance to follow up on and evaluate the labor market and its requirements.
Ministry of Social Affairs
- Create opportunities to market and sell crafts and traditional project products by increasing their participation in exhibitions inside and outside Lebanon.
- Establish economic projects in the regions classified as poor, thus leading to the creation of jobs and income generation for the people of these areas.
Ministry of Industry
- Organize current industrial zones and guarantee the establishment of similar zones in all Lebanese regions in order to create thousands of job opportunities for youth and minimize migration.
- Issue new legislation that aims at stimulating industries and amending current legislation such as the industrial merging act and the factories stimulus act which promotes the usage of alternative and renewable energy sources and the law for exempting industrial products from 50% of the income tax.
- Promote local consumption of domestic products.
Ministry of Energy and Water
Supply electricity and water in a sustainable manner in order to support business entrepreneurship and minimize the lost opportunity of investments that occurs due to the absence of necessary electricity and infrastructure. This also shall improve the livelihood and economic conditions of citizens.
Ministry of Justice
Create employment opportunities for former prisoners and provide them with vocational training and technical and vocational rehabilitation to facilitate their integration into the labor market, in cooperation with the Ministries of Industry, Agriculture and Labor.
Ministry of Labor
Address decisively the problem of unemployment and seek to create jobs and increase the operational capacity of the national economy through increased coordination among the ministries concerned, the private sector and civil society organizations, as well as the development of the work and investment environment in Lebanon, making it more attractive to national, Arab and international investments.
Ministry of Finance
- Maintain financial stability in the country, as it is a fundamental pillar of social stability.
- Support economic growth and improve the distribution of wealth and welfare through the expenditure of public revenues on basic infrastructure and services related to the development process.
- Highlight the importance of having a sense of justice and equality, which positively affects the immunity of society to the risks of violent extremism. This can be achieved by following policies of tax justice, which is one of the manifestations of justice development efforts through national decision-making on socially-sensitive tax patterns that would achieve the objectives of the society.
Ministry of the Displaced
Develop a national map for the rehabilitation of infrastructure in order to assess the situation and accelerate the reconstruction process.
Ministry of State for Planning Affairs
- Improve the utilization of resources, in cooperation with various development institutions such as the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) and the related ministries.
- Examine the reality of developmental balance and means to implement it, and the necessary development policies and tools.
Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform (OMSAR)
- Develop the digital transformation project to the level of open government, which provides the citizen with interactive participation in the decision-making and policy-making processes, thus easing the feeling of marginalization which is one of the reasons behind violent extremism.
- Organize programs to stimulate youth innovation and youth’s participation in administrative reform through partnership between public administration institutions and universities.
Ministry of State for Women’s Affairs
Empower women and develop their capacities through long-term strategic programs, through ensuring women's access to economic resources and empowerment and independence in order to increase human capital within society, and to address problems such as unemployment, poverty and marginalization that can be the main driving factors behind the growth of violent extremism.
Ministry of State for Displaced Affairs
- Provide job opportunities for Lebanese youth to reduce unemployment, especially in communities hosting displaced persons, in cooperation with the relevant ministries.
- Organize the labor of the displaced in compliance with the relevant regulations, and the utilizations of the skills of displaced people in the various sectors with specific standards.
Ministry of State for Combating Corruption
- Organize a national awareness and consultation process on the national budget, its contents and mechanisms by which it is developed.
- Activate anti-corruption plans and programs which would increase Lebanon's classification according to the indicators of transparency, doing business and competitiveness, leading to increased Arab and international investment, increasing employment opportunities and raising the economic growth rate.
Pillar 8
Strategic Communications, Informatics and Social Media
Objectives
- Use all state, private and civil institutions as partners for raising awareness against the risks of violent extremism.
- Use the Internet to increase the public’s awareness about the values of moderation, social diversity, tolerance, the risks of violent extremism and the dissemination of the values of critical and creative thinking.
- Use all traditional and modern means of communication to support the culture of the state and highlight the role of its institutions, especially the army and the security forces, in the fight against violent extremism.
- Prevent the use of the Internet as a platform for promoting ideas relating to violent extremism.
Policies and Areas of Activity
Ministry of Telecommunications
- Monitor and prevent extremist content on the Internet by strategically collaborating with service providers and telecommunication companies to ensure that they are committed to preventing extremist accounts on the Internet, deleting extremist content and modifying service delivery rules and contracts to ensure that participants adhere to human rights principles and refrain from posting any extremist content.
- Define the meaning of extremist content on the Internet and the extent and scope of its spread through collaboration between government agencies and research centers.
- Build the capacity of individuals and civil society organizations to respond to the materials that promote violent extremism on the Internet and seek to eliminate these materials by contacting the service providers.
- Ensure that governmental bodies, civil society organizations and citizens use the Internet and other means of communication for the dissemination of counter-narratives and alternative narratives in the face of the narratives of extremist thought.
- Publish electronic content, games, etc. which help develop critical and open thinking that respects others and devalues hatred and violent extremism narratives.
Ministry of Information
- Focus on countering the ideology and narratives of violent extremism on all media.
- Disseminate alternative and counter-extremist media messages in traditional and digital media outlets.
- Produce a series of programs and dramatic works focusing on social cohesion, national identity, the role of the state and building trust, given their obvious impact on the behavior of viewers in facing crises and gaining a deep understanding of the dangers of violent extremism.
- Prevent hatred and violent speeches from spreading to the media and social media, in cooperation with the various media outlets.
- Organize training and dialogue programs for the people in charge of preparing and presenting talk shows and news programs on how to cover the issues of violent extremism, in cooperation with the relevant ministries.
- Organize media programs and materials focusing on respect for national diversity and the principles of dialogue.
- Highlight literature and the results of scientific research that address the causes and risks of violent extremism, in cooperation with scientific research institutions.
- Produce and disseminate materials targeting children and youth on a case-by-case basis, in order to promote ideas of social cohesion, identity and citizenship, and a respect for diversity and productive dialogue.
Ministry of Education and Higher Education
- Include media and informatic-related content within the curricula as a way to promote responsible communication based on principles of safe Internet and data handling.
- Interact with families through awareness-raising programs for the family and mothers in particular on the early detection of signs of violent extremism and necessary ways to confront it as well as effective dialogue and coordination with school teachers to prevent the effects of violent extremist speech on students.
- Interact with the social environment by emphasizing the social roles of school and university students through voluntary programs aimed at interacting with their surroundings in cities, villages, municipalities, commercial centers, etc., and cooperating with civil society to organize non-formal and extra-curricular educational programs aimed at providing students with the knowledge and skills necessary to protect them from violent extremism.
Ministry of Culture
Increase cultural content about the prevention of violent extremism to raise awareness of the role of media, communication and social media, in cooperation with the Ministries of Telecommunications and Information.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants
- Coordinate cooperative efforts between Lebanon and other countries and international organizations about the prevention of violent extremism and document international partnerships that can help implement the policies and programs of the Strategy.
- Highlight Lebanese efforts to prevent violent extremism in regional and international forums to help exchange experiences with the various international actors.
- Contribute to the dissemination of counter-extremism messages among the Lebanese diaspora and to visitors to Lebanese embassies worldwide, in cooperation with the Ministries of Telecommunications and Information.
- Contribute to the prevention of extremist content on social media and the Internet, in coordination with countries and international organizations and international service provider companies.
Ministry of Interior and Municipalities
- Communicate strategically with citizens to deliver messages that counter and offer alternative images to the messages of violent extremism, highlighting the pivotal role of security forces in protecting national stability and the rule of law and preventing potential risks from violent extremism, in cooperation with the Ministries of Information and Telecommunications.
- Respond to the narratives of violent extremism on social media and offer counter-narratives, in cooperation with the Ministry of Telecommunications and the relevant ministries.
Ministry of National Defense
- Implement strategic communication programs with citizens to deliver messages against violent extremism and highlight the pivotal role of the Lebanese army and armed forces in protecting national stability and public safety and to prevent possible risks resulting from violent extremism behavior, in cooperation with the Ministries of Information and Telecommunications.
- Study and analyze extremist narratives and discourse circulated on social media, and establish a mechanism of direct interaction to prevent such messages from going viral on the Internet and other means of communication, in cooperation with the Ministry of Telecommunications and scientific research institutions.
Ministry of Tourism
- Introduce students, from their early primary years, to the components of society and educate them on the value of diversity and respect for the diverse cultures and traditions in Lebanon, in order to increase national and moral immunity to violent extremism, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and the Ministry of Culture.
- Broadcast messages of dialogue, renouncing violence and preventing violent extremism in tourist sites, airports and private sector tourism companies.
Ministry of Youth and Sports
- Spread a culture of cooperation and diversity, rejection of violence, and respect for others, and strengthen sports culture through sports centers and clubs.
- Develop strategic communication programs to disseminate messages of social integration and renounce violent extremism, in cooperation with the Ministries of Information and Telecommunications.
Ministry of Social Affairs
- Promote a culture of diversity, acceptance of others and prevention of violent extremism.
- Raise parents' awareness on the early warning signs of violent extremism in their children, how to deal with them and coordinate with the school, university or social center, as well as with other official and social institutions to address these signs and immunize children and youth in the future.
- Raise awareness on the dangers of violent extremism and the importance of early detection of its signs and associated behaviors and deviations, such as addiction and domestic violence, through the use of social media.
- Identify disadvantaged and marginalized households by using accurate digital systems and databases.
Ministry of Public Health
As the Ministry of Public Health is concerned with the social determinants of health, it will participate with the relevant parties in the implementation of the below recommendations:
- Develop a data-bank on the impact of public health on violent extremism, in collaboration with national and global research centers.
- Use media to promote the role of health policies in the protection of society and in the development of its immunity to violent extremism.
Ministry of Industry
Reach out to citizens through surveying the public to evaluate services offered by the Ministry of Industry in order to identify gaps and measure the satisfaction of citizens, and hence, take necessary reform and corrective measures when needed.
Ministry of Energy and Water
- Raise citizens' awareness about the Ministry's role and strategies in the development and delivery of public services by using digital means of communication in cooperation with the Ministries of Information, Telecommunications, and Education and Higher Education.
- Develop interactive technological systems between the Ministry and citizens for the improvement of service provision.
Ministry of Justice
- Use the departments, courts and all the premises of the Ministry of Justice, as spaces for interaction with the public and to distribute awareness-raising materials about the risks of violent extremism.
- Establish means of communication and legal awareness of the dangers of violent extremism and the relevant reporting mechanisms by using various communication technologies (telephone support lines, websites and social media), in coordination with the Information Unit of the Ministry of Justice.
- Raise awareness against the risks of violent extremism and increase the number of media messages aimed at countering it, in cooperation with the Ministries of Communications and Information.
Ministry of Labor
- Use social media and information technology to connect employers with young people to introduce them to available job opportunities.
- Conduct surveys that clarify the patterns and trends of the labor market and the skills required and complete the establishment of a database linking job seekers and job providers.
Ministry of Finance
Adopt a broad social communication policy that increases the community's awareness of the basic developmental role of state institutions, the principles of decision-making and the mechanism of organized participation in its production.
Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform (OMSAR)
- Link the Digital Transformation Project with the goal of preventing violent extremism by including electronic violence and terrorism prevention programs and systems.
- Develop the digital transformation project to the level of open government, which provides the citizens with an interactive participation in decision-making and policy-making, which reduces the sense of marginalization, which is one of the reasons for resorting to violent extremism.
Ministry of State for Women’s Affairs
- Develop an educational information strategy to promote the role of women in society by highlighting the success stories and achievements of Lebanese women and encouraging the development of information programs that emphasize women's leadership capacities and participation in the decision-making process; support training of media professionals in the production of entertainment and educational programs that focus on gender equality.
- Develop communication strategies and use various multimedia vehicles to change societal stereotypes about women and promote women's self-confidence.
Ministry of State for Displaced Affairs
- Use digital means of communication to change the stereotypical image of displaced people to reduce tensions and divisions between them and their host communities.
- Organize rounds of public dialogue between media and host communities and the displaced in order to share concerns and increase public awareness about the centrality and dignity of the human being and the importance of state sovereignty.
Ministry of State for Human Rights Affairs
- Promote human rights communication and education through the use of all forms of media, advertisements and social media.
- Spread awareness about the work of government departments and how to complete formalities required for receiving services, thus raising the awareness of citizens about their rights and mechanisms of accountability when employees do not fulfill their duty, which will enhance trust between citizens and the state and its institutions.
Ministry of State for Presidency Affairs
- Organize awareness-raising activities on the dangers of violent extremism, under the auspices and with the participation of the President of the Republic.
- Communicate messages against violence and violent extremist behavior that support social stability, public safety and the role of the state in ensuring it, in cooperation with the Ministries of Information and Telecommunications.
Ministry of State for Combating Corruption
- Organize information programs to promote ways and principles to combat corruption and raise national awareness about these principles, in cooperation with the Ministry of Information.
- Organize cultural events and programs to educate citizens about the dangers of corrupt practices and their adverse effects on society and its stability, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture.
- Emphasize the role of ICT in establishing trust in public administration or digital governance.
Pillar 9
Empowering Youth
Objectives
- Introduce the public to the efforts made by the State to empower young people and the opportunities available to intensify and strengthen these efforts.
- Involve young people in the decision-making process at all levels so that they may fulfill themselves, allowing society to benefit from their views.
- Strengthen the personal capacities of young people so as to facilitate their integration into society and the labor market.
Policies and Areas of Activity
Ministry of Telecommunications
- Increase electronic communication between government institutions and young people on the Internet and social media as this will enhance trust between the citizens and the state.
- Build the capacity and raise awareness of young people in the field of safe internet through the design and implementation of training programs in universities and schools related to the safe practice and use of social media and other electronic media.
Ministry of Economy and Trade
- Increase the opportunities of youth access to the loan market and investment financing.
- Organize training programs for youth to provide them with the required skills in the labor market.
- Conduct an interactive consultative process with all youth groups to raise their awareness about the role of the Ministry in protecting and promoting the national economy as well as identifying their development priorities.
Ministry of Environment
Develop the agricultural sector and train young people in rural areas in agricultural methods and entrepreneurial and life skills that are necessary for an effective economic participation in this sector, which will help to create job opportunities for young people and reduce the risks of their involvement in violent extremism.
Ministry of Agriculture
Develop the agricultural sector and train young people in rural areas in agricultural methods and entrepreneurial and life skills that are necessary for an effective economic participation in this sector, which will help to create job opportunities for young people and reduce the risks of their involvement in violent extremism.
Ministry of Tourism
Train Lebanese youth to qualify them to access the tourism sector, taking into account national tourism resources in the various governorates, in cooperation with the private tourism sector.
Ministry of Youth and Sports
- Improve the skills of young people and qualify them to start their entrepreneurial projects by developing incubators and centers for training and creativity.
- Encourage volunteering among young people through voluntary programs aimed at community service and constructive interaction to contribute to solving the problems of local development in cooperation with municipalities and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
- Enhance the participation of young people in the decision-making process, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and the Ministry of Telecommunications.
- Explore the viewpoints of young people about public issues, especially the narratives of violent extremism by conducting surveys and field research.
- Emphasize and anchor values of teamwork and cooperation among youth through the organization of sports events and athletic competitions for young people.
- Promote messages of respect for national diversity and rejection of violent extremism through major sports events, especially in basketball and football.
- Support and promote sports initiatives aimed at renouncing violence and preventing extremism, in cooperation with the private sports sector.
Ministry of Social Affairs
- Encourage the spirit of volunteering and volunteer camps to develop youth’s capabilities and strengthen their civic engagement.
- Develop employment skills among young people by supporting their small projects under the supervision of civil society organizations and universities.
- Increase opportunities for youth to engage in sports and sports activities and have a sense of sportsmanship through the establishment of sports facilities in all regions.
Ministry of Industry
- Increase the financial support for programs of the Lebanese Industrial Research Achievements (LIRA) which introduce financial and technical support that allows engineering and science students to implement projects that could benefit craftsmen and industries, while linking the academic and industrial sectors in Lebanon through meeting the needs of research for and development of Lebanese industries.
- Organize training for universities’ students through preparing a directory for factories that are willing to offer training and internship opportunities to link students’ theoretical knowledge with such practical activities.
Ministry of Labor
Bridge the gap between formal education and the skills required by the labor market through training programs designed for youth, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Social Affairs, etc.
Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform (OMSAR)
Organize programs aimed at stimulating creativity among young people and their participation in administrative development and public administration by establishing a partnership between public administration institutions and universities.
Ministry of State for Women Affairs
Involve young men and women in decision-making at the local and national levels, including in peace processes and conflict resolution activities.
Ministry of State for Displaced Affairs
Implement awareness and personal capacity-building programs for displaced and Lebanese youth in host communities to enhance social cohesion among them and enable them to engage in the labor market in order to protect them against the attractions of the discourse of violent extremism.
Ministry of State for Presidency Affairs
Participate in the organization of consultation sessions with youth and various groups of society to discuss the priorities required for preventing violent extremism and the role of the various state institutions in this process, in cooperation with the concerned ministries.
Coordination Mechanism
National Coordination
Led by the PVE National Coordinator under the Prime Minister’s Office.
Governmental Coordination
Throughout the year 2017, the PVE National Unit led a consultation process with the whole of the Lebanese Government to develop the PVE National Strategy. Those efforts were institutionalized through the Inter-Ministerial Working Group, constituting of representatives from all 29 GoL ministries. The objective was to develop a coordination mechanism with all ministries based on the cross-sectoral nature of violent extremism among all economic, social, cultural, developmental and health aspects threatening the society, the family, and the individual. The Inter-Ministerial Working Group emphasized the joint governmental responsibility and contribution of all ministries, entities and departments in order to produce a governmental strategy covering all sectors, branches and specializations. After the endorsement of the PVE National Strategy, the Inter-Ministerial Working Group took role in the NAP consultations process.
In the coming 3 years, the PVE Inter-Ministerial Working Group, presided by the PVE National Coordinator, will be responsible for partnering with local actors to implement NAP actions and supporting in its M&E. The committee’s representatives, designated by every ministry, will continue to help in information sharing between the government bodies and facilitating joint actions.
The PVE National Unit
The responsibility for the overall process lies with the PVE National Coordinator under the Prime Minister’s Office. The National Coordinator, appointed in 2017 by the Lebanese Prime Minister, is supposed to strengthen the national capacity for PVE and subsequently the resilience of the Lebanese society to violent extremism.
The Lebanese National Unit for Preventing Violent Extremism, presided by the PVE National Coordinator, is responsible for leading the government’s agenda on PVE, acting as the single point of entry for international cooperation and coordinating implementation of the NAP, in partnership with relevant ministries, civil society organizations, local stakeholder, academia, and members of the National Network for Preventing Violent Extremism.
The unit consists of four specialized offices and a team of specialized personnel as per its role in the PVE agenda and the pillars’ designated actions of this National Action Plan. These offices consist of specialized experts working to increase Lebanon’s resilience to online radicalization, plan a gender-sensitive intervention, coordinate the national PVE network, provide technical support and perform a thorough monitoring and evaluation (M&E). The organigram below explains the structure of the unit to be developed gradually over the coming 3 years. Among the first posts necessary to be employed in the organigram are a Project Manager leading the Technical Support Office and the National Network Coordinator.
The PVE National Network
The PVE National Network consists of actors from all backgrounds who have interacted with the PVE file since the launching of the consultations process in 2016. Such a multi-disciplinary network is particularly needed due to the complexity of the Lebanese reality, which is characterized by the diversity of actors as a result of diversity in the social fabric. The network aims at increasing knowledge-sharing on PVE related issues among its members through an interactive online portal. It will also facilitate continuous consultation and enhance the formation of national and local partnerships and will lay the foundation for a collective implementation and monitoring of the NAP.
In parallel to the development of the National Action Plan, the PVE National Unit has developed an inclusive and structured design for an effective PVE National Network. Institutionalizing the National Network will help facilitate continuous consultations and increase knowledge sharing on PVE issues. The network will enhance the formation of national and local partnerships and will lay the foundation for a collective implementation and monitoring of the NAP.
The PVE National Network engages with institutions and entities within Sectoral Platforms established throughout the national consultations to organize sectoral consultations and coordination with relevant groups such as the UN agencies (UN PVE Taskforce for Lebanon), local prevention networks (Municipalities Platform), banks (Banking Working Group).
Modelling the network helped lay the cornerstone for establishing 9 thematic assemblies, following up on each of the 9 National Strategy and NAP pillars. Every partner may contribute to the prioritized areas of intervention of the NAP within relevant assemblies, of which they will take part.
Working Together
Partners & Programmes
The PVE Unit acts as the single point of entry for international cooperation on preventing violent extremism in Lebanon.
Strategic Partners & Donors
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European Union
The European Union is funding the Strengthening Resilience 2 (SR2) project implemented in partnership with the British Council.
The PVE unit and the EU are cooperating with the SR2 project to support the government PVE plan. This support placed the needed resources to implement the entire action plan development activities all at once; and trigger the inception phase of the wider public participation process and will help in building a system of strategic communication.
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The Canadian Government
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The Danish Government
The Danish Ministry for Foreign Affairs is directly funding/supporting the implementation of the project’s activities of NAP for pillars 4 (urban planning and engaging local communities) and pillar 7 (economic development and jobs creation).
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The Swiss Government
The Swiss Ministry for Foreign Affairs funded the printing of the National Strategy for PVE.
The Swiss Ministry for Foreign Affairs is directly funding/supporting the project’s activities of NAP for pillar 3 (justice and rule of law).
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United Nations Development Programme
The UNDP/PCM project represents a wide framework of strategic cooperation covering several areas with clear objectives, targets and budgetary estimations.
PVE unit worked constructively with UNDP in formulating and initiating this important joint-project to help in the implementation of key items of PVE national agenda.
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The National Initiative for the Centennial of Great Lebanon
Coordination Channels
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Inter-ministerial Working Groups
Intergovernmental coordination takes place through the inter-ministerial working group. Ministries are represented by focal points, coordinated with directly by the national coordinator for PVE.
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Government
11 public departments & institutions are approached through the official communications of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers channel.
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Lebanese Parliament
The PVE Unit has established a special coordination mechanism with the legislature, tackling specific pillars through consultative meetings with relevant parliamentary committees. The PVEU launched this process, in 2018, with the Parliamentary Committee for Education & Higher Education & Culture.
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European Commission
The PVE unit partners with 6 entities related to the European Union and coordinated with through the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon.
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United Nations PVE Taskforce
The PVE unit partners with 22 United Nations organizations, agencies, programs and offices and coordinates efforts through a specialized UN PVE Taskforce in coordination with the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon.
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Banks Coordination Group
The PVU unit partners with 27 banks through a Banks Coordination Group, coordinated with the Lebanese central bank, Banque du Liban, and the Association of Banks in Lebanon. The working group was established in order to activate the role and contributions of the private sector in general and the banking sector in particular, and to provide national resources for financing the projects of the action plan.
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PVE Research Group
The scientific research sector is a key player in presenting scientific interpretations of cases of violent extremism. A series of activities were held with various Lebanese universities and international experts to determine the mechanisms of cooperation between scientific research institutions and decision-making institutions in the prevention of violent extremism.
The PVU unit has particularly partnered with UNODC and other international and local entities to conduct PVE-relevant and PVE-specific research and to organize round tables with individual experts on themes and matters related to PVE.
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MOST Schools Program
The MOST school program, under the project “Enhancing Policy research linkage for a State of Knowledge in Lebanon” was implemented by UNESCO in partnership with the Hariri Foundation for Sustainable Human Development (HFSHD), during the years 2018-2019 and it was the first of its kind in the Middle East.
The first MOST school under this project was organized by UNESCO, Lebanese University and HFSHD in partnership with the National Coordination Unit for Preventing violent extremism. 30 Lebanese young researchers explored policy research linkage in the current policy process on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) especially #5 on Gender Equality and #16 on Social Inclusion and Peace, including Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) in Lebanon.
As follow up to the first MOST School, a group of 30 researchers took part of a research meeting on “Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) in Lebanon: Research priorities and policy solutions” at the Grand Serail Beirut, Lebanon. This group of youth developed PVE related research papers published in the special edition (June 2019) of the LU-Institute of Social sciences newsletter.
In the same framework, a national MOST School on “Youth and Prevention of Violent Extremism” was organized in partnership with the Center for Public Health Practice at the American University in Beirut (AUB). This activity aimed at introducing youth in Lebanon to the concept of violent extremism, and enhancing their capacity to take part in public policymaking to promote effective policies to prevent violent extremism.
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Interfaith Dialogue Group
Joint discussions with representatives of national official religious institutions on the potential role of religious institutions in the coordination with governmental institutions for the contribution to the action plan implementation, strategic communications, research and diverse religious teachings.
Partnership Programmes
Strengthening Resilience – MENA II
The Strengthening Resilience - MENA II (SR2) programme is funded by the European Union and delivered by a consortium led by the British Council. It began with a pilot in 2015, and its current phase will continue until January 2021. It is under implementation in Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan. The programme in Lebanon constitutes of two components.
Component 1 supports the government on national consultations, action planning, communications, stakeholders management, and youth surveying. 10 entities work under the Component 1 framework.
Component 2 involves building individual resilience and sense of citizenship of youth, engaging them in community development and enhancing their role in political participation through training, simulation, and social action projects, in partnership with the civil society and local networks. 10 civil society organizations work in partnership with Component 2, through the newly-established Shabeb Act programme.
Shabeb Act project that involves building individual resilience and sense of citizenship of youth, engaging them in community development and enhancing their role in political participation for the objective of strengthening the resilience of individuals and communities against extremist narratives and reduce the appeal of violent extremist groups through working with Civil society organisations.
Strong Cities Network
Launched at the UN General Assembly in September 2015, the Strong Cities Network is the Institute of Strategic Dialogue’s global network of mayors, governors, and local practitioners united in building social cohesion and community resilience to PVE in all its forms. The network provides support to its member cities and municipalities developing local strategies and enhanced coordination on PVE. It works closely with national and local partners to establish models tailored to the cultural and institutional contexts of each members.
With support from the Government of Netherlands, the Strong Cities Network is delivering a ground-breaking P/CVE project in Lebanon and Jordan. In Lebanon, the SCN is partners with the PVE unit and with member-municipalities of Majdal Anjar, Saida, and Tripoli. Today, 58 entities including local networks, religious entities and civil society organizations, partner with SCN and the PVE unit to coordinate Local Prevention Networks and implement local projects of relevance.
Prisons Program – Search for Common Ground
Reducing the Risk of Radicalization & Violent Extremism in Lebanese Prisons
Search for Common Ground (Search), in partnership with Restart Centre for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture (Restart), aim at contributing to reducing the risk of violent extremism among prison detainees in Qobbeh prison, Tripoli, through improved prison conditions and effective reintegration in targeted communities.
The project is being implemented under the Memorandum of understanding signed with the PVE unit.
The project addresses rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners and detainees back into society and providing technical support to the ISF through capacity development.
To achieve this goal, the project holistically targets a variety of stakeholders including current and former detainees, their families and communities, prison authorities and staff.
The project goal is supported by three objectives as follows:
- Strengthening capacities of detainees, ex-detainees and prison and related officials in non-violent alternatives to transforming and resolving conflicts;
- Shifting community attitudes towards supporting reintegration of ex-inmates who served time for violent extremist cases; and
- Increased collaboration of prisons stakeholders through the work of an established advisory committee/task force.
Key Project Activities
- Training Programme for ISF and PVE Unit
- Dialogue Sessions for Detainees and ex-Detainees
- Vocational Trainings
- COVID Response
- “My Story” Documentary and awareness raising and advocacy campaigns
- Community Outreach for “My Story” Documentation Film
- Reintegration Platform
- Pilot Initiatives
- Exchange Visit for High-level Prison Officials
- Task Force Meetings
- Stakeholder Conference
Documents and Platforms
Resources
Official Documents
National Strategy for Preventing Violent Extremism
This document presents the Lebanese National Strategy for Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE). Resulting from the national coordination with all of government, the strategy was endorsed by the Government of Lebanon on 27 March 2018. It provides a general background of the reality of violent extremism in Lebanon, the rationale behind its development and the steps that were taken to formulate it. It outlines the key governmental positions adopted by the strategy, its general framework and the definitions of violent extremism and prevention, in addition to the standards that have been taken into consideration when developing it. Finally, the document introduces the nine pillars and areas of activity for the strategy that have been agreed upon by the ministries.
The Lebanese National Action Plan for Preventing Violent Extremism
This document presents the Lebanese National Action Plan for Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE). Resulting from the national consultations with all of society and released by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the document is consistent with the objectives, standards, and 9 pillars of the National Strategy for PVE.
National Exchange Platform
Lebanon’s National Exchange Platform is a common digital space where actors and activists in all 9 themes of Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) in Lebanon come to share, inform, learn and converse about PVE in Lebanon. The platform is a tool for members of the PVE National Network to monitor and exchange over the PVE National Action Plan as well as engage with one another and communicate their PVE activities. It is a space for national dialogue that provides for better inter-communication among national and international actors in the Lebanese PVE arena.
The National Exchange Platform is described in the National Action Plan. A public web address has not yet been published.
Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Contact
Get in Touch
Address
National Unit for Preventing Violent Extremism
Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Grand Serail, Riad El Solh Street
Beirut, Lebanon
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A Note on Contacting Us
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