Beirut, July 21, 2022: Today, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced the launch of the new $700,000 Community Action Grants competition under the Lebanon Civic Action Accelerator Program (LEB-CAAP) during an event highlighting its interventions during the first year.
USAID Mission Director Mrs. Mary Eileen Devitt kicked off the event that convened more than 100 civil society actors, international implementers, and thematic experts to exchange lessons and programming opportunities.
LEB-CAAP
represents a continuation of USAID’s long-standing support to Lebanon’s civil
society sector. LEB-CAAP is a five-year, $15 million civil society
strengthening activity implemented by USAID’s partner Family Health
International (FHI 360), which employs a combination of grants, technical
assistance, and partnerships. LEB-CAAP has already issued subgrant
opportunities to provide targeted equipment and technical support to local
relief organizations as well as mental health and organizational crisis
management support to civil society organizations and their staff working to
ease the impact of Lebanon’s crises.
The latest round of Community Action Grants will support community-based
initiatives implemented by marginalized groups to identify and remedy a
specific need in the community. LEB-CAAP will be conducting solicitation
workshops on the Community Action for Accountability grants competition in
Bekaa, Beirut, Tripoli, and Saida during the week of August 1, 2022. The lessons learned and programming
discussions from the event will be used to inform LEB-CAAP’s program planning
for the coming year.
In her remarks, USAID Mission Director Devitt emphasized the paramount role of civil society in partnering to address the most pressing local community needs and the increased demand for service provision “Lebanon’s civil society sector is challenged by the stresses of the country’s ongoing economic and financial crises. That’s why, under LEB-CAAP, we are now supporting CSOs to assist them in navigating the complexities and providing psycho-social support to help their staff cope with the stresses…. Ultimately, we expect LEB-CAAP to partner with more than 70 local civil society organizations to implement locally-defined solutions and strategies that respond to community priorities and further rights and reforms across the country.”
LEB-CAAP interventions are designed through a multisectoral, collaborative approach to ensure the program is responsive to the priorities of Lebanese citizens. “This will result in a dual-track strategy to assist civil society in balancing immediate, critical needs as a result of the compounded crises that are impacting the country with the need to advance long-term reforms,” explained LEB-CAAP Chief of Party Frances Abouzeid.
For more information on LEB-CAAP opportunities and the schedule for the workshops, visit https://daleel-madani.org/civil-society-directory/fhi-360.