EU funds Lebanon reforms

$13 million to support human rights, electoral, and prison system reform

The European Union recently launched a new initiative to reinforce human rights and democracy in Lebanon.

The EU will donate the equivalent of €10 million ($13 million) to fund the project. The grant was approved by the government on March 30.

The initiative, which will be implemented over a four-year period, aims to endorse active citizenship, mainly through empowering civil society and supporting electoral reform. It will work to improve protection of migrant female domestic workers, as well as support reform of prisons.

The new initiative will also introduce the third version of AFKAR, a special program to support Lebanese civil society implemented through the Ministry of State for Administrative Reform (OMSAR).

The EU initiative will benefit the ministries of interior and municipalities, labor, and justice.

Reported by Hanadi Chami