A cooperation agreement between Lebanon's Minister of Education and
Higher Education, Bahia Hariri,  and IOM has been signed to
establish the first Lebanese Parliament for Youth.

Funded by the United Nations Democracy Funds (UNDEF), the
National Parliament for Youth will be composed of 64 young students
aged between 15 and 17, selected from a representative sample of
Lebanese private and public schools from all governorates.

The Ministry and IOM hope to create a national platform for
youth where they can become familiar with the formal and technical
aspects of the democratic process, as well as the informal. This
includes thinking about issues at national and community levels in
addition to allowing the students to gain experience in how to
cooperate with people from different backgrounds and with different
views.

The creation of the youth parliament, in line with the principle
that increasing youth participation in public life is crucial to
ensuring successful and sustainable development, brings together
the government's expertise in the formulation of social and
economic policies and IOM's experience in supporting communal
infrastructure aimed at stabilizing conflict-affected
communities. 

"The best negotiator" and "the best speaker" in the Parliament
will be rewarded with symbolic grants. In addition, an alumni
network, a website and a video documentary will be created in order
to document the experiences of the Lebanese National Parliament for
Youth.

For further information please contact:

Othman Belbeisi

IOM Beirut

Tel: + 961 1 752108

E-mail: "mailto:obelbeisi@iom.int">obelbeisi@iom.int