Education & Awareness projects

Baddi Koun Mas�oul

Project Objective

This project attempts to tackle two recurring and interconnected dilemmas in Lebanon. The first is the lack of political and social awareness among young people, which leads to voting based on clientelism, sectarianism, and communalism.
The second is the electoral system and its implementation procedures that do not reflect the three principles of good governance – namely representation, responsiveness and responsibility.

The “Badi Koun Mas’oul” (BKM) simulation game intends to deal with both issues by educating the next generation of students – a total of 1,350 youths between the ages of fourteen and eighteen in a total of fifteen schools – who may soon become active voters when the law is changed. This will be achieved, in each of the fifteen schools, through a five-hour election simulation that will utilize the proportional representation (PR) system and culminate in the election of three student representatives from each school. Moreover, presentations on leadership, civil society, and electoral systems will take place throughout the BKM exercise.

In order to improve the existing system, citizens must gain a greater understanding of principles such as accountability and transparency in governmental actions. This simulation game therefore intends to teach students:


1) a sense of engagement and methods that help them become active citizens in their ommunities through commitment to civil society, thus increasing their capacity to advocate for their rights independently of their religious belonging;

2) the different types of Lebanese laws; this will increase their knowledge of the system under which they live as well as better their understanding of the changes that may take place within the next few years;

3) active participation, leadership, and teamwork skills through experiential learning.

Project Strategy

1 Training Manual
The first step is to develop and create training manual to be utilized by the moderators (see below). This manual will include information detailing the process and procedures of the simulation, as well as tips to the volunteers on how to properly motivate and direct the students.


2) Moderator Training
Approximately thirty moderators will be trained for the simulation games. These volunteers, recruited from universities, Nahwa al Muwatiniya, and other NGOs, will participate in a training workshop before being dispatched to all corners of the country to run the simulations.

3) Implementation
Shortly after the moderators complete their training they will begin implementing the project in schools across Lebanon during school hours. Both private and public schools will be selected from all five Mohafazat. Every simulation will result in the election of three student representatives from each of the fifteen schools, for a total of forty-five student representatives.

4) Summer Workshop
A two-day summer workshop will gather the forty-five young representatives from diverse regions, religions and socio-economic backgrounds – elected during the fifteen simulation games – along with the thirty moderators. The purpose of this gathering is to foster dialogue and networking opportunities between the participants, further strengthening their knowledge of advocacy and lobbying tools in order to push for common interests outside the traditional sectarian framework.



Beneficiaries

1) Students
About 1,350 students will benefit from this project. These students will come from a variety of religious, regional, and social background. Following this exercise, students will have a clearer understanding of their society and its political system, as well as their role as engaged citizen in the decision-making process.

2) Volunteers
The moderators, who will be chosen from a variety of universities and NGOs, will also learn important democratic principles and skills. These volunteers will assume their role as active agents in the learning process and in effect participate in the reforming of their society.

3) Educational System
This project will also educate teachers on democratic values and act as a positive example in the way of educational reform by exploring non-traditional and experiential teaching methods.

Partners Finally, Nahwa al-Muwatiniya will seek to partner with a variety of NGOs, schools, and municipalities in order to strengthen civil society networks and increase the impact of the BKM simulation and other projects.