Main Projects / Activities

Program Title: Education Entertainment to Increase Capacities for Change
Funder: DANIDA 3SN
Category: Edutainment
1001 Nights is an Edutainment program produced by Big Bad Boo studios
and implemented in Lebanon by INITIATE in partnership with Thaki and ICRD
This program:
- Utilizes cartoons to teach children (human rights, democracy, social equality).
- It’s implemented in more than 70 countries in the world and has benefited
nearly 100 million children, aiming to the program aims to enhance the spirit
of participation and acceptance of the others.
- The program is being implemented in formal and non-formal education.
- The total target of this program is around 43,000 children, ages 7-12, and
across all nationalities (Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian from Syria, Palestinians
from Lebanon, and others).
- 10 new episodes were created for Lebanon, based on a needs assessment done
by INITIATE to identify topics that need to be addressed in the different
communities in Lebanon.
- NITIATE is now working with the Ministry of Education to include the 1001 Nights
curriculum in the official curriculum.
- This program is the only program in Lebanon the is aligned with the national
Socio Emotional Learning framework of Lebanon that was created by the Center
for Development and Research within the Ministry of Education and Higher
Education.
Program Title: Strengthening MESO and MICRO Organizations and influencers’
Capacity for Communication and Collaboration to effectively promote and
advocate for Palestinian rights in Lebanon.
Funder: GIZ
Category: Social Participation and Conflict Transformation
The project aims to elevate INITIATE as a model for conflict transformation,
prioritizing Palestinian rights and grassroots influence while bridging connections
across different levels.
This program includes:
- Building INITIATE's capacity to enhance its role at the MESO level:
This involves empowering INITIATE team through comprehensive training and
mentoring, creating a knowledge-sharing mechanism that extends to micro-level
to equip its team with the tools necessary for effective engagement.
Program Title: Community Mobilization for Child Labor and GBV
Funder: The Regional Development and Protection Program
Category: Child Labor and GBV
The overall project objective is Children at risk of exploitation and abuse benefit
from an improved protective environment allowing them to increasingly enjoy
their rights.
This program includes:
- Parenting sessions to strengthen the knowledge of parents on child protection,
gender equality and prevention of child labor (CL) by increasing their engagement
and awareness on these issues.
- Empowering grassroots influencers, foster collaboration, and reshape public
opinion in support of Palestinian rights and conflict transformation. Through
targeted capacity building, communication understanding, and strategic
engagement, INITIATE seeks to address the complex nature associated with
the region's conflict.
- Understanding the dynamics of the conflict is critical for INITIATE. Through a
comprehensive situational analysis, the project aims to understand the structural,
legal, social, and cultural factors hindering communication and collaboration.
Stakeholder and influencer mapping further sharpens INITIATE's focus, identifying
key individuals and groups essential for influencing public opinion and policy.
- INITIATE's objective revolves around raising awareness and engagement.
Facilitating coordination sessions among MESO-level organizations, sharing
research findings with the broader community, and conducting capacity building
trainings for grassroots organization constitute INITIATE's commitment to
knowledge sharing and advocacy capacity building.
- Supporting social initiatives is a basis of INITIATE's approach. Establishing a
Community Garden in collaboration with Nohyee el Ard and a Youth Training
Center are impactful steps towards developing unity and collaboration among
grassroots groups.
- INITIATE aims to increase the effect and sustainability of its efforts. As informed
influencers raise awareness, grassroots organizations' unity and advocacy activities
become the driving drivers for long-term change. This progress is expected to
transform public perception and trigger concrete, positive changes in Palestinian
rights and conflict transformation. INITIATE's commitment lies in building alliances,
disseminating accurate information, and fostering collaboration at various levels
to create a meaningful impact in the pursuit of long-term change.
- Engage community leaders and local governance actors on child labour and
Gender Equality. INITIATE will engage with religious figures, local governance
representatives, and community leaders, utilizing a combination of surveys,
interviews, and focus groups to gather essential data on community needs and
preferences, and on the role those community leaders are willing to assume in
engaging with their communities on issues of child protection, child labour,
and gender equality and GBV.
- Private Sector Promotion of decent and learning work environment. INITIATE
will explore piloting a new approach with the private sector to create a more
supportive and protective learning environment for working children between
16 and 18 years old. This will involve selecting an area to pilot in, mapping of private
sector businesses that employ children between 16 and 18 years old and planning
an intervention with a select number of businesses.
- Enhance Capacity of CBOs and Schools to identify and refer Child Labor and
Gender-Based Violence (GBV) cases through training Teachers in formal education
and frontliners working in CBOs on early identification and safe referral focused
on CL and GBV.
- Conducting a Child Labor study of existing CL studies and policies and a
comprehensive assessment of child labor-related issues to gain a holistic
understanding of the challenges associated with child labor in Lebanon.
- Drafting either a new policy paper, normative paper, new law proposals, or a
proposal to adjust the current Laws, advocating for positive change in Child Labor
- INITIATE will outline an advocacy and implementation plan for the paper
mentioned above
- INITIATE will carry out a needs assessment with 30 CBOs participating in
the Danida 3SN program. Based on identified needs and priorities, INITIATE will
work with 10 CBOs to develop a unique capacity-building plan, outlining areas
for improvement, strategies and specific, measurable objectives.