The Daily Star
BEIRUT:
The stories of 101 citizens from ages 8 to 70 whose passionate efforts
made a practical difference in a political, social, economic, or
cultural realm of Lebanese life were made public on Tuesday with the
launching of a book that binds their tales together into one cohesive
collection. As one of three
documentary outputs in the framework of the National Human Development
Report (NHDR) 2008-2009, "Towards a Citizen State", the book entitled
"101 Stories to Tell - Citizenship Initiatives in Public Life," is a
living project that was born as a result of collaborative efforts
between the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Council for
Development and Reconstruction (CDR), and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
(FES). "We're looking at
working a lot more with them [the citizens], at widely disseminating
the book, and at bringing about new related projects to keep these
initiatives going," said Marta Ruedas, UNDP Resident Representative in
Lebanon, after presenting the project timeline to a diverse audience of
government officials, heads of various UN agencies and NGOs,
representatives of the English, French, and Arabic press, and the 101
citizens themselves. The
campaign to collect the stories of citizens creating positive change in
Lebanese society was intended to reach not only organizations,
community groups, NGOs, and institutions, but also individuals. "We
wanted to get people to realize that what they do does make a
difference," Ruedas said. Ruedas
also said she would like individuals to understand the level of
recognition that they deserve for the contribution their efforts make
to the community, as to her surprise, many participants gauged the
success of their projects in commercial rather than civic terms. In
response to this misplaced gauge, the media campaign for the project
focused heavily on the civic contributions of stories. "These
initiatives don't get the recognition they deserve ... and we hope that
this is a start," she said. "These
stories are ... a fraction of the hope that exists in this country,"
said project director Maha Yayha, who attributed the common factor
inspiring citizens to back to their country as "pure passion, for one
reason or another."
In her opening statement, Yayha highlighted one objective of the book: to "capture these passions and say, in a loud and collective voice, 'citizens still believe'. They are making a difference and when they get together, they do indeed change the world; at least their own world."
Though positive, inspiring others to action with stories of successful civic initiatives is not the book's only objective. As another primary goal, the book is intended to raise awareness of the practical, positive relationship that can exist between the citizen and the state, to point out the potential that harnessing the energies of passionate individuals under a wider conception of democracy can bring to rebuilding a better Lebanon.
Samir Farah, FES representative in Lebanon, emphasized the importance of personal responsibility and accountability in achieving this level of civic contribution to the state, stressing that he would like to see citizens in Lebanon "become free and responsible, to enjoy all their rights while respecting their obligations ... and to put an end to this cycle of blaming each other continuously."
Inspired by the power for change encompassed by the 101 initiatives, Ziyad Baroud, minister of Interior and Municipalities, rose to spontaneously address the audience at the close of the ceremony. In thanks for their efforts, Baroud admitted that these citizens had been more effective than their political leaders, suggesting that perhaps now is a time to deter from traditional methods of governance. "In this book we find stories that are much better than what we achieved," he said.
The book will be distributed to key decision-makers in government, to schools, and to other community-based public initiative groups.
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