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PROGRAM |
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The Heinrich Böll Foundation supports people and projects around the world who are working for meaningful participation, solidarity and peaceful change towards equality and justice in social and international relations. In the Middle East, our work is centered around four major axis of inquiry and intervention: Statehood and Participation, Power and Identity, War and Peace and Sustainable Development. Under these headlines, and in cooperation with our local and regional partners, we support long-term projects that aim at achieving an impact through intervention over a sustained period of time, and specific activities and events designed to improve capacities among forces of change and to create awareness for and debate over pressing issues. |
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Statehood and Participation
Throughout the countries of the Middle East, citizens view the state with suspicion. State institutions are often experienced as biased towards the powerful, corrupt and predatory, and as a sometimes violent means to safeguard the position of a ruling elite, or the domination of one part of the population over others. Participation, on the other hand, is mostly reduced to elections of questionable representational value, or relies on informal channels and structures and primordial relations, and thus reinforces existing patterns of subordination and power. The program Statehood and Participation supports initiatives that demand accountability and due process and encourage citizens to become aware, active and organized around issues of (gender-)democratic participation and sustainable development.
Current Projects:
Improving Electoral Standards in Lebanon
Women's Right to Nationality
Iraqi Civil Society – Pushing for Change
Recent & Upcoming Activities:
New Approaches to Reform in the Arab Region
Independence of the Judiciary
Youth on the Margin Create their World |
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War and Peace
Conflict and crisis continue to be the double term most consistently associated with the region. A multitude of fault lines today run across the region, springing from unresolved grievances past and present. As flash points continue to erupt, such conflicts radiate out and reach those who once considered themselves safely away over the sea. Accordingly, international efforts and intervention are being stepped up to set things right - but all too often, they get it all wrong. The program War and Peace is designed to analyze the roots of conflict, encourage constructive engagement with the memory and repercussions of conflict, and inquire into avenues to peaceful and cooperative solutions.
Recent & Upcoming Activities:
Giving Voice to Muslim Democrats
How to Deal with the Islamist Advance
Culture, Conflict, and Democracy |
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Power and Identity
National, political and religious identities remain subjects of contention around the region. People in the Middle East are called upon to rally around narrowly defined values that are deployed in struggles over markets, power and cultural hegemony, and often have little opportunity to choose and decide how to define themselves, where to look for sources of inspiration and pride. The program Power and Identity wants to widen understanding about the cultural, confessional and ethnic dimensions of conflict and their relation to globalization and inequality of power, and supports cultural expressions and perspectives of socio-political issues and cross-cultural exchange.
Current Projects:
Building Platforms for Intellectual and Cultural Practice
Cultural Magazine Zawaya
Establishing Public Libraries as Social Spaces
Recent & Upcoming Activities:
Negotiating Diversity
Trans-Cultural Iconography
Well Played - Arab-Iranian Film Week |
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Sustainable Development
The Middle East is divided between high income economies relying on energy exports, and middle to low income economies struggling to provide for their populations. Both developmental models tend to neglect sustainability - but pollution, climate change and loss of natural resources will be back to haunt future generations anyway. Pushing for sustainable development is also a question of justice: between current and future generations, but also between those who have the means to isolate themselves from the negative repercussions of unsustainable practices, and those who have to bear the brunt of it.
The program Sustainable Development puts special emphasis on the issues of climate change and renewable energies, and supports sustainable agriculture through training for marketing and production skills.
Current Projects:
Mobile Agricultural Training Center for South Lebanon
Promoting Renewable Energies in Lebanon
Recent & Upcoming Activities:
Bada'el - Special Issue on Renewable Energy
Green Wars - Conflicts over Resources?
Arab Climate Campaign |
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