Developing Generation Y’s Civic Intelligence-Shaping the Nation’s Democracy One Youth at a Time

In line with its purpose, the seventh annual Academy of Youth at LOST launched the Universal Declaration of Human Rights exhibition at ten secondary schools across the Baalbeck Hermel Region as it executes the second month of its program.

Over 150 youngsters from ten schools in the communities of Baalbeck, Hermel, Ain and Shmustar are participating in the exhibition which is set up to acquaint local students with their rights as citizens of the global community, and which—thanks to the leadership of the United Nations organization—have become inborn rights for all. The exhibition includes poster-displays, theatrical plays and roll-upsset up at the participating schools and all of which emphasized the thirty articles of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Academy of Youth at LOST is an annual project designed to educate youths about public life with special emphasis on democracy and democratic governance. It trains them on the use of technical tools essential for a pro-active approach to civic participation where they learn about information technology, social media and English language tools and goes further to engage them in projects offering practical experience implementing the material they learn in the classroom.

In the Academy, Youths complete a comprehensive curriculum with four components. The Civics-Training component educates Academy participants about civics and democracy and trains them on the use of technical skills to implement projects of civic nature while the Activity component engages them in civic projects in their respective communities. The Events component promotes the Academy and its works to the various communities in the region in an effort to attract more youths to future academies at LOST. Finally, the Media component involves youths in public relations and media campaigns to provide them with practical experience voicing their concerns and opinions to the public at large and to public figures at the local, regional and national levels.