The National Erasmus+ Office of Lebanon and HOPES-LEB jointly organized on May 30, 2023 a Round Table entitled “Provision of support to Higher Education in Times of Collapse”.
HOPES-LEB Education Officer Nadine Mohanna inaugurated the meeting with an overwhelming presentation about the program, the occurring defiance and the objectives of the meeting.
The event hosted two panels through which speakers from different backgrounds presented the most pressing issues facing the Higher Education in Lebanon and the desirable assistance.
The first panel was titled “Exploring concrete priorities for support and mechanisms of application”. It gathered a group of experts such as Imane Abbas, Coordinator of the doctoral fellowships and mobility program, National Council for Scientific Research of Lebanon; Orla Colclough, Programme Assistant, Higher Education, TVET and youth focal point at the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon; Jean-Marie Moreau, Programme Officer, European Commission, DG Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR); Fadi Yarak, Senior Adviser for Education in the Arab States, UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office in the Arab States-Beirut; Lia Renaud, Policy officer, University and Scientific cooperation, French Embassy in Lebanon; Alain Waked, Senior Policy Officer, Embassy of the Netherlands in Lebanon; Mary Neaimeh, Peace Education Associate, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The panel was oderated by Nina Knops, Acting project director, HOPES-LEB.
The second panel tackled the “Challenges in application processes and partnership mechanisms”. It represented a reflection from a donor and from the local institutions’ perspective. The speakers were as follows: Rima Mattar, Deputy President for International Affairs and Global Initiatives at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK); Mustafa Jazar, CEO, Lebanese Association for Scientific Research – LASeR; Orla Colclough, Programme Assistant, Higher Education, TVET and youth focal point at the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon; Fadi Yarak, Senior Adviser for Education in the Arab States, UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office in the Arab States-Beirut; Imane Abbas, Coordinator of the doctoral fellowships and mobility program, National Council for Scientific Research of Lebanon and Mary Neaimeh, Peace Education Associate, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It was moderated by Dr. Aref Alsoufi, Director of the National Erasmus+ Office of Lebanon.
The gathering constitutes a continuation of the “Higher Education in times of collapse” series of stakeholder dialogues and the recommendations for the Provision of Immediate Support for the Lebanese Higher Education System.
It aims to provide a platform of discussion between regional and international relevant donor agencies and providers of support in the fields of education, capacity building, livelihoods, youth, etc. with national representatives of higher and further education institutions and organisations allowing to further understand challenges faced in application processes as well as the main areas and priorities of funding and response mechanisms.
