A strategic plan for economic development in the region of Dinnieh, one of the most vulnerable in Lebanon– this was the goal of an initiative launched one year ago thanks to funding from Italian Development Cooperation and the Belgian Government and implemented by UNDP-ART GOLD. The results were illustrated during a ceremony in Beirut with the participation of Italian Ambassador Giuseppe Morabito, the Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, representatives from the UN missions in Lebanon and the local authorities from Dinnieh.
The aim is to revitalise Dinnieh region, in northern Lebanon and to the east of Tripoli, which is one of the country’s most backward regions. Over half of the population live below the poverty line and the literacy rate is just 55.6%. One cause of its disadvantaged situation is the lack of strategic development policies – a lack which the ART GOLD project aims to remedy.
ART GOLD (Governance and Local Development) Lebanon, as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) coordinator noted in his presentation, is a UN initiative to which Italy has made a significant contribution since its launch in 2007. With more than 6 million euros already donated, Italy is one of the lead contributors, along with Belgium and Spain, to ART GOLD Lebanon. Read more, in Italian.
