Fifteen young Lebanese women and men came together in Dekweneh for a new Leadership and Conflict Management Skills for Electoral Stakeholders (LEAD) cascade training, bringing together participants from across Lebanon, including Tripoli and the North, Tyre and the South, the Bekaa, Beirut and the Metn.
The training is delivered by Tamara Hallak, a certified graduate of the LEAD Training of Trainers (ToT), Ephrem Akiki, a semi-certified ToT graduate, together with ECES LEAD Trainer Aous Qutaishat. Through this cascade approach, the knowledge and skills developed during the Training of Trainers are transferred to new groups of participants and adapted to their specific realities.
Many members of the Dekweneh cohort already have experience as facilitators and community organisers. The training therefore builds on their existing knowledge, creating a participatory space in which they are encouraged not only to learn, but also to question, debate and apply the methodology to concrete challenges affecting Lebanon. The programme has been adapted to the profile of the cohort, prioritising practical application, peer learning, role play, simulations and case studies.
From the outset, participants engage with some of the fundamental questions facing democratic participation in Lebanon: what electoral justice means within the country’s sectarian system, how democratic values and good governance can be translated into practice, and what responsible leadership looks like in times of crisis. Discussions explore electoral rights as well as transparency, accountability and inclusiveness, encouraging participants to connect these principles with concrete behaviours and actions within their communities.
Building on these foundations, participants explore the LEAD methodology, including conflict analysis, conflict management and conflict transformation. Through conflict-mapping exercises, they examine actors, interests, power dynamics and triggers, while strengthening practical skills in leadership, communication, dialogue and trust-building. Particular attention is given to collaboration and the search for win-win solutions, alongside active listening, emotional regulation and de-escalation techniques.
The programme also responds to challenges increasingly shaping democratic participation and public debate. Participants examine misinformation, disinformation and information integrity, including how manipulative information and hate speech can undermine trust and deepen polarisation. Through practical exercises, they strengthen their ability to verify information, communicate under pressure and engage constructively across political and social divides.
These different skills are brought together through “Noor District” (دائرة النور), an integrated crisis simulation in which participants face a fictional electoral scenario involving political-money allegations, concerns over electoral integrity, social-media incitement and polling-day tensions. Assuming different stakeholder roles, they must analyse the situation, communicate under pressure, negotiate competing interests and develop a collective response using the tools acquired throughout the training.
The programme ultimately moves from learning to action, with participants developing grassroots advocacy and youth action plans aimed at translating the skills acquired into concrete initiatives within their communities. In doing so, the cascade training seeks not only to strengthen individual capacities but also to support participants as multipliers of dialogue, responsible leadership and inclusive democratic participation.
Implementedin partnership with the Arab Center for the Rule of Law and Integrity (ACRLI), with the support of the European Union under the Inclusive Democratic Participation Project, the Dekweneh LEAD cascade training contributes to strengthening the capacity of young Lebanese women and men to participate constructively in democratic life.
Lebanon’s young people have never lacked passion for public life. What LEAD offers is the craft: practical tools to turn participation into action, differences into dialogue, and disagreement into something that builds rather than divides.
