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The Global Health Institute (GHI) at the American University of Beirut (AUB), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Save the Children International, to support the organizational development of local (grassroots) organizations. The signing ceremony was held at AUB in the presence of Dr. Shadi Saleh, founding director of GHI and Mohamed Mannaa, Save the Children's deputy country director in Lebanon, in addition to members of both teams.
The MOU with AUB GHI, which outlines a collaborative framework to strategically build the capacity and strengthen local partner organizations of Save the Children, marks Save the Children's first partnership with an academic institution in Lebanon.
“The framework of collaboration with Save the Children will initiate a strategic path that fulfills one of GHI's goals, by generating contextual knowledge, and delivering capacity-building assessments to our partners", said GHI Founding Director Shadi Saleh.
Deputy Country Director of Save the Children in Lebanon Mohamed Mannaa, stressed on the importance of such collaborations. “We look forward to our collaboration with GHI. This MOU will ultimately invest in the capacity building of local organizations and help them lead the way and the future of Lebanon."
As part of the MOU, both parties will work together on supporting Save the Children's partners to pursue performance improvement, capacity building, and organizational development endeavors, which will mainly happen through the service portfolio of GHI's Non-Governmental Organizations Initiative.
This MOU comes in alignment with the work of GHI's division on community service, which aims to enhance the wellbeing and quality of life of communities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with a focus on children, women, and disadvantaged populations, by developing and empowering the NGO sector regionally.
About GHI
The Global Health Institute (GHI) at the American University of Beirut (AUB) addresses global health challenges with a focus on context and sustainable impact by employing an interdisciplinary approach. GHI comprises three divisions. The first is the Programs Division that is focused on research, policy, and advocacy. The second is the Academy Division which offers capacity building initiatives to different target populations. And the third is the ASSIST Division that empowers different actors at the community level especially non-governmental organizations through a wide range of services and support.
About Save the Children International: (SCI)
Save the Children has been working in Lebanon since 1953. For over six decades, SCI Lebanon Country Office has used rights-based approaches to increase access by children, adolescents, and youth to quality education; to strengthen child participation and protection at the family, school and community levels; to increase food security and access to livelihood opportunities; and to increase access to clean water and proper shelter.