The Kuwait Environment Protection Society has joined the Arab Alliance for Civil Society Development (AACSOD) program through the Non-Governmental Organizations Initiative (NGOi), an initiative of the American University of Beirut (AUB) that provides various customized services focused on development, strengthening institutions and building capacities for the NGO sector in the Middle East and North Africa region.
In this regard, the association said in a press statement that “the NGO initiative at the American University of Beirut chose the Environmental Protection Association to join the Arab Alliance for Civil Society Organizations Development program, a major 5-year program established by NGOs in partnership with the Ford Foundation and the Asfari Foundation to provide services to civil society organizations (CSOs) in the Arab world,” noting that these are organizational services specifically designed for development and capacity building, strengthening institutions, context, localization, knowledge exchange, and issuing organizational certifications.
The Environment Association noted that “each year, three countries from the Arab world are selected to implement AACSOD. In each of these three countries, five civil society organizations are chosen to participate in AACSOD’s organizational development program and ideally achieve its organizational goals through performance improvement and strengthening internal capacities.” It pointed out that “the selected civil society organizations are enrolled in the organizational development process, which includes several performance improvement planning sessions and monitoring and evaluation visits.” The association added, “Civil society organizations can also voluntarily choose to undergo NGO certification with the aim of becoming accredited NGOs/Civil Society Organizations from the American University of Beirut. Selected civil society organizations will also be granted exclusive access to training and capacity-building opportunities.“.
The Kuwait Environment Protection Society explained that “civil society organizations selected to register for the AACSOD program have responsibilities, including adherence to the program's duration. These organizations will begin with an institutional strengthening and capacity-building course lasting (12-18) months, and are committed to the full duration of the program.” The Society added that several virtual meetings were held online with the initiative's coordinators at the American University of Beirut, Alaa Marai and Tatiana Rahbani. These meetings began with an introduction to the initiative, its outlines, details, phases, and outputs. Discussions then focused on the program's mechanisms and how to interact with the national expert for each selected civil society organization to support them throughout their development journey, followed by the regional expert concurrently. Participants are also required to attend the introductory session, field visits, and training courses, implement performance improvement recommendations, and communicate with the NGO team at AUB. A total of five field visits will be conducted at the Civil Society Organizations Office during the program's duration.
