The Italian contingent in Lebanon of the UNIFIL mission and a team of internationally renowned pedagogical experts have completed the first phase of the "Cedrus" project, aimed at managers, teachers and staff of the schools of South Lebanon, to enhance school activity in favor of children with disabilities.
The work, strongly requested by the local community, was carried out as part of the Civil and Military Cooperation (CIMIC) projects of the Italian contingent, thanks to the coordination of the specialists of the Multinational CIMIC Group of Motta di Livenza (TV), and conducted by Italian university professors with the aim of making Lebanese teachers acquire new expertise to be able to follow children in kindergartens, elementary and middle schools, with difficulties in learning basic skills, such as reading, writing and counting, the foundations of the following cognitive, emotional and social developments.
The working group, wanted by the commander of the Joint Task Force Lebanon (JTF-L), currently on brigade base Aosta, was coordinated by an internationally renowned educationalist, with didactic-scientific experience in the specific sector, who made himself available to lead the "Cedrus" project using a team of luminaries promoting a special pedagogy that combines scientific rigor and clinical practice , bearer of significant results.
The initiative, which will continue in the future with the upcoming Italian contingents, as well as favoring the consolidation of relations with the communities of southern Lebanon, based on trust, mutual esteem and materialized, as in this case, by the management of multiple humanitarian projects in favor of the population, fully adheres to the mandate conferred by the Resolution 1701 of the United Nations Security Council.
For this reason, the Italian Blue Helmets continue in their incessant work of support to the local population, between concreteness in the projects carried out and the opportunity to constantly listen to the local authorities for the planning of future cooperation programs and activities.
Therefore, projects are not implemented that remain an isolated response to the needs of the moment, but each initiative is set up in a wider infrastructural and territorial context, widening its scope and, therefore, its effectiveness. We can therefore talk about a structured CIMIC approach, which in addition to guaranteeing support for the operation, lays the foundations for the implementation of the integrative processes of the Country System.
