wfn.org | MECC/JPHR Advocates for Juvenile Rights

[mecc <mecc@cyberia.net.lb>]

MECC Justice, Peace & Human Rights Program (JPHR) Advocates for the Rights
of Juveniles in Conflict with the Law

Member of the steering committee of a Juvenile Justice project in
partnership with the NGO Forum on the Rights of the Child, the JPHR
implemented a series of activities within the framework of the plan of
action established by the steering committee under the general title
³Conflict Resolution, a means to build Peace and reach Democracy².

²Alternatives to Punishment² was the title of a 3-day training workshop
held
in
Ksara, in the Beqaa region in Lebanon, December 3-5, 2005. Around 35
representatives of NGOs working on Juvenile Justice in the Beqaa attended
the workshop. It aimed at empowering participants and at building their
skills in advocacy for alternatives to punishment to juveniles who are in
conflict with the law, as well as for the rights of street and working
children.

The training addressed the following questions: ³how should we as a society
respond to wrongdoing? When an injustice is done, what needs to happen? What
does justice require? The role of NGOs in advocating for the implementation
of the law 422 in Lebanon regarding Juvenile Justice was discussed, and
specific NGOs were mandated to take upon themselves an educational role
providing formation and learning regarding the replacement of the law on
punishment and imprisonment.

²Advocacy Round Table for a Juvenile Justice Law² organized by the JPHR
in
close collaboration with the Permanent Peace Movement and the NGO Forum on
the Rights of the Child, addressed the issue from a ³restorative justice²
perspective. The Round Table
was held at the UNESCO building in Beirut on December 14, 2005.  A plan of
action was set for close collaboration and partnership between NGOs in
working towards the integration of juveniles in the society through public
services and education.

Middle East Council of Churches
Office of International Ecumenical Relations
P.O. Box 5376, Beirut, Lebanon

Guirgis Ibrahim Saleh, General Secretary
mecc@cyberia.net.lb or guirgissaleh@cyberia.net.lb

+961-1-353-938
http://www.mec-churches.org/