USAID Lebanon: From the American People
 

PRESS RELEASE

U.S. CHARGÉ D’AFFAIRES A.I. MICHELE J. SISON VISITS THE NEW LANDMINE VICTIMS CENTER IN AZOUR IN THE JEZZINE DISTRICT

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Beirut, Lebanon

Yesterday, U. S. Chargé d’Affaires a. i. Michele J. Sison and United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Lebanon director, Raouf Youssef, visited the Azour Development Cooperative.  The cooperative, established in 2002 by USAID in partnership with the World Rehabilitation Fund (WRF), assists landmine and war survivors as well as their families in the Jezzine district.  Over 1,594 people are benefiting from this project.

The Chargé, accompanied by Antoine Maroun, the Mayor of Azour, visited the new cooperative building, which is scheduled to be completed in June.  A $570,000 grant from the USAID/Leahy Fund is making the building possible.  This grant is only part of the $6 million provided to the cooperative since 2002. 

The two-floor cooperative will have a feed mill, a dairy processing unit, a honey and beeswax processing facility, an eggs processing and packing facility, and a cold storage room. The building will also feature an administrative and managerial section for the cooperative’s board members, a conference room, training facilities, two retail shops to sell the cooperative’s products and an income-generating Internet café that will be open to the entire community. 

“Meeting with landmine victims, survivors and family members benefiting from the cooperative in so many ways has been an extraordinary experience,” the Chargé commented. 

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has worked in Lebanon since 1951, funding development projects to benefit Lebanese citizens. USAID’s programs promote economic opportunities, job creation, good governance and environmental policies and practices in rural Lebanon.