VZCZCXYZ8961
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLB #0335/01 0651344
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051344Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1198
INFO RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BEIRUT 000335 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OEXC SCUL KPAO
SUBJECT: PD PROGRAMS ATTRACT YOUTH THROUGHOUT LEBANON 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Youth from throughout Lebanon are 
increasingly interested in Public Diplomacy's (PD) student 
programs. Results from the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) and 
English Access Microscholarship programs indicate that PD's 
outreach includes students from all groups of Lebanon's 
diverse sectarian and geographic mix, while maintaining a 
gender balance. In addition, PD Beirut gauged the opinions of 
youth regarding education and emigration during the YES 
interview process. Many are committed to gaining skills but 
for the sole purpose of leaving the country. End summary. 
 
YES 
--- 
 
¶2. (U) The Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program, 
administered locally by partner organization AMIDEAST, is 
open to 14-16 year old high school students throughout 
Lebanon, specifically targeting public school pupils from 
outside of the capital. The full scholarship sends 
outstanding teenagers to live with American host families and 
study at high schools for an academic year. As a result of an 
aggressive outreach campaign (including television 
interviews, radio commercials, school visits and website 
postings) in November 2007 to promote the program, 
applications jumped by 42% versus last year's total. The 
North (primarily Sunni and Christian) experienced a 33% 
increase, the South (Shia and Sunni) 44%, the Bekaa Valley 
(Shia) 54% and Mount Lebanon (Druze and Christian) 86%. 
Contrary to assumptions, girls represented a majority of 
applicants (61%). 
 
¶3. (SBU) Due to heightened Embassy security measures after an 
incident involving an Embassy vehicle, which occurred two 
days before the scheduled interviews to select the slate of 
43 YES finalists for the 2008-09 program, PD held the four, 
day-long interview sessions on the Embassy compound rather 
than at AMIDEAST's downtown office, the annual venue. 
Initially, PD and AMIDEAST were concerned that the location 
might deter the YES candidates' families from attending. On 
the contrary, however, 109 students and their parents 
participated in the interview sessions. In fact, not a single 
student invited for an interview refused the offer because of 
the location. To accommodate rural families unfamiliar with 
greater Beirut, AMIDEAST arranged for a bus to shuttle 
interview participants between downtown parking and the 
Embassy. 
 
¶4. (U) Throughout the three-part interview sessions, PD staff 
observed students' and parents' answers. Students were 
excited about the opportunities that YES offered. Many 
defined their motivation to participate as a chance to show 
Americans that Lebanese are not terrorists. Others wanted to 
experience life in the United States, the land of freedom, 
technology and prosperity, as they described it. Several 
teenagers stressed the importance of participating in YES to 
gain the skills necessary to work abroad after college. It 
was alarming that so many students, as young as 14, echoed 
the same sentiment. Given the prolonged political, economic 
and security instability in Lebanon, children have become 
conditioned to leave the country after watching their 
relatives, friends and neighbors search for stable jobs 
elsewhere. These comments signal that the brain drain may now 
be endemic among Lebanese youth. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The parents revealed interesting insights as well. 
One Shia mother from the South mentioned that someone's 
opinion of U.S. policy should not affect how the American 
people are judged so she encouraged her son to participate in 
YES. Another Shia mother explained her hesitation to come to 
the Embassy but was willing to do whatever necessary for the 
sake of her daughter's education. In a third case, however, 
the mother of one of the highest ranked candidates said that 
family members and neighbors had discouraged her from 
allowing her daughter to participate. Living in a 
Hizballah-dominated neighborhood, she admitted that the 
pressure was too much, forcing her to terminate her 
daughter's candidacy. 
 
¶6. (SBU) After compiling the interview results, the 43 
selected finalists reflected the sectarian, geographic and 
gender diversity of the initial applicant pool. The sectarian 
mix mirrored Lebanon's unofficial confessional breakdown: 
three-fourths Muslim and the remainder Christian. While 
geographic distribution was fair among most regions, the one 
salient aberration was the under-representation of finalists 
(12% of total) from the North compared with the number of 
applicants (19% of total) from the region. The primary 
reasons for their underperformance included weakness in 
English language skills (the primary languages of instruction 
in the region are Arabic or French) and a general lack of 
sophistication, both factors inhibiting clear communication 
of thoughts and personality during the interviews. As for 
gender, female finalists were 47% of the total while 
comprising 55% of all candidates invited to interview. In 
addition, females comprised only 20% of North finalists 
versus 62% of the North's invited candidates. (Note: Embassy 
Beirut's PD programs increasingly target the North such as 
English Access and Teaching Women English, a post-designed 
project. End note.) 
 
Access 
------ 
 
¶7. (U) The English Access Microscholarship Program, also 
administered by AMIDEAST, teaches English to high school 
students extra-curricularly in socio-economically 
disadvantaged areas while exposing them to civic education 
and American culture. This 2007-08 program includes 18 
classrooms throughout the country. In fact, 96% of all 
participants, 64% of whom are girls, are from outside Beirut. 
The North represents the largest group (36% of Access 
students) followed by the South (28%) and the Bekaa (24%). 
The classrooms are intentionally placed in areas of greatest 
need, supporting Post's objective of focusing on countering 
radical behavior among susceptible populations. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Comment: PD Beirut focuses on attracting program 
applicants from hard-to-reach and underserved communities, 
especially those outside of the capital. There is an 
increasing interest in programs because of PD's robust 
recruiting activities and the positive partnership with 
AMIDEAST. Program participants often stay in contact with 
both PD and AMIDEAST staff members, providing a natural youth 
alumni base for Lebanon. Program participants, including 
youth sports diplomacy participants, foster an environment 
encouraging other to apply for programs. In addition, PD 
staff stay in touch through email, phone calls, the Embassy 
websites and Facebook with those who were not successful 
applicants. Outreach is working in Lebanon because many tools 
are used to engender interest in the United States. End 
comment. 
SISON