PRESS rELEASES 2008  

U.S. Chargé d’Affaires a. i. Michele J. Sison inaugurates the E-Municipality Initiative in Jounieh

April 24, 2008

U. S. Chargé d’Affaires a. i. Michele J. Sison and the Mayor of Jounieh, Juan Hobeish, inaugurated the E-Municipality initiative today.  The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Lebanon provides over $19 million for a municipal development project in partnership with the State University of New York/Albany Center for Legislative Development and the Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities.

While visiting Jounieh, the Chargé commented on how progressive Jounieh is and said “I am pleased to see the level of citizen interaction with their city’s government.  The Jounieh Municipality is seriously taking care of its citizens’ needs.”

This project, which works with over 800 Lebanese municipalities, supports good governance and encourages transparency, efficiency and effectiveness.  The E-Municipality initiative, one component of the project, is a municipal website.  This website allows Jounieh citizens to track the status of permit applications, register their concerns and receive responses from council members.  Significantly, taxpayers can create their own user accounts on Jounieh's website to access detailed tax data.  This citizen participation part of the USAID municipal project complements the internal administrative systems project component.  Municiipal revenues have increased significantly as a result of USAID assistance, rising from $1.4 million in 2002 to $2.4 million in 2006, a cumulative increase of 65.5%.

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.