The Konrad Adenauer Foundation has started its cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces – Directorate of Civil-Military Cooperation CIMIC in 2017 in its endeavor to support the mission of the Directorate which was established in 2015 as a communication hub between the military forces and the surrounding civil society. The role of CIMIC in this regard is to establish and maintain good relations and stability with the civil society, through which the army provides services to the community outside its defense and security missions.

Given the fact that the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), Lebanon Office works on democracy and the rule of law, civil society, social market economy, intercultural dialogue, prevention of conflict, Euro-Mediterranean relations and security, KAS had the possibility of providing two trainings via its partner LAMAC, first training in 2017 on “Mediation as a tool for conflict resolution Part I” followed by a second part in 2018 on “Conflict prevention and mediation training with the Lebanese Army”.

When the direction of CIMIC expressed the will to enlarge its work and the training capacity of its staff through the creation of a new training center at its premises, KAS was immediately ready to support. As part of KAS support and in order to be able to provide proper training, KAS provided a donation of 7 laptops to CIMIC to be used within the new training center.

Thus, on Friday, December 28, 2018, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, represented by the head of KAS Lebanon Office, Dr. Malte Gaier, handed over to the Directorate of Civil-Military Cooperation CIMIC, represented by Brigadier General Mr. Elie Abi Rached, seven laptops for the newly established training center. During the handing over, Brigadier General Abi Rached provided the Konrad Adenauer Foundation with two shields as a token of thanks and expressed his gratitude for the continuous support provided by KAS and looked forward to more fruitful and trustful cooperation in the future. On the other hand, Dr. Malte Gaier wished CIMIC and the Lebanese Armed Forces permanent progress and continuous success and hoped that the cooperation between the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation will continue, whether in the form of future training courses or by participating in specialized conferences, for the benefit of Lebanon.