SCENESETTER FOR THE VISIT OF PRESIDENTIAL SCIENCE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 001366 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR S/P BEHRMAN STATE ALSO FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/RA, OES/STC WHITE HOUSE FOR OSTP/RAO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ESTH EINT PGOV KGHG KIPR TSPL LE SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR THE VISIT OF PRESIDENTIAL SCIENCE ENVOY AHMED ZEWAIL REF: STATE 126780 ¶1. (SBU) Embassy Beirut welcomes your visit to Lebanon, which will offer a unique opportunity to highlight the importance of scientific issues, from climate change to communications policy, at the highest levels of the GOL while raising general awareness among the public at large. Although Lebanon is home to first-class institutions of higher learning and a variety of science education programs, Lebanon's science graduates often emigrate and take their expertise elsewhere, fleeing a job market where political connections often matter more than qualifications and a business environment where intellectual property protection is weak. ¶2. (SBU) Years of political instability have left the state incapable of setting policy that could encourage science and technology (S&T) as a platform for development and undermined planning to address issues such as climate change or pandemic disease. Nonetheless, an active NGO sector has replaced the government in many areas, advocating for improvements in Lebanon's telecommunications infrastructure to promote development, drafting environmental policies, and pushing for education in the sciences. Recently, the new Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, has publicly promised to work with all parties in his national unity government to promote reform, and his economic advisors have indicated he is particularly interested in promoting information technology as a springboard for growth. ¶3. (SBU) Subject to scheduling availability, Embassy Beirut proposes the following program for your visit, and welcomes your feedback: -- Meetings with President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Saad Hariri as a follow-up to President Obama's Cairo speech and to underscore USG commitment to building bridges in areas of scientific endeavor. Should scheduling conflicts preclude these meetings, we propose appointments with the ministers of environment, health, education, or telecommunications. -- Visit to the National Council for Scientific Research, a governmental body responsible for S&T policy that provides modest research grants and supports several scientific research centers. -- Visit to the science and engineering facilities at one or more of Lebanon's universities: the American University of Beirut (AUB),the Lebanese American University (LAU), Saint-Joseph University, and/or the Lebanese University. -- Visit to IndyAct, Lebanon's premiere environmental NGO, which is very active both in Lebanon and in international fora in promoting environmental action. IndyAct led a 30-member delegation to the COP15 summit in Copenhagen and has played a leading role in advising the GOL on environmental topics. -- Visit to the Arab Forum for Environment and Development, a regional NGO which recently produced a short documentary on the effects of climate change on the Arab World and hosted a regional climate change conference in Beirut in November 2009. -- Visit to the Lebanese National Network (LNN),an NGO which launched SciLeb, which it describes as "a national network of educators and academicians dedicated to sustaining and increasing the advance of teaching, research, and educational applications in Lebanon." SciLeb has sponsored teacher training courses and student participation in international science competitions and is active in over 150 schools in Lebanon. -- Meeting with the Lebanon Broadband Stakeholders Group, a gathering of private sector and civil society activists who advocate the improvement of Lebanon's technology infrastructure as a platform for development and job creation. -- Meeting with the Association for Forest Development and Conservation (AFDC),an organization that through U.S. Forest Service support (funded by USAID/Lebanon) has received technical training to improve Lebanon's capacity to combat forest fires that burn significant amounts of Lebanon's woodlands each year. -- A reception or dinner at the Ambassador's residence gathering public and private sector figures, as well as civil society activists, working on scientific issues. -- An exclusive interview with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC)'s Marcel Ghanem for his popular weekly talkshow, Kalam an-Nas, which would get both national and regional distribution. BEIRUT 00001366 002 OF 002 ¶4. (SBU) Several of the organizations mentioned above have benefitted from U.S. assistance, either through direct funding or through training from various USG agencies. IndyAct has sent representatives to Department of Interior training sessions on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and has USG funding to participate in Embassy Amman's upcoming regional workshop on S&T and the media. LNN has received programming support funds through Public Diplomacy initiatives. The American educational institutions AUB, LAU, and Haigazian receive scholarship and other grants from the USG and have strong networks of academic collaboration in the United States. The Lebanese Ministry of Health has requested assistance to improve its epidemiological capacity, but has received none so far. There is ample room for increased collaboration between the U.S. and Lebanon on ESTH capacity-building and projects, and we look forward to your visit to pave the way for further cooperation. SISON