The USAID-funded Community Support Program (CSP) participated in a number of photo contests this year. Earlier this year, in June 2023, two CSP photos were selected as winners of the USAID Energy 2023 photo contest: a photo of the Ainata solar-powered welding machine was selected as the winner of the energy infrastructure category, while a photo of streetlights installed by CSP in Old Saida was selected as the winner of the reliable energy category.

More recently, CSP participated in the 2023 ClimateLinks photo contest themed USAID’s Climate Strategy in Action: Confronting the Climate Crisis Across Sectors. From the more than 250 submissions from over 40 countries, CSP learned on October 19, 2023 that one of its photos was selected as a finalist in this contest. One of 13 finalists, CSP’s photo under the climate-resilient agriculture category showcases USAID’s efforts in expanding a seedling production nursery of a local NGO Cooperation Without Borders (CWB) in the Bekaa by providing it with a greenhouse, a climate-controlled germination room, and an automatic seedling cutting and stacking machine. All winning photos will be featured on the Climatelinks photo gallery and profiled in a special edition of the ClimateLinks newsletter in November. The photos will also be potentially printed on postcards for distribution at USAID in-person events.

In addition to winning these contests, on October 20, 2023, CSP submitted a number of entries in both the USAID Gender and Social Inclusion Disability Rights and the Chemonics 2023 annual photo contests. The team hopes to hear about the outcome of these contests by the end of the calendar year.