Since 2020, the USAID-funded Community Support Program (CSP) has been collaborating with USAID’s University Partnership Program (USP) and the Higher Education Capacity Development (HECD) program to provide paid internships that have so far reached 243 students and recent graduates (58% women) from 11 Lebanese universities across 12 USAID implementing partners.

By April 2024, half of the interns who completed their internships have secured full-time jobs. To expand the impact of the internship program beyond USAID implementing partners and provide additional benefit to students, CSP capitalized on its collaboration with USAID’s Lebanon Civic Action Accelerator Program (LEB-CAAP) to place 23 interns (from seven universities) at nine of LEB-CAAP’s Civil Society Organization (CSO) grantees. The internships cover a wide range of roles and functions – including communications, data entry, human resources, monitoring and evaluation, and others. With the aim of improving CSO operations through the integration of eligible youth, this unique form of intern placement is training youth for future job opportunities, addressing both the need for professional experience among new graduates and the demand for skilled workforce among CSOs.

“Our goal remains to empower and encourage candidates to showcase their best selves during interviews. We firmly believe in providing opportunities that have the potential to positively impact interns’ lives,” said Maysa Masri, Human Resources Officer at LEB-CAPP grantee Borderless NGO.