Launched in 2020, CSP’s internship program, in collaboration with the USAID-funded Higher Education Scholarships (HES) and Higher Education Capacity Development Program (HECD), provides students from 11 Lebanese universities the opportunity to gain professional and practical experience by placing them in internships across 12 USAID-funded projects.

Amal AL-Najjar is one of those students who have lately benefited from the program. From March 1 to May 30, 2024, Amal, a Psychology graduate from Haigazian University (an Armenian university college in Beirut), was placed as a project officer intern at a local NGO called Borderless. Borderless NGO is a grantee of the USAID-funded Lebanon Civic Action Accelerator Program (LEB-CAAP). During her internship, Amal facilitated student workshops on CV writing and LinkedIn profiling and conducted career counseling interviews. Immediately after completing her internship, Amal was hired on June 1, 2024, as a full-time career counselor and industry relations officer at Borderless NGO. Amal is one of 263 interns assisted so far by USAID through CSP, and 57% of the interns are females. To date, 52% of CSP interns have found jobs (compared to less than 35% as a national average.

“This internship was a great opportunity to give back to the community. The experience was highly rewarding. Not only I have landed a full-time job, but I am also making a tangible difference among the youth of my community,” said Amal.