Launched in 2020, CSP’s internship program provides students from 11 Lebanese universities the opportunity to gain professional and practical experience to start their careers and generate a temporary income to support their families during the current economic crisis.

Zeina Taleb, a Business Administration graduate from the American University of Beirut who benefitted from USAID’s University Scholarship Program (USP), is one of 140 fresh graduates and undergraduates who was placed in a CSP-sponsored internship. Zeina comes from Dinnieh in North Lebanon where employment and career opportunities for women are extremely limited. Zeina supported CSP with the implementation of a solid waste management community awareness campaign in North Lebanon where she gained hands-on experience and developed her communication, capacity-building, and monitoring and evaluation skills. Zeina’s diligence and hard work laid the groundwork for her career. In March 2023, she was selected to serve as a grants assistant with the USAID-funded Agriculture and Rural Empowerment (ARE) program in Lebanon. Zeina is one of 40 interns so far, who have found long-term quality employment after completing a USAID-sponsored internship. “Coming from a faraway and conservative village Dinnieh in North Lebanon, where there are very limited opportunities for women to pursue careers, my experience has been inspirational for other young women who are working hard for a bright future. My internship at CSP developed my leadership and project management skills that opened the doors to this opportunity at USAID’s ARE,” stated Zeina Taleb, now a grants assistant at USAID’s Agriculture and Rural Empowerment Program (ARE).