Beirut, 8 October 2020--The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Ms. Rola Dashti, and the Minister of Labor of Lebanon, Ms. Lamia Yammine, launched today the "لأنّ العلم مفتاح العمل، #لازم_نتعلّم" initiative, which provides certified learning opportunities for 25,000 Lebanese citizens on the e-learning platform Coursera, free-of-charge.
 

 
During the press conference held today outside the UN House in Beirut, Dashti tackled the overlapping challenges facing Lebanon, including the debt and humanitarian crises, the most recent and of which was the tragic Beirut Port explosion. “Societal solidarity is crucial to halt the downward spiral and create job opportunities”, she underscored.
 
"Through our partnership with the Ministry of Labor, we aim to help Lebanon reskill its unemployed workers and empower its citizens through a unique learning experience. We at ESCWA are happy to support the Ministry in implementing this ambitious initiative, especially with numbers showing that 50% of Coursera learners have succeeded in securing jobs after completing courses,” Dashti added.
 
For her part, Yammine described the initiative as a window of hope for young Lebanese people who lost their jobs and are facing difficulties in securing new ones due to economic hardship, COVID-19 and increased unemployment, and can now develop their skills or acquire new ones that are in high demand by the labor market.
 
"I invite the Lebanese not to miss out on this opportunity and apply now by choosing their desired training courses among a list of more than 3,000,” Yammine added, as she encouraged future trainees to go for courses on computer skills that will open doors for them to work remotely and secure an income in foreign currencies.
 
For more information and to sign up for courses: http://mol.unescwa.org
 

 
For more information:
 
- Ms. Rania Harb, Public Information Assistant, +961-70-008-879; email: harb1@un.org