Lebanon: Inauguration of the Legal Training Center in Ain al-Hilweh Refugee Camp
28 October 2014
A milestone of Geneva Call’s project in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon was reached on 25 October with the inauguration of the Legal Training Center in Ain al-Hilweh camp. The Legal Support Unit (LSU) to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) is now formally established. The LSU will develop programmes to train all members of the Palestinian National Security Forces (PNSF) in Lebanon on international legal standards including the use of force.
The PNSF in Lebanon is the new unified structure of the different armed bodies of the PLO factions, which has its headquarters in Ain al-Hilweh. It has approximately 20,000 members, including about 4,000 acting military personnel. The PNSF are in charge of preserving security inside the camps, protecting civilians, institutions and property, and preventing any security threats towards Lebanese citizens outside the camps.
After a three year project by Geneva Call, training on humanitarian norms has become an integral part of the training programmes of the PNSF. The establishment of the LSU will sustain this increase in knowledge and attitude change, whilst further enhancing the PNSF’s capacity to train their forces on humanitarian norms.
Geneva Call has assisted the PLO in setting up the permanent Legal Training Center and provided advice for recruited staff. Geneva Call is now ready to hand over the entire project to the PLO and the PNSF.
