A gap between certificates and job readiness
Graduates hold solid degrees but lack the applied experience and cross-disciplinary skills employers now ask for, in a country in economic crisis since 2019.
Launching Human development
Al-Inmaa Center for Training & Empowerment (Bunyan)
Productive training: from trainee to producer earning an income
We don't graduate trainees holding certificates... we create producers who earn an income
The idea in one sentence
We link training in digital skills, AI and leadership to real paid work for associations, municipalities and small businesses, turning the trainee from a recipient of knowledge into a producer of value.
The problem
The numbers
Youth (15–24) unemployment reached 47.8% and overall unemployment 29.6% (Labour Force Survey, 2022), and 69% of young people in that group said they want to emigrate. Meanwhile associations and municipalities need digital and management skills they cannot afford on the market.
The deeper flaw
Traditional training measures success by outputs (number of trainees, courses and satisfaction scores) and doesn't answer the key question: what happened to the trainee after graduation?
Sources: Labour Force Survey, Central Administration of Statistics and ILO (2022)
Target groups
- Youth, students and new graduates looking for work (the core group of the productive-training model).
- Teachers and trainers who want to integrate AI into education or obtain TOT accreditation.
- Staff of associations and municipalities, who are also clients of the digital agency.
- Women, homemakers, small-business owners, freelancers and retirees seeking economic empowerment.
Methodology
Layer 1 — Training and a graduation project for a real client
Four bags with two levels each: AI applications, Training of Trainers (TOT), a soft-skills matrix, and social and digital media. The graduation project is a real request from an association, municipality or small business, so the trainee leaves with a portfolio, not just a certificate.
Layer 2 — Production: a digital agency run by graduates
An in-house services agency where outstanding graduates work under the centre's supervision, offering non-profits platform management, content production and design at symbolic prices; the graduate earns a wage and the centre earns recurring revenue.
Layer 3 — Lasting empowerment: from graduate to independent contractor
The most outstanding become micro-entrepreneurs who win their first clients through the centre's network, and some return as assistant trainers, completing the cycle. Certificates are academically accredited through a university partnership and verified with a QR code.
An example of a beneficiary's journey
Sara, 24, is a graduate without work. In the first two months she joins the social-media bag and her graduation project is running a real association's page. From months 3 to 5 she joins the agency and manages the accounts of 3 organisations for a monthly wage. After month 6 she builds her own client base and becomes independent.
Success factors
Institutional heritage
More than fifty years of development work and field teams in Beirut, the Bekaa, the South, Mount Lebanon and the North.
An existing partnership network
With UN agencies, the Lebanese Red Cross, Lebanese ministries and scout and youth associations, which are themselves the agency's first market.
Certificate credibility
An academic partnership with a university to design programmes, accredit certificates and count credit hours within continuing-education tracks.
Built-in financial sustainability
Diversified income from training fees, institutional contracts and grants, plus monthly recurring revenue from the agency that does not depend on course seasons.
Achievements so far
The centre is in its launch phase. Achieved so far: a complete strategic founding document (June 2026), design of 4 training bags across 8 levels, a “productive training” model with impact indicators, an academic partnership framework, and an implementation plan for the first six months.
Targets and impact indicators
- 150 – 250Trainee beneficiaries
- + 50Income opportunities created for graduates
- 20 – 30Real projects delivered for real clients
- 20 – 40TOT programme graduates
- 5 – 10Micro-entrepreneurs among graduates
- + 10Organisations served by the digital agency
- 80% or moreProgramme completion rate
- 85% or moreTrainee satisfaction rate
The centre measures success by the number of income opportunities created, not by the number of certificates issued.
Challenges and how we address them
| Power cuts of 12–20 hours a day and weak internet | Solar power or a generator for the centre, corporate internet, content that can be pre-downloaded for offline work, and sessions scheduled around electricity supply. |
|---|---|
| Eroded purchasing power since the 2019 crisis | Tiered pricing by ability to pay, instalments, partial and full scholarships, and short low-cost programmes as an entry point. |
| A crowded training market in Beirut and Mount Lebanon | Differentiation by combining social depth with AI, focusing on serving associations and municipalities, and expanding to less saturated regions. |
| Fragile stability and volatile funding | A lean operating model, a three-month operating reserve, and no single funding source above 30% of the budget. |
Lessons the project is built on
- Training success is measured by what happens to the trainee after graduation, so the indicators are built on impact (income opportunities, delivered projects), not outputs.
- Lebanese challenges are not an obstacle to the project; they are its strongest justification, and operational flexibility is a condition for survival before it is an advantage.
- Our advice: start with a real need of a real client, make training serve it, and funding turns from an expense into an investment that creates value.
Why it deserves to be showcased
A new solution
It goes beyond training and guarantees the trainee a first paid job through an agency run by graduates themselves.
Transferable
It suits any country with educated-youth unemployment and any association with a network of local institutions needing digital services.
An innovative, sustainable method
It tackles three problems at once: youth unemployment, associations' and municipalities' need for digital services, and the centre's own financial sustainability.
Sustainable Development Goals
- 44.4 Quality EducationGoal 4: Quality Education
Increase the number of youth and adults with skills for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship
- 88.6 Decent Work and Economic GrowthGoal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
Reduce the share of youth not in employment, education or training
- 99.c Industry, Innovation and InfrastructureGoal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Increase access to information and communications technology and the Internet
- 1717.17 Partnerships for the GoalsGoal 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Encourage effective public, civil society and private partnerships
Goals 4 and 8 because training ends in paid work; Goal 9 for digital and AI skills; Goal 17 for partnerships with universities, municipalities and organisations.
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Ready to implement 2026–2027Bayt Muntij (A Productive Home)
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Ready to implement 2026–2027Generations Bridge
Retirees mentor young people professionally... and young people teach them digital skills
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120older adults learning digital skills (target)
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