Syrian Arab Republic

Ministry of Higher Education

Virtual University

STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLAN

For period
Jan 2020 - Dec 2025

Name ‫االسم‬ Class ID

Nadia Syoufi ‫ناديا سيوفي‬ C4 Nadia_114410

Shahem Al-Shawaf ‫شهم الشواف‬ C3 Shahem_125561

Roua Maarouf ‫رؤى معروف‬ C6 Roua_94008

Raghad Al-Dahak ‫رغد الضحاك‬ C3 Raghad_124182

Jafaar Kher-Bek ‫جعفر خير بيك‬ C3 Jafaar_121894

Supervised by: Prof. Majd Sackour

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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
IECD was created in 1988 at the initiative of entrepreneurs and universities, including Xavier Boutin.
Driven by the desire to show solidarity with people in need, they responded to calls from civil society
in Madagascar (1989), in the Lebanon (1989) and in Cameroon (1992). From these three countries,
IECD has progressively established itself in Sub-Saharan Africa, the near East, Latin America (1994)
and Southeast Asia (2004).

Education and vocational training are at the core of IECD teams’ actions, convinced that these are the
keys to human development. Indeed, their mission is to promote development by strengthening
peoples’ capacities and those of local partners.

Since 1989, IECD implements vocational training projects to promote the sustainable integration of
the youth in the workforce. In 1992, it created the first Family Farm School in Cameroon, an initiative
that gradually extended throughout the country and into the Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC). In 1994, IECD participated in the creation of a hospitality curriculum by
supporting the development of a vocational college in Beirut, the first step in the hospitality and
tourism training program. For the past ten years, IECD has multiplied its activities in the fields of
professional integration, notably in industry and healthcare sectors.

In parallel, IECD has engaged in supporting small businesses, the principal driver of growth and job
creation at a local level. In 1998, the first Management and Services Centre was inaugurated in
Cameroon. The program was replicated in the Ivory Coast, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
in the Near East and in Southeast Asia.

Finally, IECD acts to provide education and healthcare access to vulnerable people. In 2006, it
launched the first Educational and Remedial Centre (CERES) in the rural Fianarantsoa region of
Madagascar. That same year it contributed to the programme PAFOVED in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo to improve the care for those with sickle-cell disease.

Since 2010, IECD’s mission has officially been recognised as being in the public interest.

In Syria, in view of the situation faced by the population since 2011, the IECD is increasing its impact
by strengthening the capacities of many local players . 

Mission

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To create environments which allow everyone to build their futures and a more
equitable society.
IECD has one ambition: to create environments conducive to the development of each person. And
create the necessary conditions to allow those willing to do so to act on a social, professional and
institutional level. By acquiring the necessary know-how, they will be able to transform their
existence and to become responsible actors in their country. They believe that in this manner, they will
have a positive impact on society and contribute to it becoming more equitable.

Vision
Entrepreneurs in human and economic development to train the responsible actors
of tomorrow
Since its creation in 1988, IECD has followed the human and economic development in the countries
where it has been involved. IECD bases its actions on a comprehensive approach to a person. We do
this as we believe that well educated people, on an academic, technical, social and human level, will
build note only a better community for themselves and their family, but also for their community and
for society as a whole. IECD encourages the youth, parents, professionals and locally-based
development actors to play a responsible and active civic role.

Core Organizational Competencies

Training and access to employment
“A TRADE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS TO ENSURE YOUR FUTURE AND THE
FUTURE OF YOUR COUNTRY”
According to the International Labor Organization, “71 million young people aged from 15 to 24
years were unemployed in 2017”. The global estimate for the number of young people who are Not in
Education, Employment or Training (NEET), a larger category than before, is 21.8%, a large majority
of whom are women (76.9%).

The inactivity of young people, who are an intrinsically essential part of the future, prevents the
economic development of countries and is also an obstacle for social cohesion and peace.

In order to put a stop to this phenomenon, it is essential to boost the local economy. In developing
countries, many sectors are potential vectors for employment but they struggle to find qualified local
staff. Training is often the problem. Unadapted to the needs of companies, too theoretical, often
undervalued, it is not seen as a solution for youth employment.

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Education
“It all starts at school”
According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), about 263 million children and young people
around the world between 6 and 17 years old do not attend school. This figure includes 61 million
children of primary school age (6-11 years), 60 million teenagers of junior secondary school age (12-
14 years), and 142 million young people of senior secondary school age (15-17 years).

Yet, education is one of the best ways to put an end to poverty. According to the Observatory of
French Education Aid in Developing Countries, each extra year of school results in a 10% increase in
a person’s potential income. On a national level, this implies a 1% increase in the annual GDP. An
educated population is more resistant to all sorts of crises and increases its capacity for resilience. No
country can progress in the long-term without investing in the education of its population.

With its local partners, the IECD develops adapted measures that allow rural junior school students,
young refugees who have dropped out of school, children with learning difficulties, or young disabled
people to benefit from access to good quality education. In tough environments, the IECD is dedicated
to ensuring that individuals have the opportunity to reveal their capacities and find their place in
society.

Entrepreneurship
“HELP ENTREPRENEURS TO ESCAPE INSTABILITY”
Small informal local craft, commerce and service enterprises represent the leading employment basin
in the world and constitute the main source of income for millions of people. However these activities
are very unstable. Without support, they have very little hope of survival and growth. Since 1998, the
IECD’s Support for Small Enterprises program offers solutions that allow local entrepreneurs to
acquire the skills needed to launch and ensure the permanence of their activity. Thus, they can earn the
income they need to meet their family’s needs and improve their living conditions.

Through two programs, one in an urban environment (Support for Small Enterprises) and the other in
a rural environment (Support for Agri-food Stakeholders with the APONH and TRANSFORM
projects).

Sickle Cell Disease

“Improvement of care for people suffering from sickle cell disease”

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(Central Africa and Madagascar)
In 2006, the IECD was one of the first international solidarity associations to commit to people
suffering from Sickle Cell Disease. In 2014, the program took off with the support of the Pierre Fabre
Foundation and is deployed in four countries. Four years later, the program has helped to care
for 3,800 patients, train 1,700 healthcare professionals in early screening,  and screen 120,000 people,
mainly newborns.

This genetic disease mainly affects very young children. Early diagnosis and care greatly help to
improve their life expectancy and living conditions. Whereas in France a person with Sickle Cell
Disease has an average life expectancy of 65 years, in  Africa, 3 children out of 4 die before the age of
5 years.

The IECD supports more than 70 healthcare structures in four countries and deploys its program
according to the approaches below. With a view to the forthcoming extension of the program, a
preliminary study was carried out in Ivory Coast. The first training and screening actions will start
there at the end of 2018.

An estimated 500,000 sick children are born every year in the world. In Africa, the disease is
relatively unknown and the majority of sufferers do not benefit from the correct care. Worse still,
some believe that it is the result of a curse, thus maintaining beliefs that deprive patients of the
appropriate care and encouraging discriminatory behavior. In 2017, the IECD wanted to focus on
awareness-raising actions in order to provide more information about the disease and encourage early
screening

Organizational Values
IECD bases it actions on three key values that are key to its identity:

● A focus on the person: people are at the heart of the projects that IECD implements. The
approach to each person is holistic across both human and social dimensions.
● A principle of service: IECD is founded on the principle and spirit of service, which can is
demonstrated in the way teams are motivated through mutual respect.
● A professional commitment: IECD and its teams commit to the service of others, and in
particular those who need it. This sincere commitment is made with professionalism and
pragmatism.

In order to implement its projects, IECD seeks two basic virtues:

– To dare to undertake
– The patience to implement

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 Highest Priority Goals
● Allow children and teenagers access to good quality education.
● Favor the personal development of children and teenagers.
● Offer young people the chance to access a decent and sustainable job.
● Contribute to local economic development.
● Allow entrepreneurs to acquire the skills needed to launch and/or ensure the
permanence of their activity.
● Create an ecosystem that favors the development of the activity of enterprises

Specific: Expansion for other areas, based on needs assessment

Measurable: Establishment of six youth centers in different governorates Syria
Attainable: Increase the visibility of IECD to attract more donors
Relevant: Reducing the rent of each center by signing a three years’ in advance contract
Time-bound: I will have increased my profit by the end of the coming three months.

Performance Objectives
Performance Area Performance Measures Target Time Frame

Increase areas 1-6 months

The covered geographical opening 5 more training for each center
1- Continuity of success in
area centers
organization centers

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 2- Geographical expansion of the service
area

1-Improve the current beneficiaries networking through social One year

relationships and enhance the trust with networks
Beneficiaries and the organization find more partners and
Performance stakeholders
2-promote the Awareness through
referrals

3- Train in best practices

Internal Efficiency and A special committee will be Conduct a training

Effectiveness formed to select and hire a program in the next 12
professional trainer to months to improve
1- Improve Employee Skills
conduct the training. employee skills.
2- Develop better communication
and presentation skills to
increase ability to work with
and assist beneficiaries

Long Term Development 1 Map out entire integration process 100% 2 years starting from Jan
and Innovation (Web Specialists) 2020
Ending Dec 2022

THE BUSINESS
IECD is a not-for-profit association whose mission is recognized as being in the public interest.

Created in Strasbourg on January 8th 1988, IECD is governed by Alsace-Moselle law and is written
into the registry of associations of the District Court.

IECD is directed by a Board of Trustees, which consists of 15 members who meet four times a year.
The Board of Trustees defines the strategy and direction of the association and controls the general
mandate for ongoing management as granted to the Executive Director. It legally binds the association
and prepares the ordinary, and extraordinary, general meetings.

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The Board is comprised of the President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary of IECD. It meets
every two months and is responsible for carrying out the decisions taken by the Board of Trustees.

The General Meeting brings together all active members of IECD once a year. It appoints
administrators, approves the annual activity report that is delivered by the President, discharges the
accounts after the presentation of the financial statements by the Treasurer, and validates the budget
presented by the Board of Trustees.

On the other hand and the work of IECD in Syria and the linkage between the introduction above and
what is going to be presented below.

IECD have been working in Syria for more than four years now, and the plan for this year is to
establish a youth center in the area of rural Lattakia. The center called “Impact” and the location was
identified based on an overview of the area that includes a population of around 600,000 habitants,
including internally displaced people and refugees. In terms of the Economic and Health Conditions,
the area is considered one of the poorest areas. The buildings are spread out in a chaotic and
unplanned design with small residential arears that reach between 60 to 80 square meters. The area
suffers from poor health conditions in general. This is mainly because of the dilapidated homes due to
humidity caused by the sea.

Directors
Mr. Nidal Al-Bittar – IECD Syria Representitive

Mrs. Zeina Fallouh – Finance and HR officer

Mrs. Fatima Al-Chaar – Project & Center Coordinator

“Impact” center provides a youth facility that deliver regular high quality, convenient and
comprehensive training courses, and provide seed funding grants to young that enables them to start
their own projects and the most important aspect of our center is building trust with the hosting
community in the rural of Latakia.

Established in 2020 (Latakia)

Main headquarter in Abu Rumaneh, Damascus.

More than 300 IECD staff members work for IECD, including some 45 in France, and the others in
Sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, the MENA Region and South East Asia. And around 400 people are
employed by our local partners to work in IECD projects, who is supporting an identity with three
core values:

- A focus on the person:

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People are at the heart of the projects that IECD implements. The approach to each person is holistic
across both human and social dimensions.

– A PROFESSIONNAL COMMITMENT

IECD and its teams commit to the service of others, and in particular those who need it. This sincere
commitment is made with professionalism and pragmatism.

– A PRINCIPLE OF SERVICE
IECD is founded on the principle and spirit of service, which can is demonstrated in the way teams are
motivated through mutual respect.

Nature of the business and its main activities:

- IECD provides it expertise to its beneficiaries and conducts development projects

that have a lasting impact on the people, their families and the local community.

- IECD builds lasting partnerships with local actors who share its vision.
Committed to their chosen field of intervention and recognized for their competency and governance,
they take part in the implementation of projects on the ground. IECD contributes to strengthening
them institutionally, financially and organizationally.

- IECD works in very close collaboration with economic actors. It favors the
involvement of local businesses, who are important actors of development. It also solicits national and
international businesses to support projects that are coherent with their values, geographical location
or their business sector.

- Public authorities are involved in the projects that are implemented in their territories.
IECD expresses its actions in line with national policies while proposing lines of evolution,
particularly where health and education are concerned.

Qualified experts guarantee project relevance. They take part in the definition of
programmes, in the transfer of know-how, in the training of trainers, in the evaluation of projects and
in the enhancement of local partners.

Finally, IECD acts transparently and responsibly. Technical, financial and operational

tools, systems and procedures are in place for all projects. Rigorous planning and regular checks
ensure they are tightly controlled.

IECD organization is currently in the Maturity stage in the life cycle as an international
organization. The maturity stage, in the life cycle curve becomes noticeably flatter. Some experts have
also labeled an additional stage, called expansion, which is between growth and maturity.

9
While work is expanding and partnerships are growing. The resources due to the COVID-19 pandemic
are decreasing as all investments are going towards the health sector.

Competitive strengths and weaknesses

Internal
External

Strengths : Opportunities :

● Dedicated and experienced employees. ● Skilled, well-educated workforce with

● Good leadership high local
● Extensive social services knowledge and ● Unemployment.
expertise. ● Limited competition currently.
● Long-time community presence. ● Growth of the community.
● Good communication skills.

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 ● Networking and relationships in ● Increase demand for social services due to
community. development and recovery phase
● Good ability to adapt to unique situations

Weaknesses : Threats :

● Limited access to communities due to ● Decrease of donation and funding

approval and funding delays. resources.
● Lack of qualified and potential “human ● Inability to provide services in certain
resources”, particularly in Syria due to the areas due the huge demand in comparison
big number of immigration in the past to the resources.
years of crisis.
● Lack of facilities due to the huge
destruction in some areas.

Market Analysis
The existence of non-governmental and local organization that support people in need is not new in
Syria, however it has increased since the beginning of the crisis back in 2011.
IECD is one of the international non-governmental organizations that is working in Syria for more
than five years now. There’s no doubt that there are many other organizations which are currently
working in the country in different sectors that includes, early recovery, WASH, health and education
sectors and definitely, even if the work seems big ,that needs are bigger.
In 2017, the activity level of the IECD, excluding exceptional items, increased to €12.3 million,
compared to €11.2 million in 2016.

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In 2017, 66% of raised funds came from private donors, businesses and business foundations,
endowments, associations and philanthropic foundations. Public funds came from, among others,
l’Agence Française de Développement, from the European Union, from UNICEF etc.
Furthermore, individual donors support IECD as a whole or support particular projects.
A financial plan is drawn up for each project, over an average duration of three to five years. The
necessary financial partnerships are developed accordingly, most often on the basis of co-financing
combining private and public funding.
Since its creation in 1988, IECD holds itself to the highest standards and full transparency in the
management of its financing and expenditure.
Monitoring, planning and internal performance tools have been put in place to ensure efficient
management of resources. In parallel, IECD regularly undergoes technical and financial evaluations of
its projects, as well as internal and external audits.
Over the next five years, the humanitarian response and development context will be globally
increasing, as a matter of fact, many countries are suffering from limited opportunities to job market
and limited access to health and education facilities.
The growth of this interventions including humanitarian aid will be attributable to the increase of the
needs of the population.
In Syria, the demand of social services has increased due to the crisis and the need of the restructure
projects, the non-profit, non-governmental, international and local organizations are getting bigger but
each is working on a different level and responding to a specific need of the community. However,
IECD guarantees providing the services in high quality and strategically manner.
Future demand and needs that requires to be assessed in the next five years. In fact, there’s no specific
number of population due to the lack of conducted and published statics and the number of the
returnees to the country. However, there’s no single doubt that all population and individuals are in
need of the services mentioned above such as education and health which will be provided by all
stakeholders, including national levels.
It is, therefore, difficult to determine this estimation or to provide an accurate number of the
population.

PRODUCTS/ SERVICES

IECD current and near-future services and expansion in Syria

IECD offers a wide range of services through its centers in different locations in Syria:
The current ones are the following with a brief summary of it:

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The centers of Jaramana (Rural Damascus) and in Sweida (south of the Syria):
The center offers secure places where young people can thrive and benefit from trainings to get a job. 
They regain confidence in themselves and in the future, find psychological support, as well as help for
starting a business. For some, these centers also offer them the chance to be able to enjoy the only hot
meal of the day.
On the other hand, and due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown and curfew that took place
in the past months the team of centers adapted a new way for targeting young people through
launching video conferences to continue their classes.

Near Future centers establishments are Semi finished centers:

As a new approach to target young people and the most vulnerable individuals, IECD in partnership
with the Ministry of Social Affairs and the support of concerned organizations, “Impact” centre was
established in rural Lattakia to provide the below services:
- Awareness raising sessions on how to adapt a healthy lifestyle, especially during the time of
COVID-19.
- Capacity building training courses on different topics such as life skills.
- Vocational training courses that include (electricity maintaince, ICDL, photography, etc.)
- Entrepreneurship training courses to develop the skills of young people on how to start their own
projects, in addition to seed funding for the successful projects.
- Recreational activities that includes football and chess competition.
This centre is at the growth life cycle.

One other centre that it is in the development and introduction period, is, “Impact” youth centre in
Aleppo city.
The centre will follow the same strategy of intervention of the other youth centres established in the
country. List of services that will be provided:
- Awareness raising sessions on how to adapt a healthy lifestyle, especially during the time of
COVID-19.
- Capacity building training courses on different topics such as life skills.
- Entrepreneurship training courses to develop the skills of young people on how to start their own
projects, in addition to seed funding for the successful projects.

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- Community-based initiatives training courses that help young people to take their role in their
communities and raise their accountability towards that.
- The centre will be provided with a room that include a space a number of laptops, where young
people could come and study.
- Provision of Pshyco-social support services that will include a group and individual counselling, in
addition to recreational activities.

IECD advantages comparing to the other organization:

EXCELLENT QUALITY
IECD provides it expertise to its beneficiaries and conducts development projects that have a lasting
impact on the people, their families and the local community.

ON TIME DELIVERY
Delays in our services are very rare. This is also connected with our quality there are no scraps to be
produced again. Second key factor is directly monitoring on 100% of the complete cycle.

RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR SERVICE PROVIDER

IECD works in very close collaboration with development actors. It favors the involvement of local
partners, who are important actors of building resilience. It also solicits national and international
organizations to support projects that are coherent with its values, geographical location or their
business sector.

INTEGRATED SERVICES
Qualified experts guarantee project relevance. They take part in the definition of programs, in the
transfer of know-how, in the training of trainers, in the evaluation of projects and in the enhancement
of local partners.

STABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY

IECD are always able to survive in challenging situations. The key is not only to provide excellent
services as mentioned above, but also to flexibly react on any change. Also, today, with wide
expansion of IECD able to react and accommodate. Further development of flexibility and stability is
a key part of the organization’s strategy.

Benefits and value provided to Beneficiaries:

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 ● A focus on the person: people are at the heart of the projects that IECD implements. The
approach to each person is holistic across both human and social dimensions.
● A principle of service: IECD is founded on the principle and spirit of service, which can
be demonstrated in the way teams are motivated through mutual respect.
● A professional commitment: IECD and its teams commit to the service of others, and in
particular those who need it. This sincere commitment is made with professionalism and
pragmatism.

Regulations and Standard

Qualified experts guarantee project relevance. They take part in the definition of programs, in the
transfer of know-how, in the training of trainers, in the evaluation of projects and in the enhancement
of local partners IECD acts transparently and responsibly. Public authorities are involved in the
projects that are implemented in their territories. IECD expresses its actions in line with national
policies while proposing lines of evolution, particularly where health and education are concerned.
Technical, financial and operational tools, systems and procedures are in place for all projects.
Rigorous planning and regular checks ensure they are tightly controlled .

RESPONSE & POSITIONING

Services benefits highly valued by the Beneficiaries:

IECD set their beneficiaries satisfaction standards significantly higher than competitors. They want to
guarantee their beneficiaries’ expectations are not only met but exceeded.
The following describes who their beneficiaries are, their expectations, and how we repeatedly
manage to meet their needs.

● The Child Protection program

The centers in Jaramana and Sweida (which opened its doors in 2017) welcome children in the frame
of the UNICEF “Child Protection” program and participate in fun and directed activities.

15
“Yesterday, we spoke about the importance of education “, adds Fadi, an activity coordinator. “For
this, we use different procedures such as drawing, painting, a story written together, or a sketch that
we perform.”.

● Help young entrepreneurs to create their own business (the

BRIDGES program)

In a tense economic climate, the IECD encourages young people to create their own business. Set up
since October 2016, the BRIDGES program (Building and Reinforcing Integration through
Development of Guidance, Employment and Skills) aims to help young start-up entrepreneurs develop
their entrepreneurial skills. It comprises three sections: training in the creation and management of an
enterprise, the attribution of funds, and support in the project’s implementation.

Thus, Abd Alhadi dreams of helping children be able to study, after he himself was forced to leave
school and work in order to meet his family’s needs after they had to leave Homs; Farah and Waeed
are two friends who want to help young people with learning difficulties; Amjad wants to recycle old
furniture to give to Syrian families who have lost everything, offering them the chance to enjoy a
minimum of comfort at an affordable price. As for Ahmad, his project was to create a prototype of a
wheelchair that could cross stairs on its own for people injured by the fighting. The war did not give
him time to do it.
Since the launch of the BRIDGES program in Syria, 57 projects have benefited from funding after
being presented to a jury and are now in their launch or deployment phase. The young prizewinners
are being monitored by the IECD team. On the strength of its success, the BRIDGES program was
launched in Aleppo in September 2017.

● On-going training to strengthen the skills of local associations

In Syria, the IECD is increasing its impact in a large part of the territory by transferring skills to the
dense local associative network. In previous years, 67 associations were able to benefit from training
that helps them to run high level vocational training centers. In 2017, 175 members from 10
associations again improved their skills in teaching practices and the management of training centers:
training adapted to certain subjects (computing, English), certain professions (household electricity,
personal care), and the management of centers (management or use of software).

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 ● Three centers train internally displaced persons and other
vulnerable persons

Designed to help Iraqi refugees when it was created in 2008, the Shebab Center (meaning the “center
for young people”) in Jaramana mainly welcomes internally displaced Syrians from childhood through
to adulthood, namely from 5 to 24 years. In a climate of constant violence, it offers a protective and
secure environment. The young people have access to several types of services: a personalized
welcome, the chance to be heard, and psychological support, but also a varied training offering (14
fields studied) lasting from 3 to 4 months, which allows them to acquire professional skills in sectors
in high demand: help for the elderly and sick, management, household electricity, construction
painting, computer maintenance, heating and air-conditioning maintenance, computing, etc.
At the same time, personal development and soft skills workshops are offered to them: the aim is to
facilitate their adaptation to their new living conditions and develop the skills required for their
professional integration.
The center in Jaramana has been open for 10 years. It is now a model that can be applied elsewhere: in
2017, two new centers opened their doors: the I can Center, also located in Jaramana, and the Sweida
Center in the south of the country, thus relocating the model to a new region. A 4th center is being
studied in Aleppo in the north of the country.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

IECD has a development unit that works regularly on conducting region researches in order to develop
the work in the organization, the team is working on identifying and taking advantages of new region
opportunities by varying out response and corporations research, analyzing region requirements,
identifying new projects and service needs, and supporting, response and services development
activities. The team also identify opportunities to improve service to the current beneficiaries as the
basis for increasing their expansion.
IECD will work during the upcoming five years on making regular region researches to improve the
quality of services and updating of new technologies in emergency response world. The organization
will also search for as many new local partners as possible to expand service delivery areas. This

17
 partners will refresh the situation in the Syrian response and will decrease the cost for the organization
in employing international staff and will help implementing the restructure work inside Syria.

(SERVICES & DELIVERY)

● EDUCATION

The IECD’s actions pursue an objective that goes beyond educational improvement or remediation.
The educational program aims to allow children, teenagers or young adults to forge their personality,
fulfill themselves, reveal their talents, become decision-makers in their own lives and have an
influence on the environment in which they live. For this, tailored support is offered that encompasses
all aspects of the person and his or her environment.
THE IECD’S 4 PILLARS FOR EDUCATION

Favor the acquisition of academic knowledge.

Help each one to develop his or her personality, life skills and capacity to live alongside others via
workshops and extra-curricular activities.

Accompany children, teenagers or young adults via psychosocial support and material support if
necessary so that they are free to learn.

Act on the family and educational environment of the student through the involvement of parents, teacher training,
inclusive education, training of trainers, information targeting public authorities.

past results:

7,000 children and young people who benefit from the educational programs.

More than 660 teachers trained in practices to improve management.

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More than 83% success rate in the BEPC examination and 86% in the Baccalaureate in Madagascar.

The strategy for 2021 will include:

● Expanding the presence of IECD’s actions in the regional area

● Secure the national resources.
● Invest more in R&D and analysis.

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 ● TRAINING AND ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT:

The inactivity of young people, who are an intrinsically essential part of the future, prevents
the economic development of countries and is also an obstacle for social cohesion and peace.

In order to put a stop to this phenomenon, it is essential to boost the local economy. In
developing countries, many sectors are potential vectors for employment but they struggle to
find qualified local staff. Training is often the problem

REINFORCE THE LINKS BETWEEN SCHOOLS AND ENTERPRISES

In order to bring together the interests of young people and those of companies,
the IECD is devoted to building bridges between the two:

THE INTEGRATED PROJECT APPROACH

The IECD is able to obtain effective results through its efforts to remove all obstacles to
youth employment.

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COMPLETE TRAINING
Organizations require employees with as many technical skills as soft skills. In order to increase their
chances, young people need to be operational and able to adapt to different environments. The IECD’s
training courses also include the acquisition of soft skills, including all the key skills required in the
professional environment (respect for the hierarchy, punctuality, commitment, ser

21
vice to others, etc.).

The role of Career Guidance Offices (CGO) is to create a link between students and the labor market“,
explains Georges Makdessy Elias, head of CGO at the Arts and Trades School in Dekwaneh. “Job
search techniques, work placements and training in preparation for the labor market provided by the
CGO help students to acquire the skills needed for their integration into companies.”
Since 2012, in partnership with the Fondation Drosos, the sole financial partner, the Guidance
Employment and Training project facilitates access to employment by young people through the
development of a network of Career Guidance Offices (CGO) throughout Lebanon. Present in 12 state
and private technical schools, Career Guidance Offices advise young people about the courses that
exist and their openings, prepare them for the world of work through targeted training courses

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(drafting of CVs, job hunting, preparation for job interviews, etc,), and provide them with support in
their search for work placements and jobs.
In order to ensure advice and a quality service, the IECD constantly provides training for Career
Guidance Offices and organizes events (seminars, employment forums, etc.) which bring together
companies, schools and institutional partners. Thus, it strengthens ties between the ecosystem’s
stakeholders and promotes vocational training.
2017 RESULTS:
More than 3,000 students benefited from the activities organized by the CGO.
1,200 students found an internship or employment (138 students found a job) thanks to the CGO.
12 CGO managers benefited from the IECD’s training courses.
5,000 students from the Seeds of Hope program benefited from the services of the CGO in 2017.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Through two programs, one in an urban environment (Support for Small Enterprises) and the other in
a rural environment (Support for Agri-food Stakeholders with the APONH and TRANSFORM
projects), the IECD has developed a systemic approach to supporting entrepreneurship based on two
lines of action:
1 – Training and support for entrepreneurs.
2 – The construction of an ecosystem favorable to the development of local entrepreneurship.

DEVELOP AN ECOSYSTEM TO SUPPORT ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The IECD also relies on a network of local associations, which work to implement and deploy
programs. Thus, in Africa, four local structures working together in the Enterprise Development
Network, participate in the program’s strategy. In 2017, Madagascar Entreprises Développement was
constituted as an independent Madagascan association and became the fifth member of the Enterprise
Development Network. The IECD continues to support the empowerment of its local partners, in
particular by improving their human resources andthrough local fund-raising.

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 NEW CHALLENGES
The IECD wants to extend its programs to new regions (West Africa, Central Africa, etc.).
An innovative franchise system should be created in 2018 and will help to extend the program.
The IECD and its partners are devoted to developing new economic models that help to earn income
which is reinvested in the projects’ social activities. The aim of this is to maintain a system that should
benefit from its own resources in order to grow.

BUSINESS SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES

The IECD is one of the leading organization in Syria and seeks in its work to achieve spread and
expansion by offering quality services. A leading organization like The IECD can't achieve this only if
it takes quality management into account. The organization does not stop at quality management to
provide a good services or gain the satisfaction of its employees and beneficiaries, but rather it applies
many international standards of quality, but it also funds and supervises training courses for
employees.
We can briefly address some of these criteria:

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Quality management is one of the most important concepts of management that should be pursued by
any organization seeking success and development. The challenge facing institutions of all kinds in
the world is how to succeed in an environment in which changes and changes are accelerating, as
competition intensifies day after day and quality becomes a more urgent demand. Therefore, we can
summarize the quality management as follows:
Total quality management is a management method that not only addresses the quality of the services,
but also directs to the quality of the service, in addition to the satisfaction of both beneficiaries and
employees.
Total quality management has proven its importance in developing services significantly and has
become an important part of the administrative departments in each organization.
Total quality management is not limited to the elements of management in its application, but rather
needs a general culture in the organization to implement its principles, and therefore everyone should
strive to achieve quality.

Risk Management
In stable countries, all successful organizations take risk management into consideration and study all
the opportunities and threats expected, so how is the situation in countries in war situations, the study
of risks and trying to avoid them and the development of alternative plans that are intensive and
carefully studied. So, it is certain that IECD, with its successes and continuity under war conditions,
considers risks and manages them properly, otherwise it would not be able to continue.
we can review a general idea about risk management as follows:
Business Risk management is a subset of risk management used to evaluate the business risks
involved if any changes occur in the business operations, systems and process. It identifies, prioritizes
and addresses the risk to minimize penalties from unexpected incidents, by keeping them on track. It
also enables an integrated response to multiple risks, and facilitates a more informed risk-based
decision-making capability
Businesses today are unpredictable, volatile and seem to become more complex every day. By its very
nature, it is filled with risk. Businesses have viewed risk as an evil that should be minimized or
mitigated, whenever possible. However, risk assessment provides a mechanism for identifying which
risks represent opportunities and which represent potential pitfalls. Risks can have negative impact,
positive impact, or both. Risks with a negative impact can prevent value creation or erode existing
value. Risks with positive impact may offset negative impacts or represent opportunities.

The risk management process involves:

1. Identifying risks 
2. Analyzing risks
3. Responding to risk 
4. Monitoring risk and opportunities 

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Types of risks
▪ Hazard risk: A hazard is anything in the workplace that has the potential to harm people.
Hazard risk includes factors which are not under the control of business environment, such as
fallout of machinery or dangerous chemical, natural calamities.
▪ Financial risk: Many businesses take risk with their financial assets, quite regularly.
Sometimes choosing a wrong supplier or distributor can backfire. Financial risk also includes
risk in pricing, currency exchange and during liquidation of any asset. Business risk
management should say how much risk is too much in financial relationship.
▪ Operational risk: Evaluation of risk loss resulting from internal process, system, people or due
to any external factor through which a company operates.
▪ Strategic risks: Might arise from making poor or wrong business plans and losing the
competition in the market. Failure to respond to changes in the business environment or
inadequate capital allocation also represents strategic risk.
However, BRM also has its own limitations, factors considering human involvement in decision
making. Human judgment can sometimes be based on experience or sheer gut feeling, which may or
may always not work. Simple errors or mistakes can turn the business upside down. This could also
happen when two or more people are involved, and they fail to come to same understanding or accept
a decision in confused state of mind/ haste. These limitations preclude a management from having
absolute assurance towards the achievement of the entity’s objectives.

Information Management and Security (e.g., Security Standard IEC

17799:2000)
The IECD has management and protection of information about its business and employees. The
organization seeks and applies the international standard for protection and information management,
which we will talk about briefly in the following paragraph.
IEC 17799:2005 establishes guidelines and general principles for initiating, implementing,
maintaining, and improving information security management in an organization. The objectives
outlined provide general guidance on the commonly accepted goals of information security
management IEC 17799:2005 contains best practices of control objectives and controls in the
following areas of information security management:
● security policy;
● organization of information security;

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 ● asset management;
● human resources security;
● physical and environmental security;
● communications and operations management;
● access control;
● information systems acquisition, development and maintenance;
● information security incident management;
● business continuity management;
● Compliance.
The control objectives and controls in IEC 17799:2005 are intended to be implemented to meet the
requirements identified by a risk assessment. IEC 17799:2005 is intended as a common basis and
practical guideline for developing organizational security standards and effective security
management practices, and to help build confidence in inter-organizational activities.

Performance improvement across the business, to include

performance indicators and targets
Performance indicators and targets are one of the powerful management tools that help to present the
strategic changes that many organizations need to make, as it is possible to achieve the higher goals of
the organization through achieving departmental goals, where the goals are set based on key
performance indicators.
The company, IECD, relies on performance improvements in its business, based on performance
indicators and the goals it wants to achieve.

Future planning and ongoing innovation (e.g., new services

development & process innovation)
With the teams of engineers, economists and administrators working in IECD, it is certain that the
organization is an ambitious and serious organization in its work and seeks to develop and expand its
projects, which confirms the existence of future plans and deliberate strategies for expansion, whether
in the nature of the organizations work or even in the services that it can provide in The future, and
this can be seen from the successes and proliferation that the organization is achieving in the Syrian
region.

Employee performance and morale

With the difficulties experienced by Syria in the years of the crisis, IECD always seeks to provide the
right and comfortable working conditions for all the employees working with it in order to secure the
high morale of the employees through the satisfaction and confidence that they feel towards the

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organization and what it is doing in ensuring the continuity of their work and the salaries and material
compensation that It is considered high compared to the average Syrian per capita income or even
employees belonging to other organizations.
And its concern for employees and their morale stems from its belief in the importance of employees
feeling a sense of belonging to it, which motivates them to work with maximum effort and the best
quality to make IECD excel in its performance over competitors and other organizations.

Stakeholder relationships
IECD is one of the leading organizations in Syria that enjoys extensive and solid relationship networks
with most other organizations and the agencies responsible for securing the necessary resources in
addition to its close relationship with governmental entities, and this relationship network is built
based on cooperation and mutual benefit for all parties.

STAKEHOLDER RELATIONSHIPS AND ALLIANCES

The current situation in Syria is a complex situation, in which many parties are intertwined, and there
are multiple segments, and although economic sanctions have narrowed the horizon of Syrian
organizations, and have reduced their role or activities in some places, they have played a role in
increasing the need to strengthen the Syrian Response in an attempt at self-sufficiency, and also
helped to strengthen cooperation between the Syrian Response and the Response of friendly countries.
IECD, which belongs to another group of organizations that share the same top management, seeks to
strengthen its role in Syria and some other countries. Consequently, we see that the organization has
obtained more Beneficiaries in the Syrian Response and Beneficiaries in some neighboring countries
and friendly countries, just as the network of alliances exceeded local alliances with some other
organizations or some government entities, and the alliances include organizations and economic
destinations belonging to other countries.
Are all our key stakeholders clearly identified?
Although the full picture of Syria is not clear and some shareholders and stakeholders remain out of
sight, it can be said that the main stakeholders are specific and known within the Syrian Emergency
Response whether they are from Syria or from friendly countries.
Who will become key stakeholders soon?
It is very likely soon that the local NGOs and agencies concerned in the development context will
merge in important and significant aspects in the Syrian Response, and their role will increase
significantly. and therefore, the coming alliances will surpass the stakeholders in Syria so that there
will be strong working relationships and alliances that transcend the Syrian Response and open to the
world.
Are they regularly consulted?

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 After entering the global response through new shareholders and stakeholders, and because of their
influence and share in the Syrian Response, it is certain that not only consultations will be periodic,
but in addition to that there will be periodic meetings for planning, investment and business
development in the Syrian Response.

References:
https://www.iecd.org/

https://www.iecd.org/en/category/middle-east-and-north-africa/syria-en/

https://www.iecd.org/en/zones-dintervention/middle-east-north-africa/syria/

https://www.fundsforngos.org/free-resources-for-ngos/strategic-plan-ngos/

http://www.ib-sm.org/NGO%20strategies.pdf

https://www.sustentia.com/en/estrategia-y-gestion-de-ong/

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Main-functions-and-strategies-of-execution-of-NGOs-and-
GONGOs_tbl1_310766970

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