SIDON, Lebanon: The Canadian and Swiss ambassadors to Lebanon visited Sidon over the weekend and attended a graduation of some 200 people from Ain al-Hilweh who participated in social and humanitarian development training in the country’s Palestinian refugee camps.

Sidon’s mayor Mohammad Saudi received the two ambassadors, Hilary Childs-Adams of Canada and Ruth Flint of Switzerland, in his office at the city’s municipal palace. Also present were representatives from the Swiss Development Agency and the municipal council.

After the meeting, Flint voiced her satisfaction with her visit to Sidon and her meeting with Saudi, saying that they discussed the relationship between Switzerland and Lebanon, as well as the general situation in Sidon and the country as a whole.

When questioned about the state of affairs in south Lebanon, Flint said she had no comments on the matter.

For her part, Childs-Adams called the meeting with Saudi fruitful, and said the two discussed Saudi’s personal impressions of a visit to Canada. They also talked about various developmental and environmental issues, as well as improving Lebanese-Swiss relations in various fields. In particular, their talks focused on a project she described as humanitarian, social and developmental that interests the Canadian government.

Saudi said Canada and Switzerland are both friends of Lebanon, and called them both dear to his heart. He thanked them for their interest in supporting development projects in Sidon and the Palestinian camps.

“We presented to their Excellencies projects that Sidon’s municipality is working on in various fields, and her Excellency the Swiss ambassador said that Sidon’s beach was clean in comparison to previous years,” Saudi said. “I explained to her the steps that Sidon’s municipality has taken to achieve this cleanliness and to put an end to pollution.”

This past summer, Sidon officials closed a number of sewage pipes that had been pumping unfiltered sewage into the sea, and brought in vast amounts of “new sand” to cover the shoreline.

The ambassadors’ visit to the city was to sponsor a graduation held at the municipality of around 200 women and youth trainees from two projects in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh.

The projects are entitled “Women in Technology: Power of Tomorrow” and “Modern Voices for Protection. The initiatives are funded by the Canadian and Swiss governments, and implemented by the Digital Opportunity Trust in collaboration with the Solidarity Association for Social & Cultural Development and the Women’s Program Center.

“Women In Technology: Power of Tomorrow” aimed to provide less educated women or those who are having trouble finding employment with the skills and confidence to increase their employability.

“Modern Voices for Protection,” whose slogan is “Aswatouna” [Our Voices] taught participants information technology, leadership and advocacy skills, and how to connect service providers with those who need their services. It is hoped that increased connection will raise awareness about social issues, as well as help share information in Ain al-Hilweh.

In a statement, a participant said: “I joined [the] Aswatouna project to learn how to use the computer and Internet.”