The 10th international Fair Trade Town conference will take place in Baskinta, one of the first Fair Trade Towns in Lebanon, from Saturday 2nd to Sunday 3rd July 2016.

This will be the 1st time a Fair Trade Towns conference will be held in the global south. It is hoped it will inspire and motivate budding Fair Trade Town movements across the Middle East and North Africa and send a powerful message redefining the relationship between the North and the South from a one-way to a two-way relationship.

The theme of the conference will be ' Building Bridges through Fair Trade' and reflect how Fair Trade Towns in Lebanon have created social and economic links between communities of different sects and faiths. This has led to the exchange of products, the bringing together of campaigners across previous divides and the development of a platform for solidarity and mutual support.

The conference program will also include discussions about the structure of the Fair Trade Towns movement across the world and reviews of international campaigns and their progress.

The program below is tentative and subject to change, and some speakers still need to confirm.

In order to get to know Lebanon better as a country and visit its Fair Trade Town campaigns, you can register for the following additional events:

• A tour of Beirut on Friday 1st July 10:00 - 18:00
• Visits to Fair Trade Villages on Wednesday and Thursday 29th and 30th June 10:00 - 19:00

Fair Trade Lebanon will be take care of you and all logistics including:

• Transport from and to the airport
• Transport between your accommodation and the conference location
• Transport between your accommodation and other locations to be visited

Accommodation:

• Hotels:
  • Monte Sannine (Price: $50 per room with 2 beds. Breakfast: $6). Click here to book a room for yourself. To reserve for free/book through us, contact us here!
• Convents:
  • Mar Sassine convent (single rooms and twin rooms available) (Price: $20/person whether 1 or 2 people in the room). To reserve for free/book through us, contact us here!
• Guesthouse (several people in each room):
  • Georges Hobeika guesthouse (price: around $30/person). Click here to check it out. To reserve for free/book, contact us here
  • Nour El Qamar guesthouse (price: $30/person including breakfast). To reserve for free/book or for more details, contact us here
• Host family: (Price: free) For more details, or to reserve your place, contact us here!

Fair Trade Lebanon is carefully monitoring the political situation in the region and will do so until the end of the conference. All security concerns will be dealt with by Fair Trade Lebanon. If at any time Fair Trade Lebanon feels that your safety may be threatened we will notify participants either by e-mail before coming to Lebanon or before making any visits within the country. For an overview on security, check out our security letter.

Visa information will be communicated via email. Invitation letters are available upon request on this email. Kindly note that Israeli stamps on passports prohibit entry to Lebanon.

Price includes lunches for both days of the conference, and a rural dinner on the first day.

For news and updates, subscribe to the Conference blog here!

TAG: FairTradeLebanon