Through the management of the Collective Sites, where 73% of all refugees in Lebanon live, Intersos staff in the country reached and helped 2,300 people
In line with government policy, no formal refugee camps were established in Lebanon in response to the influx of Syrian refugees. Consequently, Syrian refugees live in cities, villages or spontaneously set-up tented settlements throughout the country. Based on surveys and trends established by UNHCR, an estimated 73% of all refugees rent in residential buildings in cities or rural settlements known as collective shelters. Collective Shelters are existing buildings used as temporary living accommodations for hosting displaced populations. These Buildings have mostly been constructed prior to displacement and are not designed for accommodation. As per UNHCR, Collective Shelters with more than four families should be managed.
The Collective Site Management and Coordination (CSMC) programme was integrated under Intersos programs since February 2016. Over the past 6 years, the purpose of CSMC programs was to provide empowerment to the Syrian community by creating camp management committees and raising awareness on humanitarian and protection standards, providing skills trainings, creating and updating family profiles for the refugees, their legal status in Lebanon and their rights. The program also provided the community with lists of service providers and proper referrals and complaints mechanisms in order to ensure their needs would be referred to the appropriate stakeholders and assistance would be provided with the desired quality according to specific standards. Ultimately, the program aimed to increase Syrian refugees’ self-reliance, strengthen and expand community mobilisation and support community self-management.
Intersos’ activities in the governorates of Mount Lebanon
For the year 2021, Intersos CSMC team, under the project “Ensuring the basic and fundamental rights of Syrian Refugees in Mount Lebanon, Iraqi and Other Nationalities”, have worked with more than 40 old Collective sites and 15 new sites in the governorates of Mount Lebanon. The team managed to outreach refugees, conduct awareness sessions, capacity building – life skills sessions and skills training sessions to all the residents. By the end of September 2021, the team has reached around 2,300 individuals through providing 179 awareness sessions, 82 skills training / capacity building sessions and 6 cycles of skills training sessions.
Skills training sessions revolved around two main topics; gardening and upcycling. The choice of the topic was based on a focus group discussion with the site committee. Each cycle consisted of 8 sessions. Participants of gardening sessions were provided with seeds packs to help them plant their own vegetables and they were followed up by a trainer from the site who had an experience in gardening and was delegated by the participants. Participants of the upcycling training learned skills related to upcycling old items into new items that they can sell or use at home. The trainer provided them with the needed tools to be able to produce and decorate these items in the future.
Besides being able to learn and develop new skills, the participants stated that these sessions were the best treatment for them to vent out and communicate with people especially after COVID-19 outbreak and all the lockdowns that followed. They considered attending these sessions as a fun education where they can benefit from new skills while spending good time with others.