In the Bekaa and Nabatieh governorates, INTERSOS is committed to ensuring protection and protection of the rights of vulnerable women, men, children and girls from refugee and host communities
Lebanon, Nabatieh governorate. Here, as in the Bekaa governorate, local communities host large numbers of refugees who lack access to the most basic services. Last September, with the support of BPRM (Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration), we launched a project to improve the rights protection and access to essential services of the refugee communities hosted in these two districts.
Rayah is a fictional name that we chose to tell the story of a 22-year-old refugee girl in Lebanon. Rayah was forced to marry at the age of 17 to a man 20 years older than her. She was young, she would surely provide him with a son. During the marriage, she suffered physical and psychological violence: she did not even receive financial support to bring up her son, and despite the poor conditions in which she lived, her family of origin was against divorce for fear of negative judgment from others due to religious and social issues. This is only the first part of a story that, like many others, has as its protagonist a minor girl forced to marry, forced to suffer abuse because of an imposed marriage. But Rayah’s story has a different ending. Rayah met INTERSOS workers who gave her the support she needed.
Our social worker managed to create a relationship of trust with the girl, starting with her a path of psychological support thanks to which she found the courage to divorce her husband. In addition, we provided her with economic assistance with which she managed to put together the money needed to find a new house to live in with her son, also benefiting, at first, from an emergency kit containing essential goods. Another important step was to start attending vocational training to become a make-up artist in the Nabatieh district. This training enabled her to devote herself to an activity she enjoys and to improve her living conditions. In fact, since September, serene, stable, and with her baby who is now one year old, Rayah has been practicing her role of make-up artist with friends and neighbours using the kit received during vocational training, so that she does not have to spend any more money to buy it. And she is looking for work as a make-up artist. Once she has settled down professionally, she expects to be able to continue her studies and enroll in the university.
INTERSOS in Lebanon
In a context where living conditions have drastically deteriorated in recent years, INTERSOS, already operating in Lebanon since 2006, provides safe and inclusive access to essential services for the most vulnerable segments of the population, Lebanese families and Syrian refugee families. In 2022, the country has seen several overlapping crises exacerbate the poverty conditions already present: the Syrian crisis, which has brought more than 1.5 million refugees to the country (according to the latest UNHCR data); the economic collapse; political instability – now entrenched in Lebanon since 2019 -, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2020 Beirut port explosion that has widened the political-financial crisis.
Thanks to the support of BPRM, we are working to address and mitigate the impact that the COVID-19-related crisis has on the lives of the most vulnerable women, men, boys, and girls in refugee and host communities in Bekaa and Nabatieh governorates for the next two years. Activities aim to increase access to protective services for children at risk of abuse and women and children who are survivors of violence. In addition, we work to ensure the emotional and psychological well-being of each person by also focusing on training aimed at children to prevent and possibly respond appropriately to possible violations against them.