Improving Safety and Security in Underserved Communities

Young people in the Mouassiseh Neighborhood participate in a focus group session, discussing their vision for an improved community.

Children have no place to play in the gatherings.

With support from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Transition Initiatives, ANERA is working to improve the quality of life in communities housing a mix of low-income Palestinian and Lebanese populations.

These “gatherings”, which are neither official UNRWA-administered refugee camps nor legally zoned settlements, developed informally due to the history of displacement in the region. Often lacking proper access to even the most basic services (water, sewage, and electricity) these communities house the poorest of the poor, and have historically been viewed by government officials and neighbors as a burden and therefore better left forgotten.

Following the conflict in Naher El-Bared in North Lebanon in 2007, there is a heightened awareness that conditions in these forgotten communities not only represent a serious threat to the safety and security of residents and neighbors, they can also create conditions that threaten national stability.

ANERA’s work in the gatherings in the Tyre area brings together local government, Lebanese and Palestinian community based organizations, and local residents to prioritize needs and determine appropriate actions to respond. In participatory assessments, women and youth have identified pressing threats to environmental health, child safety, and community security. These processes empower community members to actively participate in community development work.

The first project responding to one community’s request
has already begun – the rehabilitation of the electricity network in Al-Mouassiseh Neighborhood bordering Burj
As-Shamali Camp. Improving this basic service will reduce household expenses, eliminate hazards from shock and fire, and illuminate dark streets and alleys at night. Bringing the neighborhood properly into the community’s electrical network is something everyone can agree is a step in the right direction.