Sep, 2017
Anera's non-formal education and job skills courses are bringing Syrian and Palestinian youth back into the fold.
“I really wanted to advance my skills,” says Fatima, a Syrian refugee of Palestinian descent. “And I was even more excited when I learned there were courses in makeup and hairdressing.”
Anera's job skills courses reach thousands of students – many of whom dropped out of school many years ago. About half of the students currently in these programs are refugees from Syria, and they also include marginalized Lebanese and Palestinian teens.
Young women and girls from the Tripoli area take part in Zumba class, which intersects with Anera's sports for peace and development program. Many participants are from Jabal Muhsen and Tebbeneh, two neighborhoods that have a long history of violent clashes.
Cooking class provides a fun and practical outlet for Syrian and Palestinian refugee youth in Lebanon, who struggle with poverty and high unemployment rates.
Syrian and Palestinian refugees have limited options for jobs due to labor laws in Lebanon. Anera's job skills courses are careful to consider the types of skills they can use on the local job market.
Hairdressing is a popular course for Syrian and Palestinian girls living in Lebanon's refugee camps. For some, girls-only courses are the only way they are allowed to leave the house.
Hawana enjoys Zumba class at a sports for development course in Tripoli. All classes include sports and life skills components.
Young women and girls bake herb and meat-stuffed pastries as part of Anera's cooking classes.
In partnership with UNICEF, Anera's sports for development program has resulted in many tournaments and championship games for refugee youth.
Boys celebrate winning a championship game, part of the sports for development program.
Girls learn different hairstyles in Anera's hairdressing courses in Lebanon.
Roaa, 15, fled from Homs, Syria to Tripoli. Now sports for development activities, like yoga class, are positively affecting her life.
A student in Anera's makeup and hairdressing courses learns how to manicure nails.
As the largest per capita recipient of refugees in the world, Lebanon’s schools and community organizations struggle to cope with the influx of millions of refugees.
More than half of new refugees in Lebanon are under 18 years old. Both Palestinian and Syrian refugee children drop out of school at an alarming rate.
In addition to basic literacy and math skills, refugees are in need of practical job skills as well as creative and recreational outlets to deal with past trauma and the stresses of life.
The non-formal education and job skills courses are part of Anera's project Quick Impact Skills for Development for Youth and Adolescents Affected by the Syrian Crisis, implemented in partnership with UNICEF and with funds from the governments of Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
