WHEN: Wednesday, October 7, 2020
(12 p.m. ET | 4 p.m. GMT | 7 p.m. Lebanon)
WHERE: Online (free with registration)
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Remembering the Forgotten
How Lebanon’s refugee and other vulnerable communities
are coping after the Beirut blast and in increasingly dire circumstances
2020 has been a cascade of ever more severe crises in Lebanon – economic collapse, political paralysis, the refugee situation, COVID-19, and now the Beirut blast. Many Lebanese, even those who lived through the civil war from 1975-1991, describe the current state of Lebanon as the worst they have ever experienced.
Join our panel of voices from Lebanon to learn the latest on the deepening economic crisis and how vulnerable communities, particularly Palestinian and Syrian refugees, are coping and attempting to build a better future for themselves. Find out how humanitarian organizations and other civil society actors like Anera are helping.
Our Panelists
Adib Nehme is a consultant and expert on development and socio-economic policies and poverty. He is currently the senior policy advisor for the Arab NGO Network for Development and an independent consultant on development issues. From 2009 to 2018, Adib worked as a regional advisor on Agenda 2030 and SDGs, at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, based in Beirut. He published two books: “The Neopatrimonial State and the Arab Spring” and “Arab Popular Solidarity: from the Nahda to the Arab Spring.”
Abby Sewell is a freelance journalist based in Beirut, where much of her reporting focuses on refugee and migration issues. Her bylines have appeared in outlets including The New Humanitarian, Public Radio International, US News & World Report, Foreign Policy, WIRED, and other international and regional publications. Previously she was a staff writer with the Los Angeles Times and the Daily Star.
Elie Youssef is an entrepreneur and marketing specialist that manages several brands in the MENA region. His volunteering has earned him the opportunity to work with the Lebanese Food Bank since 2011. He has set up and established scores of local projects, enhanced the lives of hundreds of families, distributed thousands of food and non-food relief packages, helped set up several community kitchens, supported local farmers, and more. He has also worked on spreading awareness on the importance of urban farming and empowering home-based food businesses.
Samar El Yassir, as Anera’s country director, is responsible for all of Anera’s Lebanon operations including education and sports programs for vulnerable adolescents, health and relief access for impoverished families, and sustainable community development in refugee camps. Samar is a development professional with more than 20 years of experience working with civil society organizations to promote human rights, democracy, gender equality, and peace and conflict transformation.
Joe Saba (webinar moderator), chair of the Anera Board of Directors, is a senior advisor to the World Bank Conflict and Fragile States Practice. For 13 years prior to that, he was the director of World Bank programs for Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Oman and West Bank/Gaza.