Jun, 2025
How Anera and UNICEF Are Restoring Schools Across Lebanon Through Youth Employment
This program is supported by UNICEF.
“It was a busy Monday. We had ongoing classes and many students, despite the bombing in neighboring areas. Every time a sonic boom echoed, I could see the terror in the students’ eyes. But that Monday, September 22, the bombing came closer and closer — until we felt like it was going to hit us. We evacuated the school and the whole area and couldn’t come back until November.” Mazen Salameh, director of the Phoenix Technical School in Nabatieh, in southern Lebanon.
In the wake of war, economic collapse, and large-scale displacement, many public facilities in Lebanon have reached a breaking point. The Phoenix Institute is one of hundreds of vocational schools that are vital to every region of the country. These institutions provide young people with the chance to gain professional skills and begin meaningful careers.
“Our schools welcome aspiring individuals aged 14 and up. All we require is basic literacy, and we offer much more than a certificate. We offer a future,” Mazen says. “But that Monday changed everything. The institute was severely damaged by nearby explosions and shrapnel. It was made completely non-operational.”
"That Monday changed everything. The institute was severely damaged..."
And Phoenix is far from being the only one. Across Lebanon, schools and community centers that once operated part-time during the school year were suddenly transformed into full-time shelters, hosting thousands of displaced families, often with barely any resources to sustain them, rendering them quite depreciated.
Displacement centers are expected to face pressure during times of conflict. But this time, the crisis extended further. The public institutions responsible for managing these facilities, ministries, municipalities, and other government entities, were already overwhelmed. Years of economic strain, war-inflicted damage to national infrastructure, and a prolonged political paralysis had left them under-resourced and struggling to respond to escalating needs.
That’s where UNICEF in partnership with Anera and Lebanon’s young people, stepped in.
Through the youth program, Anera and UNICEF launched a dual-impact response: rehabilitating damaged and overwhelmed public schools while empowering young people with marketable skills and income-generating opportunities.
We unlock potential
Our education programs open doors from preschool to college.
Based on the assessment done by the technical and vocational education and training directorate with UNICEF, the most critical and damaged sites, mainly technical and vocational institutes were identified with Anera’s engineers and local contractors, many of which were no longer safe or functional. But instead of relying only on professional labor, more than 314 young individuals aged 18 to 24 were mobilized by Anera, providing them with hands-on training in construction-related fields: plumbing, tiling, window installation, painting, carpentry, and electrical work.
These young people weren’t just learning, they were leading and regaining ownership over their own community. They earned a daily wage, developed real-world skills, and played a direct role in rebuilding the spaces their communities depend on.
Together, we successfully conducted minor repairs to 18 schools across affected regions in southern Lebanon and Bekaa, transforming shattered walls and damaged roofs into safe, dignified environments for learning and community support.
“Besides the much-needed income I am earning, the program gave me new skills by working with materials I haven’t worked with before. And most importantly, it gave me purpose,” says Ali, a 21-year-old who helped renovate the Phoenix Institute in Nabatieh. “I am taking part in benefiting my country, my community, and that gives me pride.”
This is what local resilience looks like: youth taking action, communities healing together, and institutions rising again, like the Phoenix, with strength and purpose. These 14 schools are only the beginning; a larger number of schools and public institutions are still in dire need of rehabilitation, and our youth and programs are eager to take part in getting them up and running again before the next school year.
