Dec, 2022
With the support of UNICEF, funded by Germany through the German Development Bank KfW, Anera's education course prepares young women and men in mechanical and electrical maintenance
This program is support by UNICEF, with funding from the German Development Bank, KfW
Anera’s education team in Lebanon is committed to results-based educational courses for our youth development programming. We make sure the majority of our program participants are formally employed or have started their own small businesses. Anera’s Youth Empowerment, Education & Employability program is supported by UNICEF with funding from Germany through the German Development Bank KfW.
Our competency-based short vocational courses are coupled with employment support services (cash for work), giving youth an opportunity to gain hands-on work experience, generate daily income and pave their professional pathways. Through these courses, we are also mainstreaming gender inclusivity and encouraging more young women to join generally male-dominated fields.
Our latest course is mechanical and electrical maintenance, delivered in partnership with the Michael Daher Social Foundation. The Lebanese NGO was founded in 2014 to bolster sustainable rural community development in the central Bekaa valley. The foundation has access to market-based employment opportunities within large private sector enterprises allowing it to provide tangible employment opportunities upon training completion.
With each passing crisis in Lebanon, students are finding it harder and harder to obtain relevant internships. Internships in Lebanon are not paid, and most students can’t afford the transportation fees to attend them. This technical training program was designed to help students with a mechanical and electrical engineering background gain experience in the field. The training course is followed by a 40 day cash-for-work program.
"They provide the job opportunities and we provide the trained technicians."
Hanan is a 19-year-old mechanical engineering student. She decided to join Anera’s course to enhance her skill-set. She has become a role model for girls who share her passion for all things mechanical.
“In our society, everyone sees mechanical engineering as a male profession but I reject that bias and say every person should be able to pursue any career regardless of gender.”
The students enrolled in Anera's UNICEF-supported competency-based training are not only receiving technical skills and theory. They also join workshops in life-skills, leadership and employability skills and career guidance to help them navigate their professional careers.
“In our society, everyone sees mechanical engineering as a male profession but I reject that bias and say every person should be able to pursue any career regardless of gender.”
Qamar is studying mechanical engineering because, she says, she loves its innovative aspect and how technology is always evolving and changing. The 21-year-old is excited about training that is open to women.
“I am so pleased I got the chance to participate in this course. The fact that I’m a woman was always an obstacle for me joining vocational courses elsewhere.”
After proving herself during the training period, Daher Foods hired Qamar on as a full-time employee.
"The fact that I’m a woman was always an obstacle for me joining vocational courses elsewhere.”
The trainees are currently completing the practical component of their course at Daher Foods, a food production company in the Bekaa Valley. Today, Qamar has received a job offer from the company and is now a full-time employee.
“I proved myself during this training period... As a result, I was selected among the participants to be employed here.”
Anera and UNICEF work assiduously to provide gender-inclusive opportunities in various fields, helping to break down stereotypes and societal barriers that limit many fields of work to one gender.
Amid the lockdowns and societal disruptions caused by the socio-economical crisis, an increase in physical, sexual, and emotional abuse of women is taking place. According to a senior security officer in Lebanon, domestic violence cases in Lebanon have further increased from 51% in December 2020 to nearly 97% in recent months. Anera provides youth with code-of-conduct trainings to emphasize work ethics and protection against sexual exploitation and abuse in the workplace.
Improving education opportunities for young girls is a crucial step in the longer term. Reducing the gender education gap and challenging stereotypes gives women more economic freedom and more agency in becoming economically and socially independent and empowered in their families and communities.
Qamar insists that the “achievement shouldn’t be for me to join this job as a girl, but rather to prove myself equal in it.”
