Dignity for displaced women and girls in Lebanon

-          Background during and after the implementation of the project; Since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in 2011, hundreds of thousands of refugees have crossed into Lebanon seeking safety and shelter, more than 75% of which are children and women. This influx has added strain on the country’s economy and infrastructure. The pressure is felt in all sectors including education, health, housing, water and electricity supply. As time goes by, competition for jobs and resources is also fueling tensions in certain areas between Lebanese host communities and Syrian refugees.

Regarding the situation of the girls in the most vulnerable and marginalized communities in Lebanon including displaced communities, the difficult socio-economic situation results in parents allowing or encouraging their daugthers to get married at an early ages, due to the conventional thought between the people which resides on marrying a girl off while she is still young is believed to be less expensive than waiting till she and the groom reach adulthood, protecting the girl sexuality because they guess one of  the leading causes of early marriage is the over-emphasis on virginity and chastity of girls and the consequent control of the sexuality of women and girls , Developing and alliance between two families so the  child marriages are planned and conducted to create an alliance between two families for social, political and economic reasons., lack of awareness of the law related to child marriage , in addition to Lack of access to education and reproductive health services.

Naba’a Achievements; The most highlighted achievements during the reporting period are as the followings;

Through our intervention we aimed to prevent and mitigate the Early Marriage among Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese in the most vulnerable and marginalized areas in North and south Lebanon. It is worthy to note that, before, the devastating conflict erupted in Syria; child marriage was significantly less common among Syrians. Estimates vary, but some show child marriage rates to be four times higher among Syrian refugees today than among Syrians before the crisis. This indicates that displacement, instability and poverty are driving the underage marriages. Therefore, we work on empowering the skills of the adolescent and young girls particularly those whom are dropped out of schools through vocational training and life skills, in addition to strengthen and aware the local community including mothers, parents and active members in order to understand the risks and impact of early marriage on their girls and to disseminate it to the other. This is achieved through the followings;

-          40 Adolescents (15-18 Years) socio - economic situation in the vulnerable areas in North and south Lebanon is improved, through vocational training and life skills.

-          Girls committee is established and its skills is enhanced

-          600 Family members and Community Members Empowered and become aware about early marriage and its impact on the girls and the community to become agents of positive change in order to mitigate and respond of early marriage

CASE STUDY

Age: 15

Nationality: SRS

Status: Divorced

About the wife:

The wife lives with her mother and her four young brothers and sisters and her one year son,  in a rent house, she suffered many problems as she get married when she is 14 years old and delivered her baby when she became 15. Her husband divorced and left her when she was pregnant so that her baby is not registered and doesn’t have official papers.

Her mother is working daily, as a house cleaners to afford the expenses of her family in addition to her grand girl.

The father of the girl / the divorced girl stayed in Syria, they didn’t meet him since the beginning of Syrian crisis.

Her younger brothers are dropped out of school and collecting irons and selling it to contribute in providing the basic needs of the family.  

Economic situation: Very bad

Interventions:

-          Enrolling the girl in a vocational training center, she studied hair dressing and linking her with the labour market

-          The girl did two months internship

-          Providing the girl with a required toolkit, so that she started her own business and open hair dressing saloon at her house.

-          Psychological support /listening/ counseling session/home visit

-          The girl became an active member in the girls committee, she has an important role in raising awareness her peers about the risks of early marriage, and advocate towards the local community in protecting the adolescent and young girls from being at risk of abuse and forced marriage.

-          Follow up twice weekly /share her in parents deal/share her in awareness session

Links:

• Naba'a website