An education facilitator gives an English course online at the UNHCR-supported Bar Elias Community Development Centre (CDC) in the Bekaa. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, most activities at CDCs have shifted to remote for health and safety reasons © UNHCR/Dalia Atallah
The Government of Japan has recently contributed a generous USD 747,000 to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to support its protection programmes in Lebanon for the fifth year in a row, benefiting more than 35,000 Lebanese and Syrian refugees in 2021.
Ten years into the Syria crisis and with soaring vulnerability and poverty levels among refugees and Lebanese communities, this timely funding from the people of Japan will support UNHCR in providing specialized protection services, community empowerment, as well as safe spaces for refugees and host communities in the Bekaa region.
“Over the past 10 years, Japan has actively engaged in supporting the Syrian refugees along with their host communities, in partnership with UNHCR and other international organizations,” said H.E. Okubo Takeshi, Ambassador of Japan to Lebanon. “With our firm conviction that the stability of Lebanon is key to the stability of the whole region, we have provided this new grant hoping it will ensure human security for all the Syrian refugees and help the vulnerable segment of the society in Lebanon during these difficult times,” he added.
Thanks to the Government of Japan, UNHCR will be able to continue providing essential services to the most vulnerable refugees and Lebanese through community centres in the Bekaa. These services range from basic literacy and numeracy classes to awareness and prevention sessions for survivors and people at risk of sexual and gender-based violence, including psychosocial support, counselling and specialized services. Prevention and awareness sessions on COVID-19 are also part of the assistance provided. These services will directly benefit the most vulnerable members of the refugee and host community.
“The contribution from the people of Japan comes at a time of unprecedented crises, making both refugees and Lebanese increasingly vulnerable to meet their most basic needs,” said Ayaki Ito, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon. “Essential services have become all the more critical as needs are growing by the day. But thanks to generous donors like Japan, we can continue to offer assistance and safe spaces for those who need them most.”
Japan is one of UNHCR’s most important partners and is among its top five donors globally. Thanks to the commitment of the Government of Japan and its people to support refugees and their hosts, thousands of forcibly displaced persons worldwide are assisted to lead a more dignified life in exile.
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Media contact Dalal HARB, [email protected], +961 70113107
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