Mondo's digital competencies training to help refugee women and young people in Lebanon become more independent

The project received funding from the Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV) after this year's call for proposals aimed at supporting Syrian refugees.

Since 2019, Lebanon has been struggling with a socioeconomic crisis, with women, children, people with special needs and refugees suffering the most. "We can already see from the first training in Lebanon that increased digital skills help make women and young people more independent. Feedback from participants has been very positive so far. Discussions on digital security, photo and video processing, and Google Drive are highly valued. The community is also very interested in continued training,” said Mondo's Middle East expert, Elisabeth Viinalass, who shared her impressions after the first training.

Syrian women and youth and members of other vulnerable communities (Lebanese, Palestinians, etc.) are the direct beneficiaries of this training programme. In addition, experience and knowledge exchange sessions and community digital awareness-raising events will be held in Lebanon, along with a craft market where women have the opportunity to sell their products. 

“The combined effect of all these activities will be to help women and young people move one step closer to earning their own income in the future, thus improving the quality of life for themselves and their family members. The most motivated women will also receive small grants within the project in order to develop their own businesses,” said Viinalass.

Activities aimed at Syrian refugees have been implemented with the support of Estonian civil society partners since 2016. “Projects supported by ESTDEV help increase the self-reliance of people affected by crises by supporting them in starting a business and entering the labour market, for example. In Lebanon, there is a great need to support access to income-generating activities and education, including non-formal education, for vulnerable communities, especially women, children and youth,” said ESTDEV’s project manager, Annika Leek.

Nearly 13 years after the start of the military conflict, Syria is still suffering from one of the world's most complex humanitarian crises. Estonia's aim has been to contribute to improving the situation of Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Türkiye, which host the largest Syrian refugee communities in the region, paying special attention to women and children. Children who do not attend school are particularly vulnerable, as they are at a higher risk of becoming victims of child labour, human trafficking and recruitment into military groups.