Away from crises: Creating safe and inspiring spaces for children and families in Lebanon
Eighty-two kilometres away from Lebanon’s capital city Beirut lies the neighbourhood of Shalfeh in Tripoli.
Children and youth make up about 54 per cent of Shalfeh’s population, yet only 27 per cent of children aged 12 to 17 attend school – a stark drop in attendance from primary school levels standing at 60 per cent among children aged 6 to 11.
Lebanon's current socioeconomic and financial crises have dramatically impacted various basic urban services, including health and education. The most vulnerable households have been bearing the brunt of the crises, struggling to make ends meet.
With funding from the Government of Japan through the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security, a multipurpose community centre in Shalfeh, Tripoli, was rehabilitated to provide a safe and accessible space for all community members including children and youth to learn, play, and socialize – in a context where many of these children’s safety is often at risk at home and at school.
“I love coming to Markazouna to learn and improve my grades by studying, playing, and relaxing with my friends,” says Lynn, a seven-year-old girl from Remmane, Tripoli, who has now been going to Markazouna for almost two months.
Lynn is one of 359 students who participate in classes and activities at Markazouna, ranging from mathematics to science and arts, crafts, and languages. “My favourite subjects are French and mathematics, and I especially love my teachers, Oula and Iman,” Lynn says, adding that her dream of becoming a mathematics teacher has been nothing but reinforced.
The rehabilitation and reactivation of the Markazouna Community Centre was spearheaded by UN-Habitat, UN Women, and UNICEF, in collaboration with the Municipality of Tripoli and local implementing partners. These efforts are part of a larger initiative aimed at improving the resilience and security of communities in the vicinity of Shalfeh by addressing basic needs and enhancing the delivery of protection services.
The centre, operated by the Al Fayhaa Association – a local Lebanese NGO that implements programmes focused on education, protection, and advocacy – and other partners, offers a safe space for children and allows for parents and caregivers to tend to other work and daily responsibilities.
UN-Habitat’s intervention has allowed for the Markazouna Community Centre to become fully powered by solar energy – ensuring seamless connectivity in a country that still experiences daily shortages of electricity. The centre is accessible to all and was given a new life with the restoration of the paint work and deployment of new furniture, making the space more welcoming and comfortable.
Lynn’s mother Jaziba reflects on the initiative: “I noticed a lot of changes since Lynn joined Markazouna. She never liked to study but after joining she works hard to show her teachers that she’s studious, and her grades have significantly improved. These types of spaces are very important. The strikes happening in public schools and the Covid-19 lockdowns hindered the academic progress of our children.”
Safe, green, inclusive, and accessible public spaces in densely populated urban centres like Tripoli offer families like Jaziba’s somewhere to go in times of crises. Such spaces, accessible to the public in urban settings and at no cost, are a rare find in Tripoli and across Lebanon.
The rehabilitation and reactivation of the Markazouna Community Centre takes place in the context of the joint project “Multi-Sectoral Response to the Humanitarian Crisis in the North of Lebanon through the Human Security Approach” funded by the Government of Japan through the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security.