For her future, Lebanon, 2020-2022
Development project "For her future - Raising awareness against child marriage among refugees in Lebanon", 2020-2022
Emma Institute implemented a 3-year project in Lebanon in cooperation with Institute Circle and local partner Naba'a, the aim of which was to raise awareness against child marriage and gender-based violence among refugees in Lebanon. With the project, the Emma Institute, together with its partners, worked to reduce the number of child marriages in Lebanon and provide victims with psychological and medical rehabilitation.
Nine years after the start of the Syrian crisis, Lebanon remains the country with the highest number of refugees per capita in the world. Nine hundred fifty thousand Syrian refugees are registered with UNHCR, 69% of them live below the poverty line. Due to poverty, exposure to violence and the acceptance of child marriage in society, the number of child marriages has increased and more than 30 % of Syrian girls are forced into marriage before the age of 18.
Therefore, the project raised awareness about the inadmissibility of these marriages, about the rights of children and women and against gender-based violence on several levels and between different groups. In the first part of the project, 15 girls, 10 mothers and 5 fathers were trained in the aforementioned fields, who were among 900 female peers in the continuation of the project. One thousand five hundred parents raised awareness against these marriages. At the same time, 300 local religious leaders, judges, doctors raised awareness, and 45 leaders were trained to carry out 4 local and 2 national campaigns against child marriage and to legislate the minimum age for marriage.
In addition, at least a thousand victims of marriage and gender-based violence were offered group and individual psychosocial support with referrals to a psychotherapist for the most difficult cases. A gynaecologist also worked within the project, provided medical assistance and counselling to project users, and also conducted workshops on reproductive health and family planning.
The project was financed by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic Slovenia within international development cooperation. The opinion and content of the project do not represent the official position of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia.
Project duration: 2020 - 2022
Project partners: Zavod Krog (Slovenia), Zavod Emma (Slovenia), Naba'a (Lebanon)
The project is funded by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia as part of international development cooperation.
