On March 9, 2015, German Natcom Executive Director, Mr. Christian Schneider and UNICEF Chief of Communication Section Soha Boustani paid a follow-up visit to The Lebanese Organization of Studies and Training (LOST) at its offices in Bednayel. The visit aimed at acquainting the delegation about LOST, one of UNICEF’s most prominent Implementing Partners in the Bekaa and overseeing its social cohesion activities at 31 locations in Baalbeck-Hermel region.
After highlighting the significance of this fruitful and productive partnership between UNICEF and LOST which represents a role model of pro-active and profound interaction between INGOS and local actors, Assem Chreif explained LOST’s intervention in responding to the crisis arising from the high influx of Syrian refugees into Northern Bekaa and its dire repercussions on the social, political, and economic makeup of the local community. He also valued the coping capacity of LOST to mitigate tensions through applying various approaches of social cohesion to tackle pre-existing and potential conflicts at the local level.
At long last, the delegation and LOST team members conducted a visit to an Informal Tental Settlement (ITS) in Hawsh Musraya to attend a merge day, where Lebanese youth weekly visit Syrian refugees at their local context and deliver some recreational, educational, and culturally-oriented activities. The delegation met selected youth, Syrian and Lebanese, and conducted short interviews. All interviewees expressed their feelings about the timeliness and usefulness of the acitivites, especially the merge. Toward the end of the day, the delegation congratulated LOST’s representatives for their continued efforts and explained that they will get in touch with the responsible team at UNICEF and other INGOs in order to advocate for a more inclusive role with reliable and credible local actors like LOST.
