F4L: Syria - Restore hope and dignity to Children

Dear Supporters,

We are very pleased to announce that we have selected the first beneficiaries to receive F4L Support! 

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit several refugee camps across Lebanon and see first hand the conditions and many challenges Syrian refugees face on a daily basis. With support from War Child Lebanon, I was able to visit the refugee camp of Bebnine located in Northern Lebanon and also the predominately Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, located some 20 kilometres outside of Tripoli.

Unfortunately, I was not able to visit personally the camps located in Akkar, where the most vulnerable children are, due to not being granted a security clearance, as my visit fell a few days after the British airstrikes in Syria. The trip affirmed what we long believed; the disbanded make-up of refugees is far too great for a holistic approach. The only way we are able to make a sizable difference is through a concentrated focus on a few communities.

War Child, our local partner currently reach 1,515 children through sports based programmes across 14 different communities. The reality is that it's almost impossible to distinguish which children we can select for much needed football equipment, as so we have asked War Child to select approx. 200 children as our first recipients of football shoes and football clothing.

As this process is currently taking place in Lebanon, we are also in discussions with World Refugee School about launching a sports-based programme in Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan. Both Jordan and Lebanon provide an opportunity for us to reach children living in appalling conditions and support them through, both football equipment and sports programming. 

At this stage, we are not seeking further funding until the process of selection is made. We remain grateful for your on-going support and are committed to sharing positive outcomes in the report.

Due to War Child Protection Policies and Security advice, I was not able to take any photographs during my trip to the camps. We are sharing some factsheets highlighting the communities we will be supporting and current situational context in Lebanon.

Thank you, sincerely,
Marko

• Overview of Akkar (PDF)
  
• Syrian Refugees in Lebanon (PDF)
  
• Map of most vulnerable children in Lebanon (PDF)