Skill-building for Unemployed Youth in Lebanon

Dear Nawaya supporter,

Before anything else: thank you.

Because of supporters like you, The Nawaya Network's Employment Hub has helped more than 1,250 young people in Lebanon build real careers since 2020. Nearly 70% of our graduates go on to find work, in a country where most graduates struggle to get employed. 

But today, our program is at risk. Funding cuts mean we must raise $45,000 to keep the Employment Hub running this year. Thanks to some very generous donors, we've already raised almost $27,000. We need $18,000 more. If we can't close that gap, our program will be in jeopardy. 

Here is where you come in, and why one day matters more than any other.

This Wednesday, July 15 is GlobalGiving's July Bonus Day, the single most powerful day of the year to give. From 10am EDT on July 15 until 10am EDT on July 16 (5pm in Beirut), a tax-deductible gift of $100 or more helps us earn a share of GlobalGiving's $150,000 matching fund. The more we raise in those 24 hours, the bigger our share. Put simply: your generosity on that one day stretches further than at any other moment all year.

Two simple ways to help right now:

1. Set a reminder to donate here this Wednesday, July 15 so the window doesn't pass you by!

2. Or give today if you'd rather not wait, every gift helps, but your support still goes furthest inside the July 15 window.  

Donations are processed securely through GlobalGiving and are tax-deductible in the US and UK.

You can learn more about some youth whose lives have been impacted by this program below:

At 21, Nour did everything right. She earned a computer science degree from the Lebanese American University and set out to find work. She sent around 75 applications. The answer was almost always the same: a rejection, or silence. "I was either getting rejected or ghosted," she told us. And she was carrying far more than a job search. Like so many young people here, Nour had lost her home to the war, and lost people she loved.

Then she joined Employment Hub. Her coach helped her rebuild the very same CV, prepare for interviews, and steady herself. The same CV that had been ignored 75 times landed her a job as a software engineer with a UK-based health-tech company. The three words she uses for the program: empowering, supportive, transformative.

And Nour isn't the only one. 

Maya, a teacher from the Bekaa, lost her job and broke down into tears in her very first session, certain no one would ever hire her again. Her coach kept her applying. Weeks later she landed a teaching post in Beirut, and today she is financially independent and loving her new job. 

Jad finished the program just as the war closed in. Rather than pause, he kept learning, earned certifications in career counselling, and now runs free workshops for other young people as uncertain as he once was.

Karim, 24 and displaced from the South, studied law because it felt like the safe choice. Through the Employment Hub, he taught himself graphic design from scratch, and weeks after finishing he landed his first paid design job. He's now a freelance designer and tutor.

(Some names above have been changed to protect their privacy.)

Your support on July 15th will get us closer to reaching our goal, making sure another 100 youth get the same opportunity to change the course of their lives.

With gratitude,