Lebanon

The International Institute for Psychosocial Development

In May 2015, we delivered another successful level 2 course in Lebanon, home to 1.1 million Syrian refugees. This training was made possible with the help of a second Middle-Eastern training partner, the International Institute for Psychosocial Development (IIPD). The course proved exceptionally popular, with twenty-nine mental health professionals and front-line workers in attendance. 24 trainees obtained  level 2 CATT certificates and 5 gained level 1. Afterwards, we received the following feedback from the psychiatrist who had organised the training on behalf of IIPD, and acted as our Arabic interpreter: ‘Well, the training was really great and everybody around feels energised and motivated to help children with PTSD.’

The Syrian Conflict

Since the beginning of the national uprising in 2011, conflict in Syria has escalated and nearly half a million people have lost their lives, including over 50,000 children.

More than half of Syria’s population have fled their homes. About 5.1 million Syrians are refugees who’ve left the country across borders to Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, and 6.3 million are internally displaced within Syria.

Of those displaced, half are children. These children are at risk of becoming malnourished, physically sick, abused, or exploited, and are extremely likely to have experienced trauma. Many have been out of education for many years, and are being called a ‘lost generation’.

The number of refugees created by the Syrian conflict shows no sign of slowing down.