NNA - The “Back to the Future” consortium; AVSI, Terre des Hommes Italy, and War Child Holland hosted the closing ceremony of the “Back to the Future II” Project, which was funded by the European Union, under the patronage of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in Lebanon. The event took place at the Auditorium of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education on April 8, 2022.
Funded by the EU Regional Trust Fund, the “Back to the Future” project aimed to ensure that vulnerable girls and boys in marginalized communities in Lebanon had access to inclusive quality education. The project ensured the provision of educational opportunities for out-of-school refugee children at the community level through non-formal education programs and supportedretention in public schools for Lebanese and non-Lebanese children at risk of dropping-out from formal education. Moreover, the project provided a protective environment and supported the wellbeing of children and their families to support their engagement in educational activities.
The Back to the Future project brought together a consortium of 12 local Community-Based Organizations, three international Non-governmental Organizations, as well as several technical collaborators, including the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE).
Mrs. Sonia El Khoury, the Program Manager for the Program Management Unit Reaching All Children with Education – R.A.C.E- at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education mentioned, “The European Union has been very generous towards the Syrian crisis. This generosity was seen in our public schools whether in formal education or through the programs that they have been funding through partners; international NGOs and local NGOs. The Ministry of Education believes that the Future is through education”. She also added, “When this program started, the main target was the non-Lebanese children specially in the non-formal education programs. However, due to the current economic, social,and financial crisis we found that many Lebanese children are also in need for such support. This is why they were also included laterin the programs”.
Mr. Maxence Daublain, the Representative of the European Union Delegation mentioned “under the socio-economic and financial crisis that the country is facing, our common objective as education stakeholders is to ensure at any cost learning continuity of children given the education catastrophe that we are going through. We need the steering and coordination of Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) for this, and as EU we are ready to support as we always did over those last years. Back to the Future has been a long journey and a substantial investment for the European Union in Lebanon, with 20 M EUR allocated through the 2 phases of the program. It is our biggest non formal education program. We can all be very proud of the results achieved under this project that started more than 5 years ago”.
“The Back to the Future project accompanies refugee girls and boys aged 3 through 14 who have never been to school or that have dropped out, to enrol in the public school in the next year, providing them with child friendly community spaces where they can study, socialise, and get ready for life” mentioned Maria Gaudenzi, the Chief of Party for “Back to the Future” project, “Once in school, we support the children – in this case refugees and vulnerable Lebanese alike – to avoid dropping out despite several learning and socio-economic obstacles that they and their families face”.
The event also included performances by the children and a speech from Ms. May Hasbini, the representative of the Community Base Organizations for the “Back to the Future” project.
Since June 2019, the phase 2 of the project benefited more than 33,000 children of all nationalities across Lebanon.
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