Northern Lebanon Facing On-Going Conflict

In the last couple of weeks, pre-existing tension between the Lebanese army and different factions in Lebanon, specifically in North Lebanon and Beirut, reached a high and culminated in the forced closure of main roads by burning tires and sporadic armed conflict. Currently, the Lebanese government, with the assistance of key regional characters, is urgently trying to find a way out of the current stalemate. Despite our best efforts, TYO-Lebanon’s WEL project has slowed down in its progress due to the ongoing conflict that is happening. While the Lebanese communities continue on with “business as usual” in most of the country, transportation for our beneficiaries to the training facility in Zgharta, North Lebanon has been deemed extremely dangerous and as such TYO-Lebanon and RMF have decided to temporarily cease the English and IT training as well as Incubation services for the next week.

Of course, safety first, for all and always. Accordingly, TYO-Lebanon is focusing all efforts on the safety of RMF and TYO-L staff, as well as our beneficiaries. We are hopeful that the conflict will settle and we can continue work, as usual!

--Nadine Nadine Okla is the Program Manager of TYO-Lebanon based in Beirut, Lebanon.