Our team in Syria has been busy over the last months to launch school support and vocational training at the new Peace Centre Kadesh for families returning to Syria. The work has progressed well and more than 100 children are already enrolled, aged 7 to 18, also thanks to the support from a wonderful Fest-Noz in Bretagne and a first grant by UNESCO, obtained through a former R&R volunteer. But today, we need a bit more to prepare a living space in the Peace Centre so that international volunteers can join the team this summer, also in Syria. The estimated costs for this section of our summer works are €10,000. Here a breakdown in US Dollars:

• $1,300 - wooden doors and windows
• $1,100 - bathroom plastering, tiles and ceramics
• $1,500 - electrical installations 
• $1,000 - bedroom furniture for 4 international volunteers
  
• $1,200 - kitchen furniture (fridge, washing machine, stove, etc.)
• $2,200 - construction of 2 supplementary rooms for female volunteers
• $1,000 - bedroom furniture for women's quarters
• $1,000 - painting of the new rooms

Depending on the success of this fundraising campaign, international volunteers are going to live at the Peace Centre Kadesh as from the end of this summer. Already today, the R&R volunteers residing at the Peace Centre in Lebanon are regularly crossing the border to develop projects, together with our local staff, and shape this new space of reconciliation. You can read more about the current situation and the history of Kadesh in the previous post on our website.

Seven local teachers started daily classes at the Peace Centre Kadesh. Three of them have already volunteered with us in Lebanon when they were refugees themselves. The others were internally displaced inside Syria. All of them have lost beloved ones in 13 years of oppression and civil war. Today, they are investing into the future of the next generation, giving their all for the children to succeed. Catch-up classes are essential to allow school children to successfully reintegrate the Syrian school system after years of displacement and flight. Many of the children we serve have studied under the Turkish or Lebanese-French curriculum in their early years of education. Now, they are trying to cope and learn math in their mother tongue.

All of our teachers, seven in Syria and twenty-three in Lebanon, agreed to finish this school year without a guarantee to be paid in time. Relief & Reconciliation relies mainly on small, private donations. This is in line with our principles of spiritual solidarity and the engagement for long-term programme lines, implemented together with the communities we serve. This means that our classes are running continuously, now for over thirteen years, without missing one single school day. This approach, however comes at the cost of unpredictability and uncertainty of irregular donations. It has always been a struggle to reach the finishing line of the school year, but thanks to the support of our members and donors, we always managed to pull through.

Currently, we need about €10,000 to pay for the last two months of the school year and continue intensive catch-up classes during summer, both in Syria and Lebanon. Our teachers are paid at a modest local rate, between €4 and €10 per hour, according to their seniority and experience. Many of them have been with us since the very beginning of our work, thirteen years ago.

Thanks to your help, we will be able to offer catch-up summer classes both in Syria and Lebanon to more than 200 children - out of the 500 we have served throughout the school year - who need special attention. Please read more in the previous post on our website about the evaluation of our educational work. 

This summer, we are going to take a big step forward. For the first time, the annual Summer Mountain Camp will take place both in Syria and Lebanon. On the Lebanese side of the border, the tradition is firmly established. For nine consecutive years, we have brought Muslims and Christians of different denominations together to the high mountains of Akkar. More than 500 adolescents and children now form the Ibrahimic Youth, an inter-religious scout movement, in which Muslim and Christian youth leaders are taking responsibility for younger children.

In Syria, many of our former students have asked us to do the same. This step is a major milestone for us, as we wish to bring the youth of different communities together to take responsibility for the common good. We estimate the costs for the two summer camps at about €10,000: about €8,000 for a camp of one week with 80 youth leaders, 15 to 21 years of age, and 400 younger children in Lebanon, and about €2,000 for a camp of two days with a dozen new youth leaders and about 100 younger children in Syria. The Syrian camp is a first step in the development of an inter-religious youth movement of solidarity, like the one that has emerged in Lebanon after 13 years of our continuous presence on the ground. It is an important step for the whole region.

Please find on our website the pictures and reports from the past summer mountain camps in Lebanon. Your help is vital to provide the same opportunity to the Syrian youth that is trying to rebuild their country.

The brutal oppression of the Syrian Revolution by the Assad regime has pushed the country into 13 years of civil war, often evolving along sectarian lines. Assad, a member of the Alawite community, which has known centuries of persecution and discrimination, presented himself as the "protector of minorities". In reality, his regime was taking his own community and others as hostages in a system that was stimulating the fear of "the other" as an instrument of control and oppression. More than 500,000 died in the civil war, more than 13 millions were expelled from their homes - the world's biggest refugee crisis of the century.

Syria is starting to heal. People are trying to cope with the trauma of horrible crimes against humanity and years of displacement, but many wounds remain open. Qusayr is an area that has been most severely touched by genocidal hatred. The year of transition, after the fall of Assad on 8 December 2024, has witnessed new massacres against civilians of specific communities, mainly Alawite and Druze, committed by forces affiliated with the transitional government in retaliation for attacks by armed groups - who in return were affiliated with the former regime or with certain factions in the respective community. The war against Assad has been won by the Syrian people. Now, the challenge is to win also the peace.

As a small association, established by a group of friends from Syria and around the world, we are trying to support the process of justice and reconciliation, bringing the youth of different communities together to rebuild their country without denying their belonging or belief. We unite religious leaders of different communities present in each region as well as committed individuals. Our approach of diapraxis, spiritual solidarity and local co-ownership means that the most essential decisions are always taken by the people we serve - not above their heads. Also, our international volunteers are never paid more than local staff. In more than 13 years, we could constantly keep our overhead costs below 1% of our total revenues.

Your help is essential for supporting a peaceful transition in Syria and giving the youth a new chance after years of oppression, war and displacement. This work can only succeed in respect for the liberty of each individual, but also for the families, groups and communities they belong to. Thank you for your contribution!

The school year 2024/25 was marked by a historic turning point: the liberation of Syria from the Assad regime in December 2024. For many Syrian families living in exile, this event reopened the possibility of returning home after more than a decade of forced displacement. Yet while hope has grown, the reality remains difficult. Thousands of families continue to face severe economic obstacles that prevent them from rebuilding their lives in Syria and continue to rely on educational and humanitarian support in Lebanon. We will not let them down.

Throughout this period of uncertainty, R&R’s learning centres in the Akkar region of Lebanon remained open and active. In the school year 2024/25, we could provide daily education to more than 500 students. Our educational work, uninterrupted since 2013, continued to provide stability for children whose futures were profoundly affected by regional events. Like every year, we conducted an evaluation survey of all our Syrian students and a comparable sample of children not enrolled in our classes. The results are outstanding, both in terms of school enrolment and in terms of academic success in public schools. But the results also show that the pressure on Syrian children is higher today than it has been over previous years.

Please read more below and download the entire survey with data from 703 children collected by our youth leaders under supervision of our volunteer staff members in Akkar. This data is relevant also for political decisions.

The results of our survey demonstrate the impact that sustained educational support can have, even during times of major upheaval. According to the 2025 Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon (VASyR), conducted by the UN, school enrolment among Syrian children aged 6 to 11 declined nationally from 57% in 2024 to only 50% in 2025. This sharp decrease reflects, amongst other things, the lack of funding for the Lebanese Ministry of Education. Within R&R’s historical operational area, however, enrolment remained remarkably stable. Among Syrian children aged 6 to 11, 85% were enrolled in school in 2025, compared with 84% the previous year. These figures are significantly higher than the national average and demonstrate the important role R&R continues to play in helping children remain connected to education despite exceptional circumstances.

Our support also contributed to strong academic outcomes. Across our operational area, 93.5% of students successfully progressed to the next grade during the 2024/25 school year. Among public-school students attending R&R classes, the success rate reached 93.46%, even though many of our students continue to live in highly vulnerable socio-economic conditions. These results confirm that educational support classes, homework assistance, and long-term engagement with families continue to improve learning outcomes for both Syrian and Lebanese children. In Akkar, the most marginalised and poorest of all Lebanese regions, our support was essential both for Syrian refugee and vulnerable Lebanese students.

None of this would have been possible without our local teachers, who often accepted to wait for their salaries when donations were low, without our international volunteers at the R&R Peace Centre who supported the classes and brought many innovations, and without the hundreds of R&R members and friends who have sustained our work through countless small donations over the years. Their generosity has enabled us to maintain a continuous educational presence in Akkar for more than a decade, even as many short-term projects implemented by other organisations with big public grants have come to an end. We believe education is a marathon, not a sprint.

The question facing many Syrian families is no longer whether they wish to return home, but whether they can afford to do so. Our latest survey found that nearly 65% of Syrian families in our operational area intend to return to Syria within the coming year. However, the destruction of homes, the absence of basic infrastructure, and the cost of rebuilding their lives remain major obstacles. Many families are therefore caught between two difficult realities: remaining in precarious conditions in Lebanon or attempting to return to a place where more than 85% of houses are destroyed.

For this reason, R&R will continue supporting children in Akkar while progressively expanding its efforts to accompany returnee families and their communities in Syria. At the same time, we are adapting to changing needs inside Lebanon. The reopening of our school support classes in Rahbe and the opening of a new Peace Centre in Qantara allow us to reach new Syrian and Lebanese communities and continue building bridges between children from different backgrounds. We also try to integrate internally displaced students from South Lebanon into our classes. With the sharp drop of institutional funding for Lebanon, following the closure of USAID and the start of the new war in the South, the needs are today bigger than ever. 

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Catholic Diocese of Münster in Germany, whose generous support has made it possible to fund the majority of our teachers in the school year 2025/26. Their commitment has provided essential stability at a critical moment of transition. Yet significant needs remain. Upon the request of families in Qantara, the village of our new Peace Centre, we have opened classes for students with special needs and engaged a qualified child psychologist to accompany them. Also the extension of bus transportation for students require additional resources amongst many other things.

As R&R enters a new chapter of its mission, the support by our members and donors remains essential. All the achievements of the past would not have been possible without dedication of our local teachers, who often agreed to wait for their salary when donations were low, and without the help of our members and friends. We deliberately rely on the commitment of individual donors who share our belief that education is a long-term investment in peace and human dignity. Thanks to your support, thousands of children have remained connected to education throughout years of crisis, and many have gone on to pursue higher education and new opportunities.

Please stay connected and please support our work today with a generous donation, whether through a small monthly contribution or a larger gift! The children we serve and our Lebanese and Syrian teachers will be grateful.

One year after the liberation of Syria from the Assad regime, we returned with those we have served for more than 12 years in Lebanon, on the other side of the border. We returned and we started to rebuild. Before the first anniversary of the fall of Assad, we met to establish the official Syrian branch of our association and we signed the rental contract for the first Peace Centre inside Syria, in the village of Tell Nabi Mendo, the ancient city of Kadesh, next to Qusayr, in the Homs Governorate.

Father Paolo Dall'Oglio walked on this ground in solidarity with the Syrian Revolution before he was expelled from Syria and then kidnapped by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS or Daech). Today, we are honouring his mission to establish peace centres along the Orontes river, in the most mixed area of Syria where Muslims and Christians of different denominations are living side by side. As for the last 12 years of our constant work in the borderlands between Lebanon and Syria, we wish to bring different groups together around a common cause: a better future for the youth.

Read more below about the visits of Paolo to this area and about our new Peace Centre. We need your support to help the Syrian youth rebuild their country, destroyed by 54 years of dictatorship and 14 years of war. 

Qusayr has a particular significance for our work. This mixed town, where a Sunni majority lives together with Christians, Shiites and Alawites, was one of the first places that stood up against the Assad dictatorship in 2011. It was also one of the first places where the struggle took a sectarian turn. Father Paolo Dall'Oglio, our co-founder and mentor, came twice to this town in 2011/12, negotiating the release of hostages and providing practical and moral support to the population besieged by the Assad regime. Because of a video published during his second stay, showing him breaking the fast with rebels, the Assad regime exiled him in June 2012.

The story didn't end there. Qusayr was also one of the first towns forcefully retaken by Assad loyalists. It was the first place where the Lebanese Hezbollah, a proxy of the Iranian regime, openly entered the battle on Assad's side. More than 60,000 Sunni citizens of Qusayr were killed or displaced. Most of the Syrian refugees we have served over the last 12 years in Lebanon have been from this area. Not all of them have returned yet, but the number is increasing every day. The challenges are high: years of oppression and war have left deep wounds and a field of ruins. 

In the area of Qusayr, more than 85% of houses are destroyed or uninhabitable. The returning families often live in self-made tents midst in the ruins of their former homes. Most of the destruction was deliberately inflicted by the troops and loyalists of Assad after their reconquest of the area from revolutionary rebels. Many of the remaining houses were occupied by Lebanese families affiliated with Hezbollah. After the fall of Assad, the tables have turned. Almost all Shiites, Lebanese and Syrians alike, have fled into Lebanon. Alawites and Christians remain, even though under constant fear of retaliation or kidnapping. Families of the Sunni majority are now returning to the area and are trying to rebuild a country based on justice and the rule of law.

We returned to Syria in the month after the liberation from the Assad regime, together with some of the families we had served for twelve years in the refugee camps in the north of Lebanon. We followed the traces of Father Paolo and made many surprising discoveries. During one of his visits in 2012, we were told, he organised the purchase and transportation of a big generator to Ayn Al-Tannour, next to the Orontes river, from where Homs is supplied with fresh water. The siege of the rebel areas had cut off the electricity lines. Thanks to the generator Paolo brought, water was flowing again. The manager of the local water plant remembers him well. 

We found a damaged house whose owners had fled abroad that will serve as our first Peace Centre inside Syria. Tell Nabi Mendo, the ancient city of Kadesh where the first recorded battle of human history took place, has much significance for us. It is directly located on the Orontes river, next to Qusayr. Father Paolo visited precisely this area in 2012. Before his forced disappearance, he had asked us to be ready for the fall of the Assad regime to deploy international volunteers along the Orontes, in the mixed areas where minorities will be in fear of retaliation. 

Thanks to your generous support, we could conclude a rental contract and start the rehabilitation of the house. The first school-support classes shall start in January. We conducted a rapid needs assessment and we wish to provide similar services to those most in need like those we have provided in Lebanon for over twelve years. First priority is the successful integration of migrant students into local public schools. Most children returning from Lebanon or Turkey have learned math and sciences in French or in Turkish. Intensive Arabic classes are required to allow them catch up with the Syrian curriculum and years of missed opportunities.

In the following videos, you can get a first-hand impression of the surroundings and the rooftop of our new Peace Centre, just 20 m from the Orontes river:

And then, the challenge of reconstruction. Thanks to the support by UNESCO through a former R&R volunteer, we are launching vocational training classes that will serve also the rehabilitation of the damaged Peace Centre. But much more needs to be done. Having concluded our first assessments, we propose an inter-community-based approach for the reconstruction of destroyed homes. People on the ground know better than anybody else who needs most support. The mechanism of this approach shall ensure that aid is provided fairly in an open and democratic process through the participation of local craftsmen and students. Priority shall be given to households headed by widows or single women without income.

You can find the concept note below with further details. This project is too big for private small donations; it will require institutional donors. However, the support from our members and friends abroad allows us to lay the foundations. We believe in the principle of poverty in humanitarian aid, whereas little means can do a lot more than big public grants, thanks to the leadership of local communities. Our international staff members, including our chairman Friedrich Bokern, are serving as volunteers without any salary or fee. We are relying on your contributions to renovate the house of the Peace Centre and pay for local teachers and other youth activities. The immediate costs for achieving these goals are about $20,000 for the coming months, besides the $10,000 we have already received from UNESCO.

Please spread the word and make a generous gesture today. Our volunteers and the youth we serve are the vanguard for a world where people are united in solidarity and hospitality despite their different convictions or belongings. You can be part of this idea, as a donor or a member or a volunteer.

After thirteen years in Bkarzla, moving our main Peace Centre was not going to be a simple decision. The possibility of relocating the R&R Peace Centre to Quantara had been gestating for some time – indeed, Quantara had been our founders first choice when R&R was founded in 2013, but an appropriate site proved difficult to find. And then, we were very happy in Bkarzla – one of the few Maronite villages in the Akkar region that had given shelter and work to Syrian refugees. But we found out that the public school in Quantara had become vacant, and likewise the old house opposite to it, we began to consider the move.

The imminent fall of the Assad regime in late 2024 accelerated our reflection as we were forced to consider R&R’s long-term presence in Akkar in light of the likely return of many Syrians to their homeland. On 7 December 2024, one day before the liberation of Syria, we signed a ten-year rental agreement for the new house with a considerable saving on our existing arrangement. What had been a distant possibility suddenly became reality. The move was motivated by practical and financial considerations, but also by the deeper conviction that our presence in Akkar is not temporary. We have served Lebanese and Syrian children for more than a decade and intend to continue doing so for many years to come.

Read more below about our new Peace Centre and come to visit us! Our house is a place of hospitality and we accept volunteer applications around the year.

Hundreds of children fill the new Peace Centre with life every day. Inclusivity remains a guiding principle of our work. The Peace Centre welcomes Lebanese, Syrians and others, Muslims and Christians alike, as well as children living with disabilities and learning difficulties. In many parts of Akkar, educational services for special needs remain inaccessible because of distance or costs. Families in Qantara asked us to open classes for disabled children, besides the regular homework help, basic literacy and numeracy and IT classes, and we followed their wish. We were lucky to find a qualified child psychologist in the village who joined our team. Every child deserves access to education, encouragement, and a place where their potential is recognised. Our aim is not only to teach, but to ensure that nobody is left behind.

Our educational work extends beyond academic support, as we know that learning is not limited to textbooks, classrooms and exams. We seek to provide a stable environment where young people can learn, grow, and rediscover confidence after years marked by economic hardship, displacement, and uncertainty. Every Friday, our youth leaders take over all our learning centres for the legendary Friday Fun sessions for their scout teams. Choir rehearsals, art workshops, games, and youth activities transform our centres into places filled with laughter and energy. The first youth leader meetings in Quantara brought together young people from across our centres. 

Quantara represents much of what Relief & Reconciliation has sought to promote since its very establishment. This mixed village brings together Muslim and Christian families in daily life, not as an abstract project but as a lived reality. A short walk takes visitors from the church to the mosque, passing neighbours who greet one another by name. Olive groves surround the village and the nearby river links Quantara to Bkarzla, connecting our future to our past. From the beginning, we hoped to establish our Peace Centre in a place where coexistence is already part of the local culture. Quantara offered precisely that opportunity, nestled in the center of our network of education facilities which extends to Kousha, Tell Abass, Rahbe and Michmich.

The Peace Centre is also the home of our international volunteers. Friedrich, Masaki, Samir, Ella, Shai, Mohanad, and Callum, hailing from all corners of the globe, are among those who have contributed their time, talents, and perspectives to daily life in Quantara – joining the hundreds of volunteers who have lived and worked in the old Peace Centre in Bkarzla over the last twelve years. Volunteers arrive from different countries and backgrounds, yet quickly become part of a shared rhythm of classes, shared meals, new projects and activities, and community engagement. International volunteers are an essential part of our work, moving between the different learning centres and communities and opening windows of communication.

The transition to Quantara required adaptation. New teachers joined the team, one new staff member joined the management, new students enrolled, and new routines emerged. Yet throughout these changes, our commitment to the people of the Akkar region stayed the same. We continue to serve students in Bkarzla in the ground floor of our former Peace Centre, and all of our learning centres remain active with daily classes, psychosocial support and scout groups. While our headquarters have moved, our mission has not changed. Christians, Muslims and persons of other convictions united: we bring people together to build a better future for the youth.

None of this would have been possible without the generosity of R&R members, volunteers, and donors who believed in the project. Donations helped secure the new premises, prepare classrooms, support educational activities, and ensure that services remain accessible to vulnerable families. Every contribution, regardless of size, has helped transform a set of empty buildings into a functioning  space to serve children and youth. The story of Quantara is therefore not only our story; it belongs to everyone who contributed to making it possible.

As we settle into this new chapter, we invite supporters, potential new volunteers, and visitors to discover Quantara for themselves. Walk through the village, meet the families, visit the classrooms, and experience the spirit of hospitality that defines this place. Our roots in Akkar continue to deepen, and our commitment to education, spiritual solidarity and service remains as strong as ever. Whether as a volunteer, donor, or visitor, there is a place for you in this story.

The highlight of the year, for all the kids we serve, is without any doubt the Summer Mountain Camp. This year's edition, for the 9th consecutive year, was under the signs of change. About a third of the youth we have served over the last twelve years have returned to Syria. But others have arrived. We welcomed Alawite families from the opposite side of the border in March, when the massacres in the coastal area of Syria were targeting them. At the summer camp, all these differences and all the worries of the world didn't matter. Let kids be kids - despite everything!

Our youth leaders prepared an amazing programme for all the younger kids who joined. Youth leaders slept over for eight days in the mountains of Akkar. The younger kids came on one special camp day where they were singing together, hunting the treasurer hidden by a sleeping princess, overcoming the evil "Thanatos" - inacted like every year by our director Friedrich - who had enchanted her... and simply had a wonderful day in the mountains: Christians and Muslims united, Lebanese as well as Syrians, Palestinians and others. Come and join us next year! 

Special thanks to the Catholic Diocese of Münster in Germany and to the association Globale Brücke e.V. that sponsored this year's summer camp, amongst many other activities of our nascent interreligious youth movement.

This year is different. Muslims and Christians are fasting together. For Muslims, the holy month of Ramadan started last Saturday. Oriental Christians started Lent last Monday. Western Christians are starting today. Furthermore, Catholic and Orthodox Easter will fall on the same day. What a wonderful moment of unity in a divided world! The liberation of Syria from more than 54 years of dictatorship and war is followed by this special time of grace, of repentance, of purification.

With our association, we have been waiting for over twelve years for this moment to come, not always patiently. In our first Peace Centre, we have brought thousands of people together, Syrians, Lebanese and foreigners as well as Muslims, Christians, Jews and persons of other conviction and belief. We have been working tirelessly to build a better future for the youth. In our learning centres, more than 3,500 children have received daily education. Many of our students are now in university. The youth we serve has established an inter-religious youth network.

Today, we are asking for your help again to take the next step together. We wish to continue our work in the poorest region of Lebanon, but we also wish to accompany our students home to Syria. We need at least 20,000 € to open new peace centres in Lebanon and Syria. Please read more below!

After more than twelve years, our first Peace Centre is going to move to Qantara, a beautiful village in Akkar, Lebanon, just across the river from our first location. We just signed the contract for 10 years of rent at a stable price of only $150/month. However, the beautiful house we found needs to be renovated, as you can see on the picture above. We estimate that the renovation will cost us about $5,000 to make the place inhabitable for our students and international volunteers.

"Qantara" means "arch" in Arabic. And the name of the village couldn't be better! It is the only village of the whole region where all communities live together in the same space: Sunni and Alawite Muslims as well as Maronite and Orthodox Christians. The village has never had any trouble during the years of Lebanese Civil War and during the brutal oppression of the Syrian Revolution. There is a tacit agreement that the position of the mayor will always alternate between Christians and Muslims. All local communities have welcomed us with open arms.

We wish to continue our work in Bkarzla and all locations of Akkar where we have established learning centres and youth clubs. With the new Peace Centre in Qantara, we are reducing our rental costs tremendously, which will allow us both to maintain our classes in Lebanon and expand our work in Syria.

Since the very beginning of our work, we have delivered life-saving humanitarian aid inside Syria. We have been supporting informal groups in rebel-controlled areas to bring food, shelter and education to the youth. However, we had not been able to open a Peace Centre inside Syria, like we did in Lebanon: an open house where international volunteers live the values of spiritual solidarity and help to build bridges of understanding between different communities. Before the victory of the Syrian Revolution, foreigners were either forced to collaborate with the Assad regime or to live under constant risk of shelling, kidnapping or other harm.

But things are changing quickly. The liberation of Syria opens new avenues of justice, peace and prosperity. Our international staff members have visited Syria over the last weeks, together with our Syrian friends. We were welcomed by families of our former students who have already resettled. As you could read in our previous post, most of our students come from the town of Qusayr in the Homs Governorate of Syria, next to the Lebanese border. We have also supported local groups from Kafranbel in the Idlib Governorate, as well as from Yabrud and Eastern Ghouta in the Rif Damascus Governorate. The needs are tremendous, but the hope is even bigger. We witnessed a spirit of solidarity, shaping the future together.

All the families we met wish us to open new peace centres next to their home. We started to identity potential locations and we reached out to religious leaders of these areas to form regional steering committees, in line with our tested methodology. We wish to support different communities to come together and work together for the sake of a better future for the Syrian youth.

We cannot say often enough how grateful we are for all the support our donors and volunteers have given to us. We are relying mainly on private small donations for staying independent from government interests and for ensuring the sustainability of our work. Especially in the fields of peacebuilding and education, short-term projects do often more harm than good. We prefer a long-term approach, growing up with the children we serve. We could not have done it without you!

At this decisive moment of our journey, we humbly ask you to renew your help. We still have not covered all financial needs for the current school year, but we also wish to move into Syria. This is a flexible call for help. €20,000 will allow us to equip the new Peace Centre in Akkar and start a second Peace Centre in the Homs Governorate of Syria. Every €10,000 more will allow us to open centres in one more region.

Please spread the word and consider making a donation today, as sign of solidarity and unity between Jews, Christians, Muslims and all persons of good will. In these challenging times, we need these seeds of hope and peace more than ever! We'd like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Kinan Azmeh and CityBand will be coming to Brussels for a charity concert for Syria and Lebanon in the splendid Salle des Caryatides of the Cercle Royal Gaulois, presenting their new album “Live in Berlin” released on Feb 28 2025. Join us for this unforgettable evening in solidarity with the Syrian people!

The income from ticket sales and donations collected at this concert will 100% go to the border. region of Lebanon and Syria where we serve Syrian refugees and young Lebanese in their struggle for a better future. Please click below for more information and to reserve your tickets!

Kinan was born in Damascus in 1976 and trained at the famous Juilliard School in New York. He has been accompanied by top-tier ensembles such as the New York Philharmonics and Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. In recent years, he has devoted himself to his own artistic creation at the crossroads of contemporary classics, oriental and jazz. His first opera “Songs for Days to Come”, fully sung in Arabic, was recently premiered in Osnabrück, Germany to great acclaim. Back home in the US, he has been appointed to the National Council for the Arts on a nomination by President Joe Biden.

For this extraordinary concert during his Europe tour, Kinan will perform in the Caryatides Ballroom at the Cercle Royal Gaulois in Brussels. Located at the heart of the Royal Park, the Cercle is one of the most venerable institutions of Belgium, which dates back to two distinguished groups of intellectuals established in 1847 and 1911, which merged in 1919 to become the Cercle Gaulois. The Caryatids Ballroom is a masterpiece of Brussels neoclassical architecture, dating from 1821. Two musicians’ loggias dominate the room, which is embellished with caryatids sculpted by the famed artist François Rude. It will be the perfect venue for this encounter between East and West.

What a night! We are looking back on 8 December 2024, the Day of Liberation of Syria from more than 54 years of dictatorship under the Assad regime. In Akkar, the region of our Peace Centre in the far north of Lebanon, thousands poured into the streets and unfurled the Free Syrian banners that had been hidden for so many years. Our Syrian youth leaders shared their joy on social media and organised celebrations in our centres. One can hardly imagine the emotions after years of hardship, often without official status or legal protection, in the camps of Lebanon.

Our association will stand in solidarity with all those we serve -Lebanese and Syrians- regardless of their background or beliefs. Most of our Syrian staff members and volunteers have returned to Syria for their first visit. We have also conducted a survey among the families of our students to learn more about their plans and intentions. It appears that 23% of them have already resettled permanently. Many more wish to return within the coming year, but their homes are still destroyed.

Please read more below to learn about the detailed results of our survey. The results are very relevant for the future orientation of our work.

About half of our students in the Akkar region of Lebanon are Lebanese, the other half Syrians. Amongst the 407 Syrian students currently inscribed in the R&R learning centres, 313 replied to our flash survey via WhatsApp. 23% reported that their families have already resettled to Syria within the first two months after the fall of the Assad regime. 63% more wish to return as soon as possible, about half of them within the coming months (29% of all respondents) and the other half after the end of the year. Only 14% are saying that their families don't want to return at all.

The most important reason for delays in the return plans is the housing situation in Syria. 70% of all respondents amongst our Syrian students in Lebanon were telling us that their old house or apartment is completely destroyed. Another 16% said that their house was partially destroyed. 8% didn't own a house and only 6% said that their house is still standing. In the current situation, with a huge amount of debt and family income that is hardly covering the survival minimum, most families cannot afford the reconstruction of their homes. Many of them have been asking for help.

We will keep you updated on our assessments and plans for the future. We hope to accompany the families of our students to Syria and expand our work there. Most of our Syrian students come originally from the Homs Governorate. Within the Homs Governorate, the city of Qusayr is the municipality from where the highest number of our students had been expelled. Qusayr is also the city in which our mentor and co-founder, Father Paolo Dall'Oglio, had been fasting for reconciliation in 2012, just before his expulsion from Syria by the Assad regime.

Our work in Lebanon will continue, with Lebanese students and all others in need, but we wish to open new Peace Centres inside Syria. We don’t yet know what the future holds, but we are certain that the fall of the Assad regime brings new hope to millions. After the victory of the Syrian Revolution, it is now time for justice and peace.

Please support our work with a generous donation! We are relying on your help to continue our work for relief and reconciliation in Syria.

For over a decade, Relief & Reconciliation (R&R) has been working at the intersection of peacebuilding and humanitarian aid, offering hope to Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese communities in the Akkar Governorate of Lebanon. Our mission remains steadfast: to provide continuous education as a means of fostering social cohesion and empowering the next generation.

The school year 2024/25 has started in harsher conditions than ever. The bombing of Lebanon by Israel, following the attacks of Hamas and Hezbollah on 7 October 2023, has not spared our region, even though no attacks have been launched from here. Our Peace Centre and most public schools were sheltering internally displaced persons from the South of Lebanon. Several shelters were bombed.

As a consequence, the school year 2024/25 started with huge delays: regular morning shifts in public schools were launched in November and the supplementary afternoon shifts for Syrian refugee children only in January. Despite all these challenges, classes in the 3 permanent educational centres of R&R were running from day one of the school year. We didn't wait for the afternoon shifts to start.

Our continuous educational work, uninterrupted for more than 11 years, is only funded by your donations. Please read more below about our plans and needs!

The results from our last evaluation and assessment survey were overwhelming. Even though Akkar remains the poorest region of Lebanon, it has one of the highest school enrolment rates for Syrian refugees. According to UN data from all Lebanon, 57% of Syrian children aged 6-11 were enrolled in primary schools. In Akkar, however, the percentage rises to 64%. The percentage is even higher amongst Syrian children in the areas R&R is working in where 84% of the respondents to our representative survey, aged 6-11, were enrolled in primary school.

In the last school year 2023/24, we also had a positive impact on the success rate of the 503 students who attended daily R&R classes. Among those who attended formal education (either public or private school), R&R students had the highest success rate, with 85% successfully passing the school year (of which 50.7% were boys and 49.3% girls). Students attending educational support classes with other NGOs in the area of our work, funded by UNICEF or other public grants, had a success rate of 78%. Some students came to both R&R and to other NGOs: their success rate was 84%. Those who didn't attend any support classes, neither from R&R nor from other NGOs, had the lowest success rate at only 72%.

We are humbly asking to continue your support for the sake of Syrian and Lebanese children in Akkar, the poorest region of Lebanon. Our classes are up and running. We need to raise at least 50,000 € to cover the costs of the school year 2024/25. Your support will allow more than 500 children to receive daily education, either as basic literacy and numeracy classes (BLN) for those not enrolled in school, or as school support classes for those enrolled or as vocational and technical education (VTE) for those beyond the age range for school enrolment.

But education is not just about individual learning, it is a tool for peace. By bringing together Syrian and Lebanese youth in shared learning spaces, we foster dialogue and understanding. Our work engages parents, teachers, and civil society actors to create a truly inclusive environment where young people can thrive. Our regional Steering Committee, composed by moral authorities of both Christian and Muslim communities, oversees the choice of our centres. And at each of our 3 permanent learning centres, we elect every year a Parents' Committee that is deciding about the classes to be offered, within the limits of our projected budget. Also our youth leaders are now electing a Leadership Committee for each location.

All this would be impossible without your help. We are deliberately relying on your donations, instead of big governmental grants for a huge project that only lasts a year. Your support helps us to remain independent and sustainable. Without the continuous support of our donors from around the world, we would not have brought more than a dozen of Syrian refugee children into Lebanese universities. Education is a marathon, not a sprint. We plead with you to renew your support and forward this call to your family and friends. 10 € are enough to keep one child in school for a month.

Please share the word and support our work with a donation, either a small amount every month or a bigger aid package once in a while!

Clicking on the icons below, you can download the our educational needs assessment and the detailed call for educational funding in the Akkar Governorate of Lebanon for the school year 2024/25:

Our team in the northern border region of Lebanon is raising red flags with regard to the protection of minors during this time of war. We have been witnessing a sharp increase in different forms of abuse, both in the private and public space. Our biggest reason of concern: the total neglect for the fate of Syrian refugee children who seem too often to be considered as "dispensable" during the current hostilities. Lebanon's public authorities are often involved in the abuse.

The most shocking cases were two of our former students in the Akkar Governorate, one twelve years of age, the other fourteen, who were wrongfully accused of crimes by their Lebanese neighbours. Both were Syrians with legally valid residence permits. Both of them were held in jail for several months in terrible conditions, without regular food or visits. Both were cleared by the judges from any wrong-doing. Still, they were only allowed to leave jail having paid a bail. Please click below for finding our press release and further details about these cases!

Not only Syrian refugee children are victim of abuse and neglect during these times of war and displacement. Also Lebanese have less and less access to education and are more and more pushed into child labour or child marriage. In the sections below, we are documenting some alarming cases. Ahead of 20 November, the World Children's Day, we are trying to build a coalition of human rights organisations and like-minded NGOs for raising awareness and advocating better protection.

The case of Yacoub, 14 years of age: an innocent child detained in different prisons for more than six months. He was accused by a Lebanese neighbour to have stolen his motorcycle, beaten up and delivered to General Security. General Security transferred him to the Police detention centre in Aarida, from where he was further transferred to Machta Hassan, then to Batroun and finally to Roumieh prison. He was acquitted by a judge first on 5 June 2024 and then again on 16 October 2024. Still, he has not yet been liberated. Roumieh prison claimed missing paperwork, lost by the first detention centres. Finally, they recognised a copy sent by the police. But yet, he was transferred back to General Security's prison in Beirut where more paperwork is waiting for him to be released. His mother is missing him since May.
 
Omar, 15 years old, dropped out of school and run away from his family. After several days, the boy reconciled with his family, but he continued to sleep in the garage a Lebanese man had offered him. This was due to the Lebanese man’s promise to help him find work and earn money — a form of exploitation. One day, the neighbor took the boy to help him install doors in an apartment that was still under construction. The police arrived and arrested both of them because a theft had been reported nearby. The Lebanese man convinced the boy to take the blame for the case alone, promising that he would help him with the necessary procedures for his release. The man was released thanks to "connections," while the boy remained detained in Batroun, without legal representation. The lawyer assigned to the boy neglected the case, as she was involved in a romantic relationship with someone in Saudi Arabia, and she ran away to be with him, abandoning the case without any follow-up. Omar has been in jail now for more than 10 months without a due trial.

Several other cases have been brought to our attention. With the deepening economic crisis and the Israeli war against Lebanon, Syrian refugees have lost much of what legal protection they had. The decision of their return to Syria is not ours to take, but we strongly condemn this abuse of children in the legal system, all of which are a violation of Lebanese law and of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was signed and ratified by Lebanon.

Child Labour is not only a problem in the Akkar Governorate. However, since the start of the economic crisis in 2019 and the new war against Lebanon in this year, the problem has become endemic. No construction site without minors, no harvesting and hardly a shop that doesn't have several children as errant boys. Even though worse forms of abuse exist, the stories of some of the children we serve are heart-breaking. We demand the extension of social assistance to children and to vulnerable families that do not have an adult member who can work.

Hanan (14 years old), Mohammad (12 years old), and Yahya (9 years old) are currently living in a tent. Their father, who sustained injuries to his leg and back, has been unable to work. As a result, the children have been responsible for generating income for the family. However, due to their young age, they are unable to find decent work. Instead, they are selling sweets on the street. Although their mother has enrolled them in our education programme for this year, it appears more likely that she will prioritise sending them to work rather than to school. We meet them regularly, even late at night, in front of the supermarket in Halba, on the main highway of Akkar, where many unknown persons are passing through.

Ahmad* (*name changed), a 15-year-old Syrian boy, lives with his mother and three siblings, was left to support the family alone after his father remarried and abandoned them. His day begins with an eight-hour shift harvesting olives from 6am to 2pm. After a brief rest, he starts a gruelling twelve-hour night shift at a highway coffee shop. This relentless schedule is taking a toll on his health, but he shrugs, “That’s just life; we thank God for everything.” Ahmad* once attended our homework help sessions, but now we only catch brief glimpses of him, rushing between jobs. He keeps up a good spirit, but the $260 he earns per month in the harvest season can barely cover the rent and the basic living costs of his family.

Mina* (*name changed), 11 years old and from a Lebanese middle-class family, once lived in Nabatiyeh. After the start of the Israeli bombings and ground invasion in the South, her family fled northward and now resides in a temporary shelter in Akkar. Just days after their departure, a missile struck near their home, destroying her bedroom and living room. Mina was previously enrolled in a public school with English curriculum, but in the Akkar Governorate, only the French curriculum is taught in public schools. Her family is now waiting to enrol her in a private school with online classes, despite the financial strain and the subpar quality of remote learning.

Assel (9), Nada (8), and Mohammed (6) are among the best students at R&R’s Kousha Centre, where they’ve been consistently attending homework help for the past year. As they await the opening of second-shift registrations in the public school system, the siblings are now participating in the informal classes currently offered at the centre. Their mother expresses appreciation for our teachers, recognising that this interim support allows her children to stay engaged and make steady progress. Their case reflects the situation of thousands of Syrian children, who for the time being remain on the margins of formal education.

The Lebanese government and international donors must act now to prevent another educational catastrophe! All children have the right to primary and also secondary education, non-regarding of their nationality. The R&R team on the ground is working day and night to provide emergency relief and education to those who cannot attend school, but we need the state and the international community to do their part to keep schools open and safe. Targeting school buildings that are used for teaching or for sheltering displaced persons is a war crime.

Please help us to spread the word and build a coalition of civil society organisations to denounce these violations of fundamental children's rights!

Follow us on social media for more updates and contact us if you wish to become a member or volunteer for our campaign!

War has returned to Lebanon. We are living today with the constant sound of drones and planes in the sky that can strike at any moment. From the first day of the war, we have opened the doors of our Peace Centre and our other educational centres to those who had to flee the fighting in the South. Today, we need your help to provide emergency aid and continue the care for the children we serve.

Fortunately, the region of our Peace Centre has remained relatively calm. The Akkar Governorate in the utmost north of Lebanon does not have a significant Hezbollah presence and is not a main target. This does not mean, however, that we are entirely spared. Particular houses and cars have also been bombed, and the transportation from and to Beirut is not without risk. But still, Akkar has become a sanctuary for families from the South of Lebanon and Bekaa whose houses have been destroyed. In Akkar alone, more than 70,000 internally displaced persons have arrived, adding a huge burden to the 220,000 original Lebanese inhabitants, who have already welcomed more than 150,000 Syrian and Palestinian refugees.

We need at least 9,100 € to provide emergency aid to the families who had to flee. The needs are crushing, and we can easily extend our services beyond this amount. But 9,100 € will allow us to provide for emergency shelter and daily care for displaced children in our learning centres and in public schools of our area. Please read more below for further details about how we are going to use these emergency funds and please share this call with your families and friends! 

Our NGO has been working for more than 11 years in the Akkar Governorate of Lebanon, without missing one single school day. We have helped to enroll more than 3,200 Syrian refugee children in public schools of Lebanon. We have provided emergency aid to more than 11,000 individuals. Most of our activities have been funded by private small donations. This allowed us to keep our independence and our sustainability. We are doing more than a one-drop aid delivery.

In the current crisis, we opened our learning centres to families whose houses have been destroyed. At the main Peace Centre, our international volunteers are living under the same roof with seven families from Nabatiyeh. Also the Michmich centre is hosting four families. We were the first to open our doors. Now, more than 20 other families have found shelter in empty houses of our village, without paying any rent. And hundreds of more are living in public schools or the informal Syrian refugee camps.

Following the initiative of our youth leaders from Michmich, three of our scout teams are now engaged to provide psycho-social services to displaced children who have to live in public schools of our area. Our scout leaders have been trained by professional sport educators and psychologists. Having received the proper papers by governmental authorities, they are now visiting three public schools per week to provide for a 3-hours sports, games & music session, accompanied by specific art therapy for children with PTSD syndromes or other difficulties.

All of these activities are born from the initiative of our teams on the ground. Today, they need your support to keep going. Our work is not in the headlines of international news, but we are trying to cope with the consequences of a war that has gone beyond anything Lebanon has seen in the past. We wish to provide more emergency assistance, continue the child animation sessions in public schools and start informal school classes for children who have not yet started their school year. Please find below a detailed breakdown of our needs over the coming month:

Indicative budget for our emergency aid:

• EUR 1,500: mattresses, bed sheets, heating and other shelter equipment
• EUR 2,250: emergency food parcels for 90 families who lost their home
  
• EUR 2,800: materials and bus transportation for 12 child animation sessions
  
• EUR 2,560: fees for 320 teaching hours for out-of-school children
  

We give the guarantee that all donations received with the special mention "Shelter Emergency" will be used exclusively for the budget lines indicated above. We will do our utmost to fulfill all the planned activities, but we have to prioritise according to the amount of incoming donations. Please subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn to receive regular updates!

During the school year 2023/24, R&R extended its educational services to more than 500 children in Akkar, benefiting both Lebanese and Syrian students across the villages of Bkarzla, Kousha, Michmich, and Rahbe. As always, we began by working closely with the local community, listening to their needs and challenges, and tailored our programs to ensure that we address the diverse educational gaps that exist. By doing so, we were able to provide systemic support that responded specifically to the priorities of the families we served.

One of the significant challenges faced this year was the suspension of transportation aid by the UN, which left many unable to afford the daily cost of getting their children to school. R&R thus stepped in by offering bus services to and from public schools for those participating in specific educational activities. This critical intervention ensured that no child misses out on learning due to financial barriers.

Every day, morning and afternoon, we provided homework support to children in both the French and English curricula, ensuring they had the resources and guidance they need to succeed. This support is vital not only for those who struggle to keep up but for all students as Lebanese schools operate on a half-day schedule, leaving teachers with limited time to cover the syllabus in detail. Additionally, we offered Basic Literacy and Numeracy (BLN) classes for younger children, helping them build a strong foundation for their future learning.
 
Beyond basic education, we also expanded our English classes, offering different levels to accommodate students from beginner to advanced proficiency. These classes were invaluable in helping them gain confidence in another language, a skill that will serve well in both academic and professional settings. What’s more, like in the four previous years, we provided intensive Baccalaureate preparation classes, which saw every single participant passing their final exams - an incredible achievement that highlights the dedication of our students and the hard work of our teachers.

Recognising that education goes beyond the classroom, we reintroduced Computer literacy and Programming courses, equipping the participants with useful digital skills. Additionally, our Sewing lessons were brought back, with sewing machines made available during specific hours. These vocational training programs empower students, providing them with practical skills that can improve their future employment opportunities. Meanwhile, our Football training sessions continued to thrive, with three girls' teams and two boys' teams fostering discipline and teamwork.

Of course, none of these achievements would have been possible without the steadfast commitment of our volunteers, staff and local teachers. That very passion combined with the generosity of our donors, has allowed R&R to continue providing these essential services and making a tangible difference in the lives of the youth of Akkar, for over eleven years now, without missing one single school day.

The Holy Month of Ramadan is approaching and millions of Muslims around the world will be fasting during daylight before the welcome of family, friends and strangers to break the fast together at sunset. It is a special time of purification and hospitality, reducing consumption and giving the zakat of charity to the poor. This year, however, the breaking of the fast has a bitter aftertaste. How can we be joyful and eat when children are starving in Gaza, when tens of thousands have been killed?

We call upon all people of good will to join us this year in a Ramadan of Solidarity. Muslims, Christians, Jews and all people of good will shall be united in humanity and solidarity with all those who suffer. We are calling for a universal ceasefire during this holy month, in Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Ukraine... and wherever the brutal force of war and oppression is killing other men, women and children. Our fast is a sign of our firm stance against all forms of violence and of our solidarity with the Muslim Ummah.

We are also calling for your generosity. The people we have served in the Idlib Governorate of Syria need our help more than ever. Living under the rule of Islamist militias, they have been depending very much on private Islamic charities from the Gulf area and from around the world. These private donations are today given to Gaza, for a good reason. But the people in Idlib, amongst them more than 3.5 million internally displaced by the bombs of the Assad regime, are left alone with the ruins of 13 years of war and oppression and the terrible earthquake that followed.

One year after the 7.8 earthquake of 6 February 2023, which killed more than 50,000 persons in the border region between Turkey and Syria, we planned on opening again the learning centre we had been running in the town of Salqin, in the Idlib Governorate of Syria, 5km from the Turkish border. But our local volunteers and staff members implored us to restart instead the distribution of food. There has been a sharp drop in donations to the Idlib Governorate and people are desperate to survive.

Like last year, we plan on distributing daily Ramadan meals to up to 3,000 persons in need. We need at least EUR 5,000 for providing warm meals to 100 different families every day during the 30 days of Ramadan. This means that one meal for a family of 6 persons in average will cost us about €1.67. It cannot be more cost-efficient! We will be taking turns to reach all vulnerable families of the area. Each family will receive at least one warm meal per week. This plan was designed by the local community without any involvement of armed groups or local authorities.

Please spread the word and please make a sign of solidarity and generosity! If you note the special mention "Ramadan of Solidarity" in the object line of your transfer, we guarantee that 100% of your donation will go for emergency food aid in Salqin. We will cover the low transaction costs from our general budget. We will post updates about the outcome of the campaign in the comments below.

Twelve years have passed since the beginning of the Syrian Revolution and the brutal suppression that followed. For the last ten years, we have done our utmost to cope with the consequences of the war Assad has been waging against his own people. At least 600,000 have been killed, about 200,000 of them civilians. More than 13 million had to flee their home. That is more than half of the country!

Children are the first victims of war and displacement, the most vulnerable. Over the last 10 years, we have been following our approach to unite different, and sometimes opposed, communities around a common cause: the future of the youth. We have provided daily education to more than 3,300 children, facilitating the enrollment of Syrian refugee children into Lebanese schools and preventing dropout for both Syrians and vulnerable Lebanese youth.

Today, like in the past, we need your help to keep going. Please read more below and share this post with your families and friends!

Also in this new school year 2023/24, we need a minimum of EUR 40,000 to keep our classes running. Like in the past, we are mainly relying on private small donations to fund our local teachers and local school transportation throughout the school year, from October 2023 till the end of June 2024. Up to 25 local teachers will be paid a modest but sufficient salary to dispatch classes for at least 500 children. This means that EUR 10 pay for about one month of education for one child.

The situation in Lebanon has become more difficult in recent weeks. After the Hamas attacks on Israel and the military onslaught on Gaza that followed, many Europeans and other foreign nationals have left Lebanon. The southern border is in flames. Thousands of Lebanese are displaced because of the open war between Hezbollah and Israel. Nobody we know wants a new war and many still have bitter memories from the war of 2006 when the Israeli Air Force bombed all Lebanon, non-regarding whether Hezbollah was in control of an area or not.

Now more than ever our work has to continue! Akkar is the poorest region of Lebanon. But thanks to your continuous support, we have a much higher school enrolment of Syrian refugee children than in the rest of Lebanon. According to the UN and to our own surveys, 80% of all school-aged children are enrolled. But the struggle for education is not over. We believe that no child should be left behind and we work hard to prevent school dropout because of economic hardship or difficulties with the French curriculum that is taught in most Lebanese schools.

With the support of all major communities of Akkar, Sunni and Alawite Muslims as well as Maronite and Orthodox Christians, both from Lebanon and Syria, we have brought different people to work together for a common goal: a better future of the youth that is marked by war, displacement and economic meltdown. And while learning and playing together, children and adolescent discover that the "other" can become a friend. None of this would be possible without the educational work of our local teachers, working in altogether five learning centres with our international volunteers.

On behalf of our teachers and on behalf of the children we serve, we are humbly asking for your support. We don't always find the time to update our website, as all our permanent staff members live and work in the Syrian border region. Therefore, we also rely on you to talk about our work and ask for help. One line you send to a relative or friend, sharing this post, can already bring one more child back into school. You can find more regular updates on Facebook or Instagram.

Please share the word and support our work with a donation, either a small amount every month or a bigger aid package once in a while!

Click here for our bank details and further instructions!

UPDATE: please click below to download the completed report or our educational needs assessment in the Akkar Governorate of Lebanon for 2023/24:

On 13 October 2022, youth leaders from 5 different locations came together with religious leaders of all major communities in Akkar to discuss and adopt a Children's Rights Charter they have drafted throughout the year. The endorsement by the main leaders of the Sunni Islamic Umma, the Greek-Orthodox Church, the Maronite Church and the Alawite Muslim community of Akkar meant a lot to the youth. It was a strong message of unity and solidarity in times of war and displacement.

Today, we are glad to present you the illustrated version of the charter that has been adopted by the unanimity of all 80 youth leaders. In several meetings and thanks to the help of an elected drafting committee amongst their members, the youth leaders agreed on a strong text with their demands for the future. Our Egyptian volunteer Menna illustrated the 8 chapters of the book with true stories that were collected together with the youth leaders. And in the introduction of each chapter, Friedrich, our secretary general, presents the results of a representative survey conducted by the youth leaders amongst more than 800 children of Akkar.

We would like to thank all youth leaders, both Lebanese and Syrians from all Muslim and Christian communities of the region, for their hard work. We also thank Sheikh Zayd Zakariya, the elected Mufti of Akkar, Saidna Basilius Mansour, Greek-Orthodox Archbishop of Akkar, Saidna Youssef Soueif, Maronite Archbishop of Tripoli, as well as Sheikh Hassan Hamed and Ustaz Ahmad Haddam, the elected representatives of the Alawite community in Akkar, for their support and their endorsement. Last but not least, we would like to thank GIZ and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development to have funded this project.

If you follow the link below, you can download the book in low resolution. Please contact us if you wish to receive or reproduce it in printed form!

A week after the summer breeze settled in the mountains of Michmich, echoes of the “Fabulous Wizard Tournament” still linger. Guided by international volunteers, the camp transformed into a vibrant tapestry of laughter, riddles, and interreligious friendships. Youth leaders braved the mountain nights in Bedouin tents, while younger adventurers joined for sun-drenched days of discovery. The magic of Akkar’s highlands cast a spell that none of them will soon forget.

This is the story of Hiyam. She was the very first of all the children we have served to meet with Friedrich and the volunteers at the R&R Peace Centre. Back then, in May 2013, she was about to lose her arm because of a shrapnel from one of the bombs of the Syrian regime against the people of Qusayr, a small Syrian town that had dared to defy the reign of terror by Assad and his allies.

Today, Hiyam has achieved her high school graduation and is studying at Lebanese University, the only public university of the country. She wants to become a medical doctor to save the life of refugees and of any other person in need. She also works as an outreach volunteer with R&R for raising health awareness in the refugee camps and other rural areas of the Akkar region, in the utmost north of Lebanon.

Today, we are asking for your help again, because education cannot wait. We have more than 700 other students who depend on your generosity to pass their school year, midst in disaster and despair that surrounds us. Please click on the "Read More" link to learn about how you can make a difference in their lives!

The fight for the future of the forgotten youth on the Syrian border is not over. The earthquake was only the last disaster in a long list of catastrophes. Most students we serve have been expelled multiple times from their homes. In Syria, many schools have been destroyed. And in Lebanon, most public schools have been dysfunctional for several years. In this school year alone, public school teachers were on strike for more than half of the year, as their salaries had been devalued by hyper-inflation. A teacher who earned €1,500/month three years ago is only earning €30/month today. And that with living costs equivalent or even higher than in Europe.

Our learning  centres are the only opportunity for most of the 700 students we serve to receive any form of education. Those who could enroll in school are now facing the final exams of the year. 83 of our students are preparing for their high school graduation (Baccalauréat). Contrary to private schools, where most Lebanese children are enrolled, they have hardly received any school lessons over the last years. But they have to master the same centralised exams. In our learning centres, we have increased the tutoring hours with local qualified teachers to help them succeed. Only with official graduation, they can hope for higher studies.

We are still about €15,000 short for covering all the costs for our teaching activities in this school year, as detailed in the back-to-school campaign published in September 2022 (cf. below). Most of this money will go to our local teachers who are getting paid $7/hour, which is a good but still modest rate in comparison with public schools and other local employments. Our administrative and communication costs have been lower than 5% of all our funding, and we spent it mainly for local staff members. In total, the €15,000 will fund more than 1,800 teaching hours.

Please show your generosity and spread the word! We are relying on private small donations alone for providing our educational services, which have been running at our Peace Centre and the affiliated learning centres in Akkar for more than 10 years, without interruption. We are also re-launching classes in Idlib Province of Syria, which was hit hard by the earthquake of 6 February. Thanks to your help, we could provide emergency aid to more than 7,000 survivors in form of daily food distributions. Now, we are about to re-launch classes in a new informal camp school, midst in the Salqin refugee camps. Our classes are a beacon of hope for the children affected by war and destruction, children, like Hiyam, who cannot wait to build their own future.

Many persons and organisations have supported Hiyam to become what she is today: a strong and independent woman who is spreading hope all around her. It would not have been possible without her strong will and without your support.

PLEASE CLICK ON THE "DONATE" BUTTON FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO CONTRIBUTE FROM ANY PART OF THE WORLD!

We need your urgent support to provide life-saving emergency aid to the families of our students in the city of Salqin, 5 km next to the Turkish-Syrian border, which has largely been destroyed in the 7.8 earthquake of last Monday, 6 February.

We need at least $25,000 for providing emergency shelters and warm meals for the families of our students who lost their home. There are no tents available in the area around Salqin, but our volunteers are building provisional brick houses and deliver warm meals. One brick house per family costs around $400. The ingredients for one warm meal per family cost between $5 and $8. Our volunteers also try to find as quickly as possible blankets, clothes and medical drugs. Whatever money arrives on our accounts will be transferred immediately to Salqin.

We give the guarantee that all funds received via our accounts that have the special mention "Earthquake" will go 100% to the families in Salqin. The emergency aid will be delivered through the volunteers of our Syrian branch on the ground. All overhead and transaction costs will be covered through our general budget. (Our overhead costs have been less than 1% since the very beginning of our work. The transaction costs are limited to a maximum of 2% thanks to the informal transfer systems used by our volunteers on the ground. We guarantee that none of these fees goes to terrorist organisations or war criminals that are sanctioned by the US or the EU.)

The deadly earthquake of Monday, 6 February, has hit some of the most vulnerable persons on earth in the Turkish-Syrian border region. This region is hosting most of the refugees and internally displaced of the Syrian war. The region of Syria most severely hit is the Idlib Province, which is mostly controlled by different militias opposed to the Assad regime, some of which are targeted by international sanctions as terrorist organisations. More than 4.5 inhabitants of this region, most of them internally displaced persons fleeing the oppression and the bombardments of the Assad regime, have been shelled every day by Assad's and Putin's forces. The earthquake has added catastrophe upon catastrophe.

In our first call for help, we asked all our donors and friends to make a contribution to the Syria Civil Defence, better known as "the White Helmets", who are doing a heroic job in the most affected areas of Idlib. For many years, the White Helmets have been rescuing survivors of the bombardments by Assad's and Putin's air force that has targeted mainly civilian infrastructure. The White Helmets are operating independently from any terrorist organisation or militia. They have been awarded with several prices and international decorations. We still call upon you to support them.

However, we learned in the last days that four out of the 182 students of the R&R learning centre in Salqin have died in the earthquake. Most others have lost their home and are now living with their families in the street. Even though search & rescue operations are the first emergency, we cannot leave the families we serve stranded. The local volunteers of our Syrian branch have made a first needs assessment and we call upon your generosity to help those who survived. Temperatures are currently around 0°C in this area. Many survivors are facing certain death if international aid is not arriving soon. We guarantee that every donation we receive with the special object "Earthquake" will go 100% to the families of Salqin.

International aid is barely reaching this area. Even though the Assad government had promised to deliver parts of the humanitarian assistance reaching Damascus through the UN and affiliated NGOs to Idlib, none of these promises has materialised. For this reason, the UN Security Council has given the extraordinary authorisation to UN agencies to deliver cross-border aid from Türkiye without consent of the Syrian government. Russia, as permenent member of the Security Council, has repeatidely threatened to veto such cross-border aid, reducing the allocated border crossing to only one: Bab Al-Hawa, next to the city of Antakya. Despite such threats, the authorisation for cross-border aid was renewed on 9 January 2023 for 6 more months. However, it took the UN agencies three days before an aid convoy for the earthquake survivors has finally reached the border on 9 February.

For more than nine years, we have provided daily education for Syrian refugees and Lebanese youth of all communities in the Akkar Governorate of Lebanon, the poorest region of the country with the highest percentage of refugees. We could enroll more than 3,000 refugee children into school. In the last school year, more than 700 students received daily education in one of our five learning centres.

The situation today is more dramatic than ever. Lebanon has lived through a total economic breakdown with more than 1,500% inflation over three years. Public schools are nowadays almost permanently on strike because the state cannot pay any more teachers. Our learning centres have de facto become the only chance for the children we serve to receive a comprehensive education.

Like in the past, we are mainly relying on private small donations to fund our daily classes. It is harder for us to collect private money, but it guarantees our sustainability and independence. In nine years, we have not missed one single school day! Our local teachers are doing a tremendous job to continue daily services despite the harsh situation. Today, they need your help to keep going.

We need to raise EUR 40,000 before the end of the year to cover the salaries for our 25 local teachers and teaching volunteers, both Lebanese and Syrians. This amount will allow us to offer daily classes throughout the school year, from October 2022 till June 2023. More than 500 students will directly benefit from these classes. This means that EUR 10 per month are enough to keep one student in school. And if you give a little bit more, we can again reach 700 children, like last year.

Please click here to support our students with your generous donation! We guarantee that our overhead costs for the international administration and communication of our work will remain below 1% of our total budget, like in the past nine years.

In the framework of the project “Interreligious Youth Network for Peace and Children Rights in Akkar”, we are looking for an experimented illustrator/graphic designer to produce an illustrated version of the Children Rights Charter, written together with our youth leaders from all communities of Akkar. The result can be presented in form of a comic book or an illustrated collection of testimonies that we are going to print, both in Arabic and in English language. Both the drafting process and the final book will be important milestones after nine years of work in the north of Lebanon.

Please find below the official call for applications that includes the exact terms of reference, required qualifications and conditions:

Deadline: Monday, 20 June 2022, 11:55pm Beirut time (UTC+2:00)
Applications or inquiries: contact@reliefandreconciliation.org

For the ninth time, religious leaders of the Akkar Governorate, the region of our first Peace Centre in the north of Lebanon, came together with Syrian refugees and our Lebanese friends for the annual Peace Iftar. Muslims and Christians of different sects and convictions broke the fast together in this Holy Month of Ramadan. More than 200 friends from different beliefs and convictions, most of them Syrian refugees from the camps, came together for this main event of the year, renewing their commitment to work together for peace and justice, in solidarity with the most deprived.

The Peace Iftars are the main events of spiritual solidarity every year, alongside the Easter Peace March, celebrated on the occasion of the main Christian feast, and the annual Solidarity Olive Harvest in tradition of the workers' movement. The majority of the host and refugee population in our area are Sunni Muslim. It is a local tradition that Muslims are inviting their neighbours to the breaking of the fast, in form of a shared meal at sunset, during the Holy Month of Ramadan.

The religious leaders of all major communities in our area form the core of the Steering Committee that gives us the major orientations for our work. We submit ourselves to their directions under one condition: that consensus can be found. Background to this rule is the concept of "diapraxis" whereas trust can better be built by practical cooperation than by words alone.

For the first time, the new Maronite Archbishop of Tripoli, Mgr Youssef Soueif, joined the Sunni Mufti of Akkar, Sheikh Zeid Zakariya, and the Orthodox Archbishop, Metropolit Basilius Mansour, for this year's Peace Iftar, together with other pastors, priests and sheikhs of the Alawite, Sunni, Orthodox, Maronite and Protestant communities. It was a great sign of trust and support that he came all the way from Tripoli to the high Sunni mountains for this occasion.

Lebanon has been hit by a triple crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic came only on top of  political turmoil at home and in neighbouring Syria and a dramatic economic meltdown with more than 400% inflation per year. The needs are enormous and we need your help for keeping our class rooms open, both virtually and in real life. We started collecting used tablets and laptop computers to facilitate distant learning in this academic year. Lebanese schools have finally adapted to the Covid-19 pandemic with online classes, but almost none of the Syrian refugee children has access to electronic devices and affordable internet.

The biggest part of our budget is dedicated to education. In the school-year 2019-20, we opened a third informal camp school in vicinity of Kousha and we could maintain daily educational classes for more than 250 children in four different locations of the Akkar Governorate. In 2019, we spent more than €100,000 for our Educational Programme, also thanks to a grant we received from SlovakAid. In this year, like in the past, we are relying exclusively on private small donations to bring the children we serve through the Covid Winter. It is the start of our 8th school year and there has not been one school day without classes at our Peace Centre.

Our aim is to raise €20,000 by the end of this year 2020 to help refugee students through the Covid Winter. With this amount, we can provide daily education to more than 300 students over four months in all four locations we serve in the North of Lebanon: at the Peace Centre Bkarzla, at the informal camp school in Kousha and at the outreach centres in Michmich and Rahbe. We are counting on your help.

You can make a donation from all over the world using the "Donate" buttons on our website. We make the pledge that all donations with the special mention "Covid Winter" will be used exclusively for this campaign. Please contact us if you prefer to make a bank transfer or if you have any other question!

The pandemic of the new corona virus has severe effects on the refugee camps in the north of Lebanon. Though none of the families we serve has been infected, the total lockdown of the country is a heavy burden. Most Syrian refugees are earning a living as daily labourer, but even the black market is shut down nowadays. And the cash assistance from the UN is only $27 per month for about half of all refugee families - not enough to still the hunger if you also have to pay rent.

We have been urged by the families we serve to provide basic assistance to survive the crisis. Such form of aid is not our usual approach, as we favour to support the self-reliance of communities. But in these special times, it is literally about the daily bread. We started distributing bread baskets in the refugee camps of Akkar and we wish to extend the emergency response to poor Lebanese. $1 per day can make the difference to nourish a family. We call upon your generosity to help.

Our goal is to distribute daily bread baskets at least to the 120 families of our students until the end of the lockdown. That would cost us a bit more than $2,500 in one month. We aim at raising $4,000 with this special fundraiser for also providing one iftar meal to each family during the Holy Month of Ramadhan that is starting around 22 April. The more we receive, the more we can give.

For supporting this emergency action, please donate here to one of our accounts and mention "Daily Bread" in the subject line of your transfer!

For more than two months, the Lebanese people are in the streets. The whole country is blocked and more than a quarter of the entire population joined the protests against the ruling class of politicians. We have seen many protests in Beirut over the last years, but never it spread to all regions of the country. All banks, schools and universities have been closed for several weeks and most highways are blocked. The demonstrations have remained peaceful over the first weeks but some of the ruling parties have recently tried to stir up sectarian hatred.

The whole approach of Relief & Reconciliation is put to a test in this tense situation. We have united all communities in Akkar, the poorest region of Lebanon, around our cause: the future of the youth. We have managed to enrol more than 1,200 Syrian refugees into public schools. And also in this seventh school year since we started operations, we managed to keep our classes running. So far, more than 150 students are attending our daily homework help sessions and basic literacy and numeracy classes. We finished the last school year 2018/19 with more than 300 students, also thanks to a grant of SlovakAid. We want to get there again this year.

In this new school year, we started a third informal camp school in the vicinity of Kousha, Akkar. Like in the first two camp schools in Sahl Miniarah and Tell Aabbas, the daily classes are run by Syrian teachers. We managed to enrol all kids of the camp and the neighbouring collective shelters into public schools. But many of these kids have never hold a pencil in their life. They need much support for being able to cope with the Lebanese curriculum, which is partly taught in French. There are still thousands of Syrian students in our area out of school. EUR 25 per month are enough to provide daily homework help and basic alphabetisation classes to one child.

The war in Syria is far from being over. For the last 4 months, the Idlib Governorate in the North-West of Syria has been the target of daily bombings by the Syrian regime and its Russian ally. With all borders closed around the country, Idlib was the last safe zone for many Syrians who were fleeing the persecution of the regime. More than 3 million IDPs (internally displaced persons) are stranded here. Our Syrian branch, the Levantine Relief Network, has been working in Idlib for more than four years.

Today, an urgent call for help reached us from Barkush, next to the Turkish border. 40,000 displaced persons have arrived over the last weeks, mainly from Khan Shaykhun. With the help of some local friends, they could built provisional tents and shelters. But there is no help to nourish the children and maintain basic hygiene. We are calling upon your generosity to deliver emergency kits and food baskets to the families stranded in Barkush. Please click on the "Donate" button to make a contribution and please note "Idlib" in the subject line! You will find more details below if you click on the "Read more" link.

The project will be conducted in Al Saadyeh village that is subordinate to Darkush at the Syrian-Turkish border. The area is now safe due to its proximity from the Turkish border and the inability of the Syrian regime to conduct any war there in order to avoid any war with Turkey. Our project will include the following activities:

The purchase and the distribution of these goods will be carried out by trusted volunteers of the Levantine Relief Network. The volunteers will apply a unique code to each kit or basket, which is connected to one specific family. Photos and videos will be taken of all kits and baskets, showing the ID number and proofing the hand-over to families in needs without revealing their faces.

You can make a donation from any place in the world by using the bank details the PayPal account of R&R International indicated in the Donate Now section. We give the guarantee that 100% of your donation will go to the families in need if you indicate "Idlib" in the subject line of your donation. We will cover transaction costs from our general budget. If you donate more than $50, we can add a specific message from you to the kit or basket that you are funding. Please use the contact form on our website if you wish to add such a message!