What is the problem?

Refugee children in North Lebanon and North Jordan face anxiety, depression, sleeping problems, PTS, anger and aggression, lack of purpose, domestic violence, substance abuse, risk of recruitment, even increasing suicide. Jordanian and Lebanese children suffering from violence at school, at home and on the streets face similar challenges for their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.

When not addressed or transformed longer term, these psycho social consequences can lead to a tendency for self-harm (substance abuse, suicide, self-mutilation, depression) or harm towards others: aggression, violence and crime. With the Syrian crisis in its 7th year, reduced international funds and resources, chronically overstretched services in host countries, we need innovative, scalable and effective methods to provide relief and empowerment and prevent long term consequences.

IAHV's Response

By healing the victimized side of children, we can take away a major driving force of future violence, crime and destructive behavior and effectively break the cycle of violence. Restoring a strong and healthy psycho-social foundation in individuals and communities from a young age is necessary for successful rehabilitation, reintegration of combatants, prevention and transformation of violence / extremism, education and social cohesion in conflict zones.

Project Update:

Jordan

The Jordan part of the project has been completed successfully in August 2018. The project summary is as follows:

• 2 multi-stakeholder meetings
• 8,211 children participated in Stress Relief and Resilience Workshops
• 196 of the most vulnerable children to violent tendency took the intense Trauma-Relief, Healing, Resilience and Human Values Trainings (THRH)
• 68 of the vulnerable children who took THRH graduated from the Youth Anti-Violence and Peace Ambassadors Trainings and became Peace Ambassadors
• 1,326 community and family members participated in Healing, Resilience and Empowerment Training to provide better support for the children
• 300 frontline workers took the training for Personal Resilience, Stress Management and Professional / Self-Care to provide better support for the children
• 60 frontline workers graduated from the Training of Trainers program
• Peace Ambassadors carried out 5 Peace Projects to reduce violence within their communities
• Peace Ambassadors hosted 5 celebration ceremonies to present their peace projects to stakeholders

Lebanon

In Lebanon, a strong basis and good awareness about the project have been created through the implementation of SRR workshops, THRH trainings, HRE and PC for children and communities in the most in need areas of Tripoli.

Through the SRR workshops, 5,000+ children outside schools, in free private schools, governmental and unofficial schools, have learned basic stress relief and resilience techniques. The impact is especially strong in the unofficial Syrian schools, where also parents and teachers learn stress management techniques in the HRE and PC programs to be able to support the children better. Based on the positive results of last year, we have once again received official permission from the Ministry of Education to provide SRR workshops in governmental schools in 2018-2019. Given the political situation and corruption in Lebanon, our team considers this a major achievement in itself.

165 most in need children, including a large group from a youth shelter, have benefited from the THRH training. The very first Peace Ambassadors from different high schools in Tripoli are developing their peacebuilding projects.

Building on these foundational programs, we will focus in Y3 on the capacity building programs YAVAP and ToT, strengthened with tailored mentoring and support for the program participants, to ensure strong sustainability. Through the combination of all project activities in few key areas of Tripoli, we aim to create a strong synergised impact for the respective communities.

As a positive side-effect the project increases awareness about psychosocial support and peacebuilding at the community level. People are inspired by the simple but effective link between wellbeing and inner and outer peace and are inspired to share and spread this further for the benefit of their families and communities. The project is increasing social cohesion between different Jordanian communities, Lebanese communities, Syrian communities, as well as amongst all of them, across generations, religions and social backgrounds.

Project Activities

Workshops and trainings for children and youth:

1) Stress Relief and Resilience workshops (SRR)

A low threshold workshop to address stress, reactivity, and violence, releasing acute and basic stress and fears, improving sleep and providing relief. SSR is a basic IAHV intervention program that can reach a large number of children while still effecting strong individual benefits.

Ages 7-10, 10-14 and 15-18; 3 hour workshops spread over 3 consecutive days

2) Trauma-Relief, Healing, Resilience and Human Values Trainings (THRH)

A more profound training to address trauma, stress and, providing deeper trauma-relief and healing, strengthened resilience, improved learning capacity, strengthened connectedness, human values, positive self- esteem and outlook. Apart from physical and mental health improvements, THRH addresses on a fundamental level the range of emotional, cognitive, behavioral and social problems often experienced by youth.

Ages 7-10, 10-14 and 15-18; 4 days

3) Youth Anti-Violence and Peace Ambassadors Trainings (YAVAP)

Empowers selected youth with potential leadership skills, with the wellbeing, confidence, values, skills and tools to become effective change agents preventing violence and extremism and building
peace on their school campuses and in their communities. YAVAP provides 7 days of hard and soft skills development, focusing on personal development, leadership training and locally informed and
owned peacebuilding strategies.

16-18 years of age; 7 consecutive days

Trainings for teachers, staff, parents and caregivers:

1) Healing, Resilience and Empowerment (HRE)

A short, effective training to release stress, anxiety and worry, and increase coping capacity and
empowerment.

8-12 hours, spread over 3 days

2) Training in personal resilience, stress management and professional/self-care (PC)

A short, effective training to prevent burn-out and improve stress management, personal resilience, wellbeing and performance capacity. In order to support the wellbeing of children, teachers and frontline workers who take care of children on a daily basis in difficult circumstances need to be supported in maintaining their own wellbeing.

8-12 hours, spread over 3 days

3) Trainings of Trainers to build the capacity of local actors (ToT)

An intense capacity building training to train local key teachers and frontline workers in the delivery of Stress Relief and Resilience workshops for children in their schools and communities.

3 days

Ongoing support through follow up sessions, personal support and mentoring.

Peacebuilding Projects & Community Activities.

Please view the Peacebuilding Projects tab on our Feedback page

Selection of Target Areas and Groups

In order to make sure this project benefits the children most at risk and least supported, IAHV consulted key stakeholders in Amman and the refugee camps in Jordan, as well as in Tripoli, Lebanon. Together with representatives of the ministries, municipalities, local and international NGO’s, UN agencies and others, we analysed the driving factors of violence in children’s lives which need to be addressed and looked into which services are already provided and where the gaps exist. Stakeholders expressed that IAHV programs are needed on a big scale, but especially for out of school children, orphans, overstretched frontline workers, and violence affected schools in Tripoli.

Research & Statistics

Jordan

The graphs below show the reduction in depression, anxiety, PTSD, sleeping problems and hopelessness among the THRH and YAVAP participants. In order to more accurately measure the improvement in participant wellbeing, we measured the changes among participants who were symptomatic, ie experiencing significant emotional distress (a score of 1.75 or higher on the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist for Anxiety and Depression or a score of 15 or higher on The Child PTSD Symptom Scale) before beginning the training.

Note: The trainings still improved the wellbeing among participants who were less/not symptomatic; however, the percentage of improvement among those who were symptomatic is greater.

Weighted Graphs

Figure 1

• Participants with scores of greater than 1.75 on Hopkins Symptoms Checklist for Anxiety and Depression are considered symptomatic. These participants are most likely experiencing significant emotional distress.
• Participants experience a 25.92% decrease in anxiety levels and a 25.46% decrease in depression levels upon completing THRH and/or YAVAP trainings.

Figure 2

• Participants with scores of greater than 15 on The Child PTSD Symptom Scale (CPSS) are considered symptomatic. These participants are most likely experiencing significant emotional distress.
• Participants experience a 36.41% decrease in PTSD levels upon completing THRH and/or YAVAP trainings.

Figure 3

• Participants with scores of greater than or equal to 3 on question 17, “feeling hopeless about the future,” in the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist for Anxiety and Depression are considered symptomatic. These participants are most likely experiencing significant emotional distress.
• Participants experience a 44.19% decrease in feeling hopeless about the future upon completing THRH and/or YAVAP trainings.

Figure 4

Note:

• Participants with scores of greater than or equal to 3 on question 16, “falling asleep, staying asleep,” in the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist for Anxiety and Depression are considered symptomatic. These participants are most likely experiencing significant emotional distress.
• Participants experience a 40.61% decrease in falling asleep, staying asleep upon completing THRH and/or YAVAP trainings.

Lebanon THRH

THRH (34 weighted participants)

Weighted considered avg	Anxiety	Depression	PTSD
Pre-Evaluation	2.20	2.20	1.37
Post-Evaluation	1.74	1.69	0.88
% of Improvement	21%	24%	36%

Lebanon YAVAP

YAVAP (14 weighted participants)

Weighted considered avg	Anxiety	Depression	PTSD
Pre-Evaluation	2.05	2.03	1.11
Post-Evaluation	1.46	1.36	0.52
% of Improvement	29%	33%

Jordan PC

The graph depicts the percentage of people who experienced an improvement in their wellbeing. Results from the post-intervention self-assessment forms of 125 PC participants in Jordan.

100% of participants experienced an improvement (lot better or little better) in sleep, 99,2% in communication and dealing with others, 98,4% in energy levels, 97,6% in worry, 96,8% in ability to handle stress, 96% in depression, 96% in anger and loss of temper, and 94,4% in mental clarity and focus. (See graph above - Self-assessment evaluation based on 125 PC participants in Jordan) They reported increased levels of energy during the workday, which helped increase their productivity, tolerance and effectiveness at work.

Lebanon PC

Percentage ratios of improvement in well-being & resilience.

In addition, participants in Lebanon reported a 92% improvement in skills and ability to manage challenging situations and people as well as in skills and ability to handle stress. Participants in Jordan also reported increased levels of energy during the workday, which helped increase their productivity, tolerance and effectiveness at work.

Partners & Feedback

Partners

Co-funded by the European Union

Links
EU Commission: International Cooperation and Development
Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon

Feedback

Partner organisations who had referred their most vulnerable children to the IAHV trainings gave very positive feedback and observed among their children increased self-confidence, restored optimism and hope towards the future, reduced violence, more calmness, increased school participation, and a new sense of togetherness among Jordanian and Syrian children who used to separate themselves before.

The Youth Coordinator from the SOS village informed us that their kids are more confident, calmer, and more hopeful towards their future. The supervisors of the youngest age group were very vocal about their appreciation for the positive energy boost we have instilled in their children. They also observed that earlier the children would separate themselves into groups according to nationality, with the Syrians on one side and the Jordanians on the other. Now they all sit together, sharing stories from their training, playing games, and practising the techniques that were shared with them by our trainers.

Unintended Positive Results

1. IAHV has brought awareness about psychosocial support and peacebuilding to the community level. People are inspired by the simple but effective link between wellbeing and inner and outer peace. They relate to it and are inspired to share and spread this further for the benefit of their families and communities.
2. There is more awareness and readiness among the broad population that there is another way to deal with the stresses of life.
3. Strongly affected people have a renewed sense of self-importance: They realise that they matter as individuals and that it is important to take care of themselves.
4. IAHV is seen as an organization that can be trusted: they do what they say, there are no other interests.

“The way they (IAHV) meet us is different from other organizations”(Partner Organization)

5. Through its way of working, IAHV has instilled hope in many people in a field that has caused and suffered many disillusions.
6. Small stories of forgiveness that make big differences in people’s lives.
7. Innovation has been introduced into traditional cultures, gender barriers and religious objections have been softened.
   • Though the specific culture and machismo in this region make it almost impossible for a man to willingly attend a training of this nature, several female participants spread such strong word of how good they felt after the HRE trainings, that the men in Zaatari Refugee Camp personally requested an HRE Training.
   • Syrian parents in Menshieh in general do not trust to send their children somewhere, except for safe spaces, but with IAHV the parents felt the trust to let their children go to the programs.