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Please be informed that UNHCR’s National Call Center is closing at 12:00 PM on Tuesday 9 April, and will be closed on Wednesday 10 April for Eid el Fitr Holiday.

Each year, UNHCR and key actors conducts structured dialogue—Participatory Assessments (PA)—with women, men, boys and girls of diverse backgrounds to understand the risks they face and to seek their suggested solutions. The outcomes are intended to inform UNHCR programmes and activities.

Between November and December 2023, UNHCR Lebanon and eight partners engaged 200 refugees in 22 focus group discussions and two semi-structured interviews. The 2023 PA centers on community participation, self-help, and self-management, with the aim to understand how refugees organize themselves (as individuals and groups) and barriers (and opportunities) to address priority issues.

Check out this report for the key findings from the 2023-2024 Participatory Assessment.

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If you receive cash assistance from UNHCR or WFP, you can now withdraw your assistance from 21 new BoB Finance branches (2 in Bekaa, 2 in BML, 5 in the South & 12 in the North).

Click this link to know how to find the nearest cash withdrawal points.

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The Diálogo Intercultural Mexicano, A. C. (DIME) invites Syrian refugees and asylum seekers in Lebanon to apply for the Habesha Protection Scholarship for the pursuit ofbachelor or master degrees in Mexico.

🔍To be considered, applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Be a Syrian national residing in Lebanon,
• Be known to UNHCR, meaning they must hold a UNHCR ID or barcode,
• Be between the ages of 18 and 23 for bachelor’s degrees and 22 to 27 for master degrees.
• Have completed high school (upper secondary) in the country of origin or the first country of asylum,
• Be single,
• Be self-reliant, mature, and suitable for integration into Mexican society.

📅 Deadline for submission of applications: 5 April 2024.

📌Interested applicants can start their application through this portal and find more information on the Program through the following brochure.

📩 Apply today for a brighter future!

For trusted sources of information on services and assistance in Lebanon, please check the UNHCR Help Lebanon website.

UNHCR is not directly affiliated with this opportunity and does not administer applications or oversee admission processes.

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The American University of Beirut (AUB) invites youth from Lebanon and the African continent to apply for its Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, which grants successful applications a full scholarship to pursue a Master’s degree of their choice at the AUB during the 2024/25 academic year. Female and refugee youth are strongly encouraged to apply. Check this link to see the list of available programs.

🔍To be considered, applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Be 35 years old or under at the time of applying,
• Demonstrate good academic records in their previous degree,
• Show leadership potential and commitment to community service,
• Demonstrate readiness for university studies in English by April 21, 2024.

📅 Deadline for submission of applications: Thursday 14 March 2024.

 📌Interested applicants can start their application through this portal and find more information on the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Website, and through the following brochure.

📩 Apply today for a brighter future!

For trusted sources of information on services and assistance in Lebanon, please check the UNHCR Help Lebanon website at help.unhcr.org/lebanon.

UNHCR is not directly affiliated with this opportunity and does not administer applications or oversee admission processes.

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• Irregular movements by sea usually take place in overcrowded and unsafe boats. In the last 2 years, over 250 individuals, including children, went missing or died while attempting to leave Lebanon by sea. Several boats needed to be rescued at sea, including after engine failures or running out of fuel. Many others were stopped or intercepted at sea by authorities, and later detained or returned to Lebanon against their will and deported to their country of origin.

• If you are considering irregular movement by land, know that getting a visa to a country bordering the EU and reaching that country does not guarantee access to the EU. EU countries require specific and separate visas to enter. Without one, you may be stuck without safe options. If you get stranded somewhere, help or rescue may be impossible!

What you are about to watch, is based on the personal testimonies of a family that attempted an irregular sea journey:

For more information on risks associated with irregular journeys by sea or land, please visit the Risks of Irregular Travel on the UNHCR Lebanon HELP website.

If you are thinking of embarking on an irregular journey, consider reaching out to UNHCR for confidential counseling at 📞04726111. Remember that all services and assistance by UNHCR and its partners are free of charge.

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Before deciding to embark on an irregular journey from Lebanon, consider the serious risks involved for you and your family. Smugglers often do not tell the truth about the many risks in the journey. They are motivated by profit and do not care about your safety. 

• If in doubt about an offer you hear about or see on social media or untrusted websites: pause, reflect, and try to verify.
• Know that even if you manage to reach another country, you might be returned to Lebanon or your country of origin if you do not have a visa. This also applies if you initially travelled legally to another country.
• Once you leave Lebanon, you may be issued with a re-entry ban and deported when returned to Lebanon. 

What you are about to watch, is based on the personal testimony of a man who lost everything at the hands of smugglers.

For more information on risks associated with irregular journeys by sea or land, please visit the Risks of Irregular Travel on the UNHCR Lebanon HELP website.

If you are thinking of embarking on an irregular journey, consider reaching out to UNHCR for confidential counseling at 📞04726111. Remember that all services and assistance by UNHCR and its partners are free of charge.

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The Khadamaty machines will undergo maintenance until mid-March.   

Before you go to a Khadamaty machine, please check whether the machine is functioning or out of service through the dedicated page on the HELP Lebanon website or by calling the community center hosting the machine.

For more information on Khadamaty, check out the Khadamaty page on the UNHCR HELP Lebanon website.

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Fraudsters and smugglers pretending to work for UNHCR are promising resettlement and offering to facilitate irregular journeys from Lebanon. They are sharing fake success stories of refugees who have reached Canada, Australia and other European countries. These are scams!

UNHCR does not have an official TikTok account.

If in doubt about an offer you hear about or see on social media or untrusted websites: pause, reflect, and try to verify.

Remember if anyone asks you for money in return for resettlement, you can be sure that they are trying to deceive you for their own profit. All services and assistance by UNHCR and its partners including resettlement are always free of charge!

For trusted information on resettlement and the risks associated with irregular journeys by sea or land, visit the main page of the UNHCR Lebanon HELP website (see the ‘Resettlement’ and ‘Risks of Irregular Travel’ pages).

If you have been a victim of fraud or exploitation, or if you suspect fraud, please report it to UNHCR.

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If you are a Syrian living in Lebanon currently enrolled in grade 10 or 11, you can now apply for AMIDEAST’s Safar-Ibiary Syrian College Preparation Program and win a scholarship to pursue an undergraduate degree at an American college or university.

🔍To be considered, you must have academic transcripts with a minimum score of 16/20 or 80/100 for each of the last three academic years.

📅 Deadline for submission of applications: Friday 15 March 2024.

📌 For more information about the program including eligibility criteria and required documents, please check this flyer.

📩 Apply today for a brighter future!

For trusted sources of information on services and assistance in Lebanon, please check the UNHCR Help Lebanon website.