With the ceasefire in Lebanon, we feel deep relief and renewed hope for peace. While the road to recovery is just beginning, nafda remains committed to supporting students, teachers, and families through education and wellbeing initiatives. The war’s challenges have left lasting scars. This holiday season, we reflect on our community’s strength and resolve to rebuild a brighter, more peaceful Lebanon together. Beyond emergency response, we’ll continue advancing social justice, good governance, and engaged citizenship.
As the new year approaches, we asked students from nafda’s schools, “What are your hopes and dreams for 2025?” Watch the video to hear their inspiring and heartfelt messages.
Emergency Response Plan
1. Citizenship and Community Building
As part of nafda’s crisis response plan, a trust-building intervention was launched to foster peace and solidarity between students from different communities. Through non-competitive games, collaborative tasks, and community initiatives, the program promotes mutual understanding and intergroup cooperation. By focusing on shared goals, these activities strengthen relationships and lay the groundwork for long-term community cohesion and sustainable peacebuilding.
The intervention reached over 880 participants across 5 locations, impacting school students, displaced children, and trained teachers and volunteers across the country. In the coming months, we will be expanding these activities across more regions based on expressed needs.
“Each drawing by the children of the village and the forcibly displaced community seamlessly merged into a larger whole, powerfully symbolizing solidarity, unity, and love.The dreams of our students and the forcibly displaced community intertwined, united under the shared roof of home and family.”
2. Mental Health and Wellbeing
Our Psychosocial Support (PSS) initiatives help children in Lebanon build emotional resilience through self-expression, stress reduction, and problem-solving activities. Techniques like breathing exercises and music help regulate emotions, while confidence-building activities highlight each child’s strengths.These initiatives are being implemented in schools across Lebanon: in Saida, Akkar, Mount Lebanon, Aley, and Chouf.
As we continue to expand our reach given the request for support, we’re also conducting workshops for teachers and principals on Psychological First Aid, mindfulness, stress management, and creating safe spaces for students.
In November, we hosted a webinar on emergency pedagogy. Featuring Dr. Bernd Ruf and Dr. Rim Mouawad, the discussion provided practical strategies for creating resilient learning environments and promoting children’s mental health.
3. Sustaining Education
To address the long-term educational and social challenges intensified by war, one key initiative focuses on building teachers’ capacity to create safe and adaptive learning environments. This involves equipping educators with practical strategies to support students’ diverse academic and emotional needs while fostering empathy within the classroom.
Another initiative was the webinar, “National Reconciliation: What Kind of Education Is Needed?” led by Dr. Wadiaa Khoury, founder of Teachers as Agents of Social Change. This session highlighted education’s vital role in promoting reconciliation and social cohesion. Watch the full discussion here.
In collaboration with Thaki, several nafda schools have also benefited from laptops preloaded with offline-accessible educational and developmental content, empowering students with valuable resources for growth and learning.
Expanding School Transformation
Projects through New Partnerships
New project launch: Ed’innov
In partnership with SmartESA, we have begun the preparatory phase of The Ed’Innov Project, financed by the French Foreign Office and supported by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE).The goal is to accompany 20 schools as they work towards their vision of the “School of the Future.” They will be modernizing teaching methods, streamlining management, partnering with startups and innovators to and foster a strong ecosystem around schools.
nafda supports the implementation process by coaching schools and assisting them in defining their vision, creating action plans, and implementing projects collaboratively.
Stay tuned for more updates on our school transformation initiatives and the new themes we’re developing in response to the needs of school communities!
As the year comes to a close, we are excited to share our 2023-2024 Annual Report with you. It reflects not only our achievements but also inspires optimism as we plan ahead, charting a path beyond emergency response work toward sustainable development for youth and communities in Lebanon.