Annual Report 2015 International Group for Humanitarian Besme Assistance Telefax +961 1 339116 Email [email protected] website www.besme-int.org Ashrafieh, Gibran Tweiny Square - Area 28 Mar Maroun St. no 70, 311 Saifi bldg - 3rd floor INDEX PREFACE I. INTRODUCTION - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 II. BESME ACTIVITIES IN 2015 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3 A. Besme Opening Ceremony - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3 B. Besme Support for Empowerment - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4 i. Empowerment for University Students - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4 ii. Women Empowerment - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 5 C. Besme Support for Education - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7 i. Besme Study on the Quality of The Living - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7 ii. Besme as the Representative of the Near East University and the University of Kyrenia - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9 iii. Besme Partnership with the Lebanese International University - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 10 D. Besme Support for Health - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 11 i. Distribution of Medical Insurance Cards - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 11 ii. Psychological Support for Palestinian Children and Women - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 13 iii. Distribution of Vitamin D - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15 iv. Support For Medical Care of Pregnant Women - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15 E. Besme Support for Sustainable Development - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 16 i. Besme Community Center - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 16 F. Besme Support for Humanitarian Crises Response - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 18 i. Partnership with Syrian League of Citizenship - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 18 ii. Attendance at International Conference on Yemeni Situation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 18 iii. Besme Support for Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 19 G. Besme Relief - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 21 i. Besme Aid in Hasbaya - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 21 ii. Besme Aid to Ein El Hilweh Camp - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 22 iii. Besme distributed supply boxes for the Ramadan Eid - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 22 H. Visits of Besme - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 23 i. Besme Visit to Wadi Khaled Region - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 23 III. LIST OF ORGANIZATIONS THAT COOPERATE WITH BESME - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 24 PREFACE Bringing together the years of regional and international experience within civil society activities, Besme was settled in Lebanon in September 2014, in order to contribute to the peaceful settlement of regional conflicts in Middle East. Through a route, which is full of difficulties, we managed to leave the year of 2015 behind, with successful and effective projects. We reckon 2015 as a year of investment for Besme. Reinvigorating the individual connections of management team at national, regional and international levels, we assume that a great step forward was taken for future. In the road of achieving something good for humanitarian causes, we believe that our courageous steps will be supported more in 2015. In addition to other civil society actions taken by Besme, with the construction of a community center in South Lebanon, Besme has taken the plunge for the benefit of the people in the south. Besides, Besme intends to help meeting the challenges of local people and refugees at the borderline from South to North Lebanon, including all regions. We aim at carrying smiles to the faces, happiness and joy to the hearts of those who are deprived from them. Besme will be working harder in 2016, in order to reach more people in need. To this end the research project, concerning the quality of living in Beirut will lead our way in Lebanon. Furthermore, in addition to our involvement in Yemen and Syria, we are planning to be more active in regional countries with conflicts or with the risk of armed struggle. We are proud to present you the annual report of Besme, which includes all the activities covered by the company in a short span of a year after its birth. We’d like to thank our local, national and international partner organizations, who we mainly rely on while executing an activity, which is not an easy task to finalize without cooperation. Yours sincerely. Gulshan Saghlam General Manager Besme Co. Besme | Annual Report 2015 I. INTRODUCTION OF BESME i. Who We Are Besme is a non-profit company that abides by the principles of an NGO and independent of any governmental, political or religious affiliation. It is operated by a qualified team of professionals who have considerable experience in the humanitarian field in Turkey, Cyprus, Central Asia, and the Arab countries, including Lebanon. Based in Beirut, Besme employs associate experts and consultants working on a project basis. ii. Vision Our vision is to draw smile on people’s faces by improving the quality of human life as we provide people with various kinds of research-based humanitarian assistance. iii. Mission Besme endeavors to respond to humanitarian crises and build resilience through sustainable livelihood and social stability projects. iv. Values At Besme, actions are conducted for the sake of the others. All of our work is based on respect for the inherent worth of all people and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is our guideline. Impartiality We respect a strict political, religious and ethnical impartiality by operating without any discrimination. Moreover Besme staff is well aware of the sensitivity to the moral values, religions, customs, cultures and traditions of the communities it serve. Accountability We take personal pride in being accountable to our partners, supporters and most importantly to the communities we serve. Besme follows the existing framework of the ‘Humanitarian Accountability Partnership’ and ‘Do No Harm Approach’ both referred by the UNDP. Collaboration At Besme we value experience and knowledge, thus we are always seeking to develop partnerships with other organizations implementing similar or complementary projects in our area of intervention. We believe in the necessity to partner and leverage the global strength of the humanitarian community in order to achieve greater goals. v. Scope The main purpose of Besme is to be present in those areas requiring crisis management as a result of natural disasters and armed conflicts. Being involved in crisis management from the preliminary phase onwards, that is, providing relief supplies to people in need, Besme aims to improve the living conditions of communities in conflict-affected regions. Besme believes that fighting poverty in regions of conflict and crisis, whether stemming from an influx of refugees from neighboring countries or created by unstable internal political and economic conditions, should be the main concern of civil society. However, preventing the crisis in regions of conflict and improving the situation after the crisis, also occupy certain place within Besme activities. 1 Besme | Annual Report 2015 Derived from the conventional definition of livelihood, which includes the components of food, water, shelter and clothing, Besme promotes social and cultural means, so as to avoid social exclusion of people below the poverty line. Being aware of the fact that, particularly in the Middle East, social exclusion tends to lead to radicalization of individuals between the ages of 15 and 45, thus increasing the possibility of devoting themselves to certain armed groups on the basis of their religious or ideological beliefs, Besme attaches great importance to the broader concept of sustainable livelihood. To this end, in addition to being prepared for any rapid emergency response, Besme seeks to develop projects related to health care, education and socio-economic development, which, in turn, will also lead to the improved livelihoods of those urgently in need. vii. Target Groups Besme views children, youth and women as its main target groups. In this context, Besme refers to the World Bank's draft document ‘Investing in Children and Youth: A Strategy to Fight Poverty, Reduce Inequality and Promote Human Development’, which defines the age group 0-14 years as children and 15-24 year as youth. viii. Methodology Besme intends to work on effective and sustainable projects. To achieve our goals, we rely on the results of scientific research in order to make the necessary consultation and to generate tailored solutions for basic humanitarian needs. In addition, Besme thoroughly considers all information collected in the field. We are willing to partner with local organizations, such as municipalities and community associations, in order to make the necessary context adaptations, and hence to work on accurate strategies and implement indigenous programs.