Meeting the needs of populations in great difficulty effectively and quickly

In order to respond to emergency situations for populations in great difficulty, the IECD has developed several certified short training courses lasting 2 to 6 months, in particular in Lebanon and Syria. The fields of training covered meet the demand in buoyant employment sectors.

The IECD’s courses leading to a qualification encourage a rapid acquisition  of technical skills required for jobs where there is a lot of potential, in dynamic sectors of the economy such as construction, industry, sales, services, care, etc.. At the same time, practical training is offered thanks to partnerships with local companies. In addition to technical training the IECD offer support to these young people in order to help them with their plans for their private lives and for their careers. We do this with socioeducational activities, psychosocial support and activities based on the acquisition of key skills. These solutions are complementary to the part of the training course which focuses on helping these young people to get their qualification.

In Syria a mobile unit was set up in order to “take” the training courses and the accompanying activities to young people who live in isolated regions. In Lebanon a new model for training was implemented: the ‘school for heritage trades’. 26 young apprentices, including 6 women, spent 9 months getting training on site in a traditional Beirut house. They had the choice between 3 new forms of specialism: timber framing, traditional whitewash and Arabic carpentry.