A Nahr al-Bared center for children and adolescents that was partially destroyed in 2007 has been inaugurated at the Palestinian refugee camp.
The multifunctional center was rebuilt as part of a project funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the non-governmental organization Terre des Hommes-Italy.
Mauro Clerici, project manager for Terre des Hommes-Italy, said the center would offer “an intense program of learning opportunities for low performance pupils, such as supportive lessons and recreational psychosocial activities ... involving the entire community and aimed at empowering the dialogue between Lebanese and Palestinians.”
Among those attending Wednesday’s ceremony were Italian Ambassador to Lebanon Giuseppe Morabito, UNRWA Lebanon Director Ann Dismorr, Khaldoun Sharif, president of the Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee, and Mawan Abdel-Al, representative of the Palestinian Embassy.
Nahr al-Bared was largely destroyed in 2007 when the Lebanese Army laid siege to the camp to root out Islamist militants from Fatah al-Islam.
Morabito stressed that reconstruction was not only a material process: “It is the socioeconomic balance that needs to be rebuilt; it is the prospect of a future and concrete opportunities for youth that need to be offered again.”
He added that following a recent visit to the Shatila refugee camp, he was “shocked by the harsh conditions” of Palestinian refugees who had fled Syria, but was impressed by how residents have received them.
