Strengthening Youth Resilience in Lebanon: A Trauma-Informed Approach

Case Study

In the complex socio-economic and political landscape of Lebanon, youth face immense challenges. In dealing with multifaceted crises, mental health and education are two of the areas that suffer disproportionately under the pressures of the current context. Recognizing this, DIGNITY – Danish Institute Against Torture, in partnership with Restart Center and First Step Together Association (FISTA), launched a transformative pilot project aimed at integrating mental health support into educational systems and curricula for Lebanese and refugee youth. Funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, this two-year initiative not only addressed pressing mental health needs but also set the stage for broader systemic change.

Context and Challenges

Lebanon’s compounded crises—economic collapse, political instability, and the long-term impact of hosting a large refugee population, all compounded by the outbreak of war—have significantly strained mental health resources. Youth, in particular, bear the brunt of this burden, with limited access to services and a heightened risk of trauma-related disorders such as PTSD and depression. The Lebanese education system is ill-equipped to support youth in navigating such complex challenges outside the classroom, despite the impacts of mental distress on learning, knowledge retention, and behavior towards fellow students and school staff.

In answer to these seemingly insurmountable hurdles, the project consortium recognized an urgent need for a contextualized, trauma-informed approach to providing education interwoven with mental health and psychological support. The program was uniquely designed to address both the immediate mental health needs of youth and the structural barriers within schools and communities that hinder educational access and success.

Key Interventions

The project adopted a multi-faceted approach, engaging youth, educators, caregivers, and community stakeholders:

Mental Health Services:

Over 898 youth benefited from tailored individual and MHPSS and group therapy sessions, addressing issues such as trauma, anxiety, and depression. Additional services, provided under a flexible approach to meet the needs of each community served, included speech therapy, psychomotor support, access to general practitioners and medical specialists, and resilience-building activities, delivered by multidisciplinary teams.

Capacity Building:

More than 275 educators and frontline workers were trained in trauma-informed practices. These sessions enhanced their ability to identify and address mental health challenges among students, creating a supportive educational environment.
Caregivers participated in awareness sessions, fostering a deeper understanding of their children’s mental health needs and reducing stigma.

Community Engagement:

Community-driven initiatives, such as the establishment of referral focal points in schools, helped embed mental health awareness into local institutions.
Partnerships with NGOs and local health centers expanded the reach of services, addressing broader community needs.

Innovative Adjustments:

Recognizing the need for flexibility, the program expanded its scope to include out-of-school youth and additional age groups, as well as providing MHPSS and facilitating access to general medical services, as was needed most in the community. This adaptability ensured that interventions remained relevant despite Lebanon’s rapidly evolving crises.

Against this backdrop, Catalystas Consulting was commissioned to conduct a final evaluation of the program, with a learning lens and forward-thinking, solutions oriented approach to building on this pilot for future interventions.

Evaluation Methodology

The evaluation process for this project was structured to ensure a comprehensive assessment of its impact, relevance, coherence, and efficiency. Our team, led by Lebanese MHPSS specialists Noura Amkieh and Hussein Kleit, with remote support from Evaluation Expert Aviva Stein, employed a participatory and trauma-informed approach, incorporating data collection methods designed to align with the project’s context and objectives.

Utilizing a mixed methods approach of qualitative and quantitative data collection, our team conducted Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), alongside desk review of project documentation. These tools were tailored to gather insights from diverse stakeholders, including project staff, teachers, therapists, caregivers, and advisory groups. Our Impact Assessment methodology, refined from an original approach of combining Impact Assessment and Contribution Analysis, prioritized qualitative data to explore behavioral and systemic changes beyond numerical metrics.

Trauma-informed practices were central to the evaluation, ensuring a safe and respectful environment for participants. This included obtaining informed consent, using sensitive questioning techniques, and providing access to mental health resources for participants. The evaluation team prioritized emotional well-being by offering participants access to Lebanon’s national mental health hotline and providing educational resources for youth in need of psychological support. Therapists and educational psychologists were also engaged to assist participants when necessary.

The volatile socio-political environment in Lebanon, coupled with unforeseen events during the evaluation period, necessitated significant adaptations to the evaluation process. As a team with a long history of working in complex and rapidly changing environments, including conflict zones, we were ready to shift our approach as needed, working in close communication with the consortium to keep them informed, and ensure everyone’s safety to the utmost degree.

In response to the escalation of armed conflict in late 2023, which significantly disrupted planned in-person data collection activities, our experts transitioned to online interviews and FGDs to prioritize the safety of participants and evaluators. Concurrently, due to delays in delivery of anticipated research results, we adapted the scope of the evaluation, focusing more heavily on existing reports and data previously gathered by the partners, as well as emphasizing the importance of primary data collection with teachers, school staff, caregivers, and counselors. Random and purposeful sampling strategies were combined to ensure representation across stakeholder groups, although challenges were faced in accessing high level government and multilateral institutional actors.

Key Results

Ultimately, despite the formidable context, our team was able to produce a robust final report, highlighting the key findings on successes, challenges, and opportunities for improvement, culminating in a set of highly actionable recommendations with a clear pathway for implementation. Our flexibility as a team allowed us to pivot as needed as the situation evolved, and our prioritization of consistent and clear communication – both internally among our team, and with the DIGNITY consortium partners – facilitated rapid shifting and adaptation, without having any unpleasant surprises emerge in the final stage.

While the consortium and the communities they served faced – and continue to face – numerous hurdles in this intense conflict-affected environment, the project successfully navigated the complexities of the Lebanese context, delivering meaningful, trauma-informed, and context-sensitive interventions. Prioritizing flexibility and community-driven adaptations, pivot activities based on real-time feedback and changing circumstances proved essential, with the expansion of services to meet immediate community needs ensuring continued relevance and impact. In the same vein, regular engagement with beneficiaries and stakeholders helped maintain trust, even during times of upheaval, underscoring the importance of transparent and consistent communication. While this project had as a relatively short timeline of only two years, and there remains much work to be done at the systemic level to integrate a robust MHPSS model into the Lebanese education system, this was a strong foundational step, and Catalystas is confident in the DIGNITY consortium’s ability to continue to provide highly effective and relevant support to Lebanese youth and their communities.