Basmeh & Zeitooneh

Basmeh & Zeitooneh (B&Z) is a Syrian organisation founded by Syrian refugees themselves, and many of whose staff are refugees themselves. As a “Refugee-Led Organisation” (RLO), it works at all levels to ensure that refugees are given a central place at the table where decisions about their future are made. B&Z is active throughout the region and helps Syrians who fled the war in their country. The organisation’s emergency aid is intended to provide refugees with the basics, but B&Z prefers to go even further. That is why the organisation encourages Syrians to take an active role in their community. It organises education, sets up cultural activities and offers vocational training. B&Z also supports smaller, refugee-led organisations and initiatives.

All of this work is organised locally, through a network of community centres. In addition, B&Z also looks at the bigger picture and the organisation takes a seat at the table with local, European and international authorities. B&Z works, through the Refugee Protection Watch coalition (where it, like 11.11.11 part of) for better protection of refugees who are staying in Lebanon or have returned to Syria. B&Z itself is also a founding member of the “Resourcing Refugee Leadership Initiative”, which advocates for more direct support to organizations led by refugees. By, for and of refugees, in short.

B&Z is also one of the three local partners in the DGD Lebanon programme that 11.11.11, with the support of the federal government, will be implemented in the period 2022-2026. This programme aims to promote sustainable solutions for Syrian refugees in Lebanon: better protection and integration in neighbouring countries; the creation of conditions for safe, voluntary and dignified return; and resettlement or other legal access routes to third countries.