The Lebanese Association for Scientific Research (LASeR), a local stakeholder of the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) programme, has set up an innovative project in Tripoli city. Nour Space (Masahet Nour) is a social space and a co-working and innovation hub for young people. In this Q&A, Sana and Ragheb (two young researchers for GAGE) and Sally Youssef (GAGE Qualitative Research Coordinator) talk about how an innovative project is providing a space for young people to meet and work, and to face the challenges of everyday life in Lebanon, as well as the importance of educational support, especially at the tertiary level.
Q. What is LASeR and what type of programming does it provide for young people?
Programme Coordinator, LASeR
The Lebanese Association for Scientific Research (LASeR), a non-profit organisation, was founded in Tripoli in 2009 by 40 university professors who wanted to give more young people access to university. LASeR offers scholarships, interest-free loans, and institutional support for universities and schools. It creates linkages to the job market through hands-on trainings and workshops.
Q. How does LASeR’s work intersect with GAGE’s participatory research with young people?
Programme Coordinator, LASeR
We at LASeR are seeking a brighter future for youth – that’s why we’re investing our efforts in projects and programmes to help them fulfil their dreams. GAGE shares the same mission – exploring what strategies are most effective in transforming young people’s lives at specific junctures in adolescence.
Q. Why are scholarship programmes important for young people in Lebanon?
Sana, GAGE young researcher
Many majors are not offered at the public university and are only available at private universities, which are very expensive. There are also few scholarship opportunities available. Most are granted by universities, which usually require students to have very high grades, and most scholarships only cover up to 50% of the university fees. Most students do not have high grades or the means to cover the other 50% fees on top of other costs such as accommodation and food.
Scholarship programmes like the one provided by LASeR can be life-changing. It means young people can study a major of their choice and achieve their ambitions. In Lebanon, education at the public university is becoming more and more challenging due to teachers’ strikes and university closures, which have increased following the crisis, making university education near impossible for this generation.
Ragheb, GAGE young researcher
When I wanted to apply to university, I searched for scholarships but couldn’t find any. I had to study at the public university… I had no other option. In many majors, especially science, the public university caps the number of students accepted into majors such as medicine.
Scholarship programmes are very important, because many young people have skills and ambitions of majoring in a subject they like, but because of their financial situation, they can’t afford private university fees. This is especially since the economic crisis in Lebanon (since 2019). Such programmes can provide young people with the opportunity to do what they love and reach the level they aspire to, and eventually to positively contribute to their community.
Sally, GAGE Qualitative Research Coordinator
Throughout our research in Lebanon, we’ve seen how financial difficulties and lack of financial support have prevented many young people continuing their education and working to achieve their ambitions. During the recent unprecedented economic crisis, many young people either did not enrol in university or dropped out due to the financial pressures on them and their families.
Scholarship opportunities are few, and young people are usually not aware of those that do exist. As such, LASeR’s focus on providing financial and other support to help young people achieve their educational ambitions is vital.
Q. How does LASeR contribute to addressing young people’s challenges and to positive change for young people?
Programme Coordinator, LASeR
LASeR promotes research and employment opportunities for graduate students. As well as empowering graduates to study, pursue and find solutions to societal problems, LASeR aims to change the social dynamics of Lebanese society by challenging the monopoly and centralisation of the education system.
Q. Why are participatory research programmes like GAGE important for positive change for young people, especially vulnerable adolescents?
Programme Coordinator, LASeR
Our philosophy is that education and research are tools that can develop and revive society, and change people’s lives. By supporting education and research, we’re providing young people with the power to align with the accelerated changes the world is going through. We believe that GAGE’s research aligns with our philosophy of change.
Q. Do young girls face particular challenges to their education that scholarships can help alleviate?
Sana, GAGE young researcher
We face many challenges to education, especially since the crisis, with our financial situation getting worse every day and the education sector (especially the public sector) crumbling. We face additional stress due to the increasing lack of security and safety… Fearing being killed by a stray bullet or fearing a war with Israel adds to our stresses and our ability to study and work to achieve our dreams… Girls face more fears due to increase in harassment, especially on the streets…
There are also many familial and social pressures on girls that make things harder. In our community, it is still preferred for girls to seek marriage when they reach adulthood. For this reason, many families do not prioritise girls’ education or skills learning, nor support them to realise their dreams, because they feel that marriage and having children is preferable for girls. So, many girls can’t go to universities or study majors of their choice, especially if their family faces financial difficulties.
Scholarships can help girls, as the family might reconsider their position about their daughter’s education if such an opportunity arises. They might even accept that girls can study in a university far from their home.
Sally, GAGE Qualitative Research Coordinator
In general, Lebanese culture places a higher value on girls’ education, stemming from the cultural link between formal education and decent work for girls.
Gendered norms and restrictions on girls’ choices, freedoms and mobility also prevent many girls from making their own education and career choices. Often, girls must pursue their parents’ choice of major and university, which is often the closest to their home (girls living away from their hometown is still frowned upon within many communities). The economic crisis and the increasing lack of security and safety, as well as the increase in gender-based violence (exacerbated by the crisis), has made it even more challenging for girls to develop their learning capabilities.
Q. What makes Masahet Nour an important space for young people?
Programme Coordinator, LASeR
Nour Space (Masahet Nour) is the first of its kind – a social space and co-working and innovation hub for young people, including students. It will offer a variety of services, combining private and shared offices that can be rented by companies, partners, freelancers and online workers, meeting and training rooms, and a big lounge area where people can meet and network. The space offers a link between local and international companies with young workers from Tripoli, increasing their chances of getting decent jobs.
Q. Why are social spaces important to young people, and especially girls?
Sana, GAGE young researcher
Having social spaces that encourage education, that are safe, and that provide a quiet and calm environment in which we can concentrate on education or work is rare. It is also very hard to find spaces to socialise with our peers, where we can meet people who share the same interests or perspectives. Our GAGE participatory sessions are our only safe place, where we can express our thoughts safely, without being judged, and without being afraid to be misunderstood by others.
In my community, boys enjoy greater freedom (than girls) to express, act, and think independently. The stereotype of the ‘good girl’ is a girl that is shy, does not express her opinions, and accepts everything, which makes it very challenging for girls to express themselves and speak freely. So having such a space, where we can be who we are and who we want to, can be life-changing, especially for us as girls.
Ragheb, GAGE young researcher
Social spaces like Masahet Nour are essential, as they give young people the opportunity to be in a space that can facilitate their education, especially with the electricity and internet cuts… We can go to such spaces and study or work if we have online work or meetings. We can also meet different youth and learn from their diverse experiences and ideas. There are no such spaces in my city, Baalbek, and I think I and many youth are yearning to have such spaces.
Sally, GAGE Qualitative Research Coordinator
Adolescents and young people (particularly girls) have very few opportunities to be involved in social and civic life in Lebanon. Young people are marginalised on every level, increasingly resulting in feelings of despair – especially among girls, who face more challenges to exercising voice and agency. Community-based social spaces such as Masahet Nour offer young people –especially girls – the chance to increase their participation and engagement with peers and others in their communities.
