BEDAYATI - WALKING EACH OTHER TO MORE INCLUSIVE WORKPLACES AND COMMUNITIES

When we first met Rami, he was neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET). Like many of the youth residing in the informal settlement where he lived in Southern Beirut, Rami was jobless, disengaged and at risk of substance abuse and delinquency.

Being NEET constitutes a substantial cost not only to the individual but also to the community and the economy, with evidence suggesting higher rates of both mental health and addiction problems among NEET youth. Youth like Rami face several barriers to entering the labour market, including a lack of job skills, intergenerational poverty and social exclusion.

Our call to action:

Nearly 60% of youth in Lebanon are either unemployed or not participating in the labor market, with the majority broadly inactive or not seeking work (ILO 2016).

So what can we do to help marginalized youth re-engage with the labor market?

We believe that through the right skills training, access to job networks, and psychosocial support, youth like Rami can break the cycle of intergenerational poverty. At Bedayati, we will seek to do just that, working with our partners with the objective of expanding sustainable and inclusive employment opportunities for marginalized youth in Lebanon.

You can help us widen the circle.

When presented with an employment opportunity, Rami was eager to start straight away. He went to an interview that same afternoon and started work the next day. Rami was employed full-time at Snoubar, a local bakery in Beirut Downtown, and learned how to bake bread, kaak and mana’eesh.

For Karim Tawil, Managing Partner at Snoubar, the choice to place youth like Rami in employment, was due to a feeling of social responsibility. “It’s everyone’s responsibility to incorporate and train marginalized youth for them to become part of the community, instead of ignoring them, which will lead to more violence and ignorance,” he said.

The placement of Rami and other youths from the same informal settlement in employment at Snoubar showed a diversity of outcomes. Rami quit a month in, two other youths have moved into full-time employment, and others from the community came to an initial interview, but did not qualify, or themselves quickly quit due to personal factors, lack of employability skills or substance abuse. This is where we believe initiatives like Bedayati have the potential to make a difference, providing the skills training and personal development support required to enhance the employability of the most disadvantaged youth and to help them develop a stronger work ethic.

Your support will help us set up Bedayati, allowing us to scale up our pilot interventions.

One of the founders - Karim Chedid - is running the Edinburgh half marathon on May 26 for this cause. While he has not committed to a target pace - Scottish hills, no thanks! - we have committed to a monetary target for setting up Bedayati. Every donation, no matter the amount, will help us achieve inclusive employment!

Karim is setting up Bedayati alongside three other like-minded professionals based between Beirut and London. To learn more about Bedayati or to stay updated about our work please email us at: info@bedayati.org