Lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees relative to its national population (UNHCR 2018 annual report). There are around 3 million displaced people hosted in this country. One out of three has come from Syria as well as hundreds of thousands of long-term Palestinian refugees. Lots of them are jobless and suffer from precarious situations as well as huge debt.
Techfugees has had local contacts there since a while and decided to formalize its commitment thanks to Harout taking the lead of a Chapter there.
Interview 🎙
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Techfugees: Could you please introduce yourself and your team to the Techfugees community?
Harout: So far, I am the only member in the team! I am an IT and data professional with over 6 years of experience in both private and non-profit sectors. I love technology and would like to contribute to solving the employment challenges faced by refugees and displaced people in Lebanon and beyond.
How did you hear about Techfugees?
I had an idea so I was looking for available solutions online and I came upon Techfugees!
Which are the displaced people’s main needs in your country?
Employment! That’s a piece of luck: employment is one of the five priority areas of work of Techfugees as well as health, education, information and social inclusion.
What are your projects for the next days, weeks and months?
For the upcoming period of time, Techfugees Lebanon will work on a study about work habits of refugees in Lebanon and especially on the remote opportunities. Thanks to this first step of mapping and analysis, we will know the available solutions and main challenges before starting to develop our own solutions through events and programmes.
🗞 Techfugees x Taqadam to provide remote work in AI to refugees in the Middle-East
With which kind of organization (tech, NGOs, universities, officials,…) do you plan to partner with?
We are planning to partner with any parties that have developed tech solutions aimed at refugees and of course directly with Syrian and Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, especially the youth and university students and graduates.
How can the Techfugees community help you? What are you looking for now?
The Techfugees community can help by providing us with examples of tech-based work solutions for refugees globally or locally in Lebanon and by introducing us to the teams behind these projects.
Are you interested in volunteering your skills within Techfugees Lebanon’ chapter?
Please, fill in this form 🙋♀️
Are you running a tech solution aimed at improving refugees employment?
Get in touch with Harout on Facebook or Twitter and take part in this first-step study 📊
📇Harout Mardirossian, Beirut
Originally Syrian, living in Lebanon for almost 7 years, Harout is an IT and data professional with over 6 years of experience in both private and non-profit sectors. He loves to solve problems using technology, especially for refugees so Techfugees feels like home for him!
Learn more about Harout on LinkedIn!
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