Saving schools in Lebanon: Why do children need working toilets and solar panels?
Lebanon is in a deep crisis that has plunged more than 80 % of its population into poverty. Public schools in the vulnerable areas of Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel are overburdened, neglected and often in a state of disrepair. Doors are missing, roofs leak, and particularly non-functioning and segregated toilets threaten the dignity and attendance of adolescent girls. Schools have become places of insecurity, not safe learning.
With the REWASH (Reconstruction of Schools and Improving Access to Sanitation and Hygiene) project, we are responding directly to these needs. Our goal is to create a safe and dignified environment for 4,054 vulnerable students, including girls and students with special needs.
Our intervention includes:
- Reconstruction of 12 schools: We will repair classrooms, windows and doors, and provide wheelchair access.
- New toilets: we will renovate sanitation facilities in 9 schools, building gender-segregated toilets and installing sinks and water filters.
- Sustainable energy: we will install solar panels in 6 schools. This will stabilise the electricity supply and reduce dependence on expensive and polluting fuel.
- Hygiene habits: we organize trainings for 1,000 children and distribute hygiene kits that include menstrual supplies for girls.
We are implementing the project with our long-time partner, ADRA Lebanon, with whom we have extensive experience in infrastructure rehabilitation and WASH projects directly in the Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel regions.
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Project SAMRS/2025/HUM/1/2 - Reconstruction of schools and improvement of WASH infrastructure for vulnerable students in Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel (abbreviated: REWASH), lasting from 1.10.2025 to 31.12.2026, is financed from Official development assistance of the Slovak Republic.
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