AID grant no. HNE-0360-G-00-3066-00 to the World Rehabilitation Fund, Inc. to provide support for its orphan assistance program in Lebanon

(WRF) to improve orphan care in Lebanon, where 15 years of civil conflict have resulted in a large increase in the number of orphans and street children. WRF will help to (1) develop national policy and administrative structures for orphan care, and (2) develop and upgrade services for orphans. WRF"s activities in the area of policy/administrative development will include: (1) raising awareness within public and private sector institutions and among professionals and the general public of issues relating to the welfare of orphans; (2) upgrading public institutions involved in orphan welfare, particularly the newly formed Ministry of Social Affairs (MSA), through office automation, training, and TA; (3) evaluating different approaches to orphan care and social rehabilitation and integration; (4) creating, in collaboration with the MSA and other institutions, a National Advisory Committee to gradually assume responsibility for orphan welfare and for implementation of the project; (5) upgrading mechanisms for interagency coordination and information exchange; and (6) supporting the development of standards for orphan care, including care for older orphans (age 12 and above) who are often not accepted at orphanages. WRF will also undertake to improve services for orphans. (1) At existing orphanages, WRF will upgrade the skills of teachers, trainers, and supervisors, and modernize curricula and programs. (2) WRF will work to develop alternatives to orphanages -- adoption/foster care for younger (under 12) orphans, and halfway/group homes for older orphans (aged 12-17) -- by reviving fragmented social support systems (e.g., networks of extended families, neighborhoods, and communities), enlisting the participation and support of local agencies, social and philanthropic organizations, business groups, etc., and training a staff of social workers to find adoptive or foster homes for orphans. During the project, WRF aims to establish 20 halfway homes, find and support 50 foster homes, and train 50-120 social workers. (3) Finally, WRF will coordinate with other WRF program and activities to provide disabled orphans with rehabilitative services -- both physical rehabilitation aids (braces, prostheses, hearing aids, etc.) and help for children with learning disabilities.