Omran - Lebanese Association for Urbanization

Tripoli, the second largest city in Lebanon, suffers from economic marginalization, history of conflict and political instability that have severely affected people's life in the area. Tripoli, was also among the first to host communities of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. The arrival of refugees in 2012 (10 years ago) placed a burden on the deteriorating infrastructure in the city and increased the perception of competition over jobs among the Lebanese, especially those seeking unskilled labor. In the past few years, some families and youth in the city, desperate from their situation, used the same boats that were used by refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea into Europe claiming that they are also Syrian refugees. The lack of economic growth and investment, low job creation as well as brain drain in Tripoli depend on a spectrum of factors, including long term social and political instability, lack of good governance both locally and nationally and the general marginalization of Northern Lebanon. Nowadays, the whole country is passing through a critical socio-economic situation which triggered the October 17th (2019) uprising across Lebanon. Tripoli played a major role in this uprising, but the city is also severely impacted by the situation. With the currency devaluation of over 90% along with capital controls from banks on both individual and business depositors. On top of this challenging situation, in March 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic hit Lebanon, leading to a government enforced lockdown of the country, asking every person to stay home for personal safety. The lockdown directly affected the community on all levels, especially the small business owners and the daily workers, those who can't afford to live without working daily. In this context, Omran has emerged to work on improving the livability of the city through collaborative sustainable initiatives.