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Sixteen-year-old Wala’a is haunted by a terrifying memory—being assaulted by a soldier as she fled the war in Syria. One of more than 700,000 refugees now living in Jordan, she struggles to come to terms with the losses and hardships the conflict has inflicted on her and her family. But Wala’a has found a way to tell her story.

One year ago, European states closed their borders along the Western Balkan route and European Union (EU) leaders put in place the EU-Turkey Statement, a so-called temporary measure to stop irregular migration to Europe. Now EU leaders are declaring their approach a success. The ̽����ѡ (̽����ѡ), the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), and Oxfam are providing humanitarian response on the Greek islands and mainland, and as our experience clearly shows, the context on the ground is far more troubling and complex.

In 2020, the ̽����ѡ and the Lebanon Protection consortium (LPC) partnered up to explore the linkage between food insecurity and child labour, and its recent evolution in Lebanon given the multiple crises that hit the country and the deteriorating overall environment. Food insecurity has increased significantly in Lebanon during the past year; nearly 97% of the Syrian refugees on Lebanese soil are marginally or completely food insecure. Food based-negative coping mechanisms have also increased and infant and young child feeding practices have deteriorated. Food is the main expenditure for the most vulnerable households.

Over 3.7 million Syrian children have been born into violence, poverty and displacement since the brutal war in Syria began over six years ago. Conflict and displacement dismantle social services, economic systems and family units with profound effects on the wellbeing of caregivers. Under these conditions, too many children lack stable, nurturing and enriching environments – including frequent interactions with caregivers that promote learning, and development. This case study provides a look at the process of adapting and piloting Vroom for Syrian refugee parents and families. Vroom empowers parents and caregivers of young children to turn everyday moments into brain-building moments. While group-based parenting programs have been shown to be effective in a range of low-resource settings, such interventions are costly and logistically challenging in large-scale humanitarian crises where populations are dispersed across a range of contexts.

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