Ralph Haddad, Head of Advocacy, Basmeh & Zeitooneh for Relief and Development
In conversation with Aya Habbab, Committee Coordinator at Basmeh & Zeitooneh for Relief and Development
When we speak of resilience in humanitarian and development contexts, it often conjures images of communities quietly bearing hardship or passively adapting to crisis. Yet on the ground—particularly in Lebanon among refugee-led initiatives—resilience is anything but passive. It is active, dynamic, and deeply personal. I call this active resilience: the ongoing, deliberate effort of communities not only to cope, but to confront and transform their realities.
Lebanon, a small country enduring what the World Bank described in 2024 as one of the worst global economic collapses since the mid-19th century, faces added strain as host to over 1.5 million Syrian refugees – nearly a quarter of its population, according to UNHCR’s 2025 figures. With UNICEF reporting that nearly 90 percent of Syrian refugees now live below the extreme poverty line, resilience—particularly community-led and community-defined resilience—is not only admirable, but rather essential.
Grassroots committees, such as Ariwak and Al Lajee Insan, coordinated by Aya Habbab at Basmeh & Zeitooneh, embody this active resilience every day. Aya supports women and youth from both refugee and host communities in Tripoli and the Bekaa, helping them identify pressing local challenges—from psychosocial support and protection to hygiene awareness and youth engagement—and co-create responsive social initiatives. Through participatory methods, Aya trains members in leadership, conflict resolution, and advocacy, placing community agency at the heart of every intervention.
The Ariwak Committee is a vivid example. Despite members facing severe movement restrictions and threats of detention or deportation, they continually reshape their methods. Their soap-making workshops go beyond vocational skills, offering collaborative, empathetic spaces. Artistic dialogue sessions provide creative platforms for youth to unpack complex themes of identity, coexistence, and displacement. Their compassionate communication trainings are more than skill-building exercises; they cultivate emotional intelligence, empathy, and conflict resolution. As Aya describes, “Their resilience is deeply rooted in reflecting on their identities, embracing diversity, and transforming tensions into learning opportunities.”
One Ariwak member shared, “We face a violent societal culture—racism, ostracism, bullying, and an overall absence of a nonviolent culture. Change is often rejected, and that’s a lot to fight through.” And yet, they continue building bridges.
The Al Lajee Insan Committee likewise exemplifies active resilience, challenging harmful stereotypes and misinformation through powerful digital campaigns. Despite lacking filming equipment and facing logistical constraints, the committee devises contingency plans to ensure its advocacy remains timely and impactful. As one member explained, “By staying neutral and avoiding rigid positions, we’re able to reach more people. That’s how we reduce isolation and ensure individuals feel supported.” Aya reflects on their strategic persistence. “They proudly occupy digital and physical spaces others might deny them, actively challenging stigma and marginalization,” she said.
Importantly, resilience is not only outward-facing—it is internal, too. Ariwak members speak of the transformative power of mutual vulnerability, growth, and solidarity. “Finding a comfortable and supportive space, rooted in shared goals and mutual belief, can lead to a profound impact,” one participant noted. Al Lajee Insan members echo this, emphasizing how they balance intense activism with deliberate self-care. As Aya puts it, “Community resilience fundamentally begins with individual well-being, nurtured within empathetic and supportive environments.”
Youth are central to this transformation. Young volunteers are not merely beneficiaries of humanitarian programs—they are driving them. They challenge norms, reshape narratives, and catalyze meaningful change. As one member emphasized, “The youth are the ones challenging traditional views. Their persistence makes even skeptics take notice.”
One particularly impactful moment took place during the political upheaval of December 8. Aya recalled organizing a dialogue session with Lamset Amal, a mixed committee of Sunnis and Alawites from both Lebanese and Syrian backgrounds. Initially concerned about potential tensions, Aya instead witnessed a moment of powerful unity and shared understanding. Similarly, when Israeli aggression escalated in Lebanon, these committees swiftly mobilized to support internally displaced Lebanese families arriving in Tripoli from the South.
Supporting active resilience requires a serious recalibration from international actors. Short-term aid must give way to long-term, community-led empowerment. Grant processes must become more flexible, participatory, and transparent, incorporating phased applications, direct community consultations, and co-created goals. International donors and NGOs must prioritize funding streams dedicated to essential resources, capacity-building, and specialized equipment tailored to context-specific needs. Permanent feedback mechanisms between donors and local committees are vital to ensure interventions remain relevant and adaptive.
Crucially, the growing gap in direct funding for local initiatives must be addressed. In a moment of global austerity, investing in those quietly and consistently doing the work on the ground is more urgent than ever. The international community faces a choice: to continue sidelining grassroots actors, or to walk beside them in solidarity, recognizing their courage and responding with concrete support.
As one committee member put it, “Resilience is the refusal to succumb to failure and the continuous pursuit of solutions to overcome challenges.” Now is not the time to reduce support—it is the time to shift power.
Aya herself admits she once questioned the committees’ broader impact. But through sustained engagement, she became a witness to their transformative capacity. “The committees consistently offered innovative, solution-oriented ideas,” she reflected. “They taught me far more than I could ever teach them.”
Indeed, the active resilience embodied by Lebanon’s refugee communities is not simply endurance—it is a strategy of transformation. Committees like Ariwak and Al Lajee Insan are redefining what it means to rebuild, resist, and reimagine in the face of displacement and crisis. To meaningfully support this work, international actors must adapt both their funding models and mindsets. As Aya so powerfully notes, “Committee members aren’t just participants—they are active changemakers, transforming their realities with their own hands, deeply committed to positive community change.”
Lebanon’s overlapping crises are not just context—they are a call to action. As recent statistics and grassroots experiences make clear, active resilience is a vital response. But to thrive, it requires sustained, flexible, and meaningful international support.
Turning rhetoric into reality means prioritizing direct, multi-year funding for grassroots groups. It means dismantling cumbersome intermediary structures and instead entrusting community committees with resources and autonomy. Grant mechanisms must be rooted in mutual accountability—responsive not just to donors, but to the communities served.
Donors must go further: centering localization not as a vague commitment but as an actionable framework. This includes fair compensation, leadership pathways, and genuine power-sharing with local actors. Funding must also become accessible to unregistered or semi-formal groups, offering tailored capacity-building and collaborative design processes that uplift, rather than overwrite, community knowledge.
Just as importantly, we must redefine resilience, not as a coping strategy, but as a form of political and social agency. Supporting it means committing to communities not only in times of emergency, but over the long haul, with consistency, trust, and dignity. By listening deeply, adapting systems, and responding with care, we can ensure resilience not only endures, but flourishes, fueling systemic change from the ground up.