Medrar acts as a catalyst in contributing to economic and social development. Collaborating with the government, international and local NGOs, and the private sector, Medrar thrives to make sure that employment opportunities are available and accessible to all people; disregarding religion, race, nationality, political affiliations, gender, ethnicity and age.

The program achieves the following:

Capacity Building: Medrar aims to teach and improve the skills and knowledge of individuals looking for employment and equip them with necessary resources that would successfully qualify them to apply for job opportunities that may be offered.

Private Sector Investments: Through facilitating all logistics and providing market inputs, Medrar works to attract private investors to initiate businesses in remote areas and regions of high unemployment rate. Providing the required availability of skilled and cost-effective labor along with low-priced infrastructure, new businesses tend to become incentivized to initiate their operations in such locations.

Coordination and Partnership: Promoting the need of collaboration and partnership with the government, NGOs and private sector to demonstrate the importance of innovative job creation on the economy of vulnerable communities.

Medrar has been successful in creating jobs through various development projects located in South Lebanon, where poverty currently stands at 32% and is one of the highest-level poverty areas in the country. Through partnering with the private sector, Medrar has helped to build the capacity of individuals and generate employment for a total 285 vulnerable people, among them Syrian refugees and disadvantaged women. The longevity of these projects will further employ an additional 1,000 people in the near future.

Cash for Work

The Syrian crisis has placed a heavy burden on hosting countries that were already facing numerous development challenges prior to the influx of millions of refugees into their borders. Lebanon has witnessed the greatest brunt. With a refugee population of 1.5 million, Lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees in relation to its 4.4 million population. Syrian refugees have settled in the most impoverished areas within Lebanon, where living conditions and access to public services remains dire. Host communities and refugees often compete for jobs in the informal, low-skilled labor market, aggravating tension and conflict between the communities.

In such a crisis setting, Medrar integrates cash-for-work programming in its relevant projects so as to benefit both the host and refugee populations through providing a daily wage in return for work. Cash for work encourages production, trade and helps to restore dignity and livelihoods. Syrian, Palestinian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese have assisted Medrar in the distribution of food and non-food items to marginalized communities residing in the South, Bekaa, North and Beirut; in the collection, sorting and distribution of winter clothes for deprived Syrian refugees and Lebanese families; and in the rehabilitation of 20 homes for Palestinian refugees residing in the most concentrated refugee camp in the country.

In Africa, Medrar has integrated cash-assistance to its development and humanitarian projects through the temporary hiring of vulnerable people and refugees in the maintenance, supervision, and operation of over 65 water boreholes built in Niger, Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Mali and Zambia, as well as the construction of an orphanage school in Ethiopia.