In 1966, l’Istituto per la Cooperazione Universitaria (ICU) quietly began its journey in Italy, driven by a simple yet profound goal — to nurture human development through culture and science. The Italian NGO works in the field of development with a particular attention to capacity building activities, driven fundamentally by attention to human dignity. The work is focused on building strong, long-lasting partnerships with local communities and institutional stakeholders, to ensure ownership and sustainability of projects over time.
Since its establishment, ICU has completed more than 500 projects in 44 countries around the globe. The NGO currently has many projects in different countries, from Central America to Africa, Europe and Middle East, in sectors ranging from water management, agriculture and rural development, energy efficiency, waste management, social protection, and education.
Within this framework of action, ICU has focused many of its resources on Lebanon, with an active mission for 29 years, implementing more than 41 projects. There are currently 8 initiatives underway in the country, with various partners including public institutions, and donors like the European Union and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.
Indeed, Lebanon is experiencing one of the worst humanitarian and economic crises since the Civil War and is to date the country with the highest number of refugees per capita: about 1.8 million refugees out of a population of about 6 million, according to 2020 estimates. This has had dramatic repercussions especially on the most vulnerable population, including refugee communities.
It is precisely in this context of need that the PASS project was born, one of the 8 initiatives currently active in Lebanon and implemented by ICU. The initiative – funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation – is carried in partnership with the Chaldean Charitable Society in Lebanon (CCSL), in the Metn District and it aims to protect Iraqi refugees belonging to the Chaldean Christian community, consisting of about 10,000 individuals. This community has already been heavily affected by discrimination on racial and religious grounds in Iraq and Syria and, as a minority among the refugees themselves, they are often “left behind” and forgotten even by the international community itself.
The initiative focuses on the sectors of primary and mental health aiming to give the target population the access to basic needs, and the development of professional and interpersonal skills that are also useful to the beneficiaries as they pursue their migration project.
In the framework of the initiative, monthly information campaigns and mental health awareness sessions have been organized and implemented with the support of local NGOs and experts after the opening of a health-pharmaceutical dispensary and a psychological and social assistance desk. Finally, the project fosters integration of the Iraqi Chaldean community in Lebanon and abroad by organizing English language, IT and life skills training.
The project ‘’PASs’’, together with the other past and present initiatives, shows ICU’s profound commitment to long-lasting favorable changes to be carried in collaboration with the Lebanese civil society: a partnership that is intended to remain steadfast in the future.
