An Introduction to the RELIEF Centre

The IGP was established to develop innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges and to find new ways in which universities can apply their expertise to improve the quality of life for communities across the globe. The RELIEF Centre is an exciting new project for inclusive growth and prosperity in Lebanon. Over the past few years, Lebanon has experienced tremendous pressures on public services, jobs, and education as a result of the arrival of over a million people from neighbouring Syria. This presents us with the enormous task of addressing these challenges and building prosperity that works for all members of society, including those communities that have been most affected by displacement, improving the quality of everyone’s lives and increasing economic opportunity.

The RELIEF Centre is about inclusive growth and prosperity. Now, these are two different, but closely related concepts. When we talk about inclusive growth, we’re talking about making sure that the benefits of growth and development reach all members of society and don’t work for just a few people. When we talk about prosperity, we’re talking about the way in which economic resources that reach communities are translated into the things that actually matter for people’s quality of life. The RELIEF Centre asks what it takes for people to prosper in the context of large-scale displacement. Large-scale displacement takes place when people leave their cities or communities as a result of war, inequality, and sometimes even climate change and natural disaster.

Lebanon is the country with the biggest number of refugees per capita in the world. It is estimated that approximately 25% of Lebanon’s residents are refugees, over 1 million of whom are fleeing the Syrian conflict taking place across the border. What does it mean for a country to have 25% of its residents as refugees? Imagine what the UK would look like if 16 million of its residents were refugees. What will happen to our cities? What will happen to jobs? What will happen to wages? What will happen to public services? These are all major challenges and major questions that Lebanon faces that need to be addressed.