PROJECT DEVELOPEMENT OFFICE

Who We Are?

The Planning and Development Office of Don Bosco in the Middle East was officially established in May 2016. Its headquarters are located in Cremisan, Palestine, while two local offices were opened in Egypt in January 2018 and in Syria in July 2018.

With the approval of the Mandate and Statute Documents by the MOR Provincial Council, the office objectives, its procedures and operational agenda have been set out and now represent the basis for its support to local Don Bosco centers in favor of disadvantaged and marginalized youth and kids across the Middle East.

Our Values

Our Vision: on the wake of Don Bosco’s teaching, we contribute to shaping a world offering equal and fair opportunities to kids and youth of any origin and background, centered on the Christian humanity principles.

Our Mission is to support Don Bosco centers in strengthening and maximizing their impact in promoting education, social empowerment and human development of vulnerable youth, leading them to be good Christians and upright citizens.

What We Do

The PDO MOR follows three main activity lines across the different countries where it operates:

  • Strengthening the technical and vocational education offer within the different Don Bosco Institutes in the region.
  • Enhancing social development and youth empowerment opportunities within Don Bosco Youth centers and oratories. 

Provide livelihood and social support to refugees and migrants.

How We Do It?

The PDO actively pursues the mentioned objectives ensuring:

  • Participation and engagement of beneficiaries. 
  • Capacity building of religious and lay staff involved in projects development and management. 
  • Provision of support in the mid and long term strategic planning of DB centers. 
  • Promotion of institutional and economical sustainability of interventions.

Transparency and accountability towards donors and partners.

Where We Work?

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Al Fidar
Aleppo
Alexandria
Beitgemal
Bethlehem
Cairo - Rod El Farag
Cairo - Zeitun
Cremisan
Damascus
El Houssoun
Jerusalem
Kafroun
Nazareth

Our Team

General Management

PDO MOR Headquarter (Cremisan- Holy Land)

Egypt

Syria and Lebanon

Active projects

There is always HOPE – Syria

The Syrian civil war represents one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time. The population has shrunk from 21 million to 17 and today 13 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian support, including the more than 6 million internally displaced people – 28% of whom in the capital Damascus alone – in addition to the 3 million who live in hard-to-reach areas. Furthermore, since mid-March, the Syrian government has begun to apply severe restriction measures to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Activities across the country are now profoundly impacted by curfews, movement restrictions, market closures and commercial freezes. The costs of primary goods continue to exceed purchasing power and Syrian families are experiencing a moment of unimaginable economic stress.

To the direct effects of the economic crisis are added school-related problems: schools work in fits and starts, and students (from primary school children to university students) are not equipped to follow lessons from home, and are falling further behind in their studies.

Faced with this situation, the spiritual Sons of Don Bosco in Syria, active in Damascus, Kafroun and Aleppo, are by now used to working in emergency conditions, and have taken action to help families who, already tried by years of war, are now facing the effects of the pandemic.

For this reason they have set up two different support programs for those in academic difficulty: one that will benefit 200 children, and another aimed at 180 students in the last years of high school and university.

Along with these school reinforcement projects, a third has been added: economic support to 200 vulnerable families.

Each initiative is carried out with the objective, proper to the Salesian charism, of taking care of the most disadvantaged minors and offering them those opportunities for development that otherwise they could not achieve

Because, as the Syrian Salesian Fr Pier Jabloyan said during a testimony, “whoever sows terror and pain through war is destined to end up in the garbage heap of history. But whoever stays with those who suffer will be remembered forever.”

Egypt – Vulnerable and Refugees

The position of Egypt at the crossroads of Middle East, Africa and Europe makes the country an important destination and transit country for many refugees and asylum seekers. More than 258,00 people in need from more than 56 different countries are registered with the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Egypt. Most of them come from Syria, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Yemen and Somalia and reside in the urban and peripheral areas of Cairo along with local communities. This category of people in vulnerability situations is forced to respond to many and daily challenges. Limited chance to access to the services and to employment opportunities, precarious economic situation and frequent reports of discriminations and gender-based violence push many of them to adopt negative coping mechanisms such as incurring debt or reducing expenditure on food and other essential items to survive. Moreover, the outbreak of the pandemic has further crumbled their already precarious livelihood making hard to resort to any source of income for meeting their basic needs.

Under this framework, the Planning and Development Office of Egypt (PDO) in line with the Salesian’s mission has been called for supporting the neediest section of the Egyptian population and refugees by putting in place a cross-sectoral approach. Every year, more than 1600 vulnerable Egyptians and refugees receive assistance and training at Salesian Houses in Egypt following a program that gives them an opportunity to increase access to sustainable livelihoods through market-driven technical training and educational support; a chance to enhance their entrepreneurship skills through start-up entrepreneurship training and seed fund for individual businesses; and an occasion to strengthen their resilience through primary healthcare, psychological counseling and CVA for basic necessities.

Mission aimed at creating satisfying job opportunities for a dignified life and for a full involvement of the most disadvantaged groups in society.

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