Public Sector

Migrant Community Center (MCC)

Established in Beirut in 2011, in Saida in early 2016, and in Jounieh in late 2016, the MCCs are free and safe spaces tailored to migrant workers and evolving according to their needs, where they can meet, learn new skills, work together, and access information, resources and assistance. Since their creation, they have been offering free classes and other educational, social, and capacity-building activities, such as language classes, computer classes, health awareness sessions, rights education, advocacy training, cultural exchange events, social gatherings, and various national holiday celebrations. The MCCs also serve as a hub where initiatives are launched, a space to have celebrations and get-togethers, and a casual space for migrant workers to spend time with each other.

MCC’s goal is to make meaningful improvements in the quality of life of migrant workers in Lebanon and in their capacity to self-advocate, and to contribute towards a strengthened and powerful migrant civil society. The MCCs serve to engage, enable, empower, and mobilize migrant communities to advocate for their rights and to decrease discriminatory attitudes and behaviour. Our work focuses mostly on people of Asian and African origin, with a special focus on women migrant domestic workers.

Our theory of change shifts the positionality of migrant workers from beneficiaries and recipients of services to leaders and agents of social change in Lebanon. The MCCs provide the space, tools, resources, and capacity for MWs to self-organise and lead awareness and rights-based campaigns in order to help end discrimination and exploitation, and guarantee protection, rights, and access to justice. In parallel, Anti-Racism Movement’s advocacy efforts tackle social issues related to racism, and aim to shift social norms by stigmatizing undesirable attitudes and behaviors, and building support for policy change.