Cooperation between Nation Station and KAS Lebanon

Since October 2019, Lebanon has been confronted with an accumulation of political, economic, medical, sanitary and humanitarian turmoil. The Beirut blast which occurred on August 4, 2020 was a culminating point of the Inner-Lebanese developments. In addition, the Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the resulting hikes in prices for energy and food, as well as the scarcity of grains respectively, have aggravated the situation further. In response to the above, a mobilized Lebanese civil society created a safer and more solid environment, adopting community-based and grassroots initiatives to support areas in need. Nation station was founded the second day after the tragic event of the Beirut Blast and has since then been a centre for community help and solidarity. 
Nation Station is working on several projects all for the same purpose, to empower and provide support to the community around during the hard times that the country is passing through. One of the projects which Nation station has been working on is the community kitchen that distributes more than 250 hot meals daily for the most vulnerable neighbours in the area for free. 
Under KAS’s goal in mitigating the socio-economic consequences of the war in Ukraine in countries like Lebanon, and as part of KAS’s mission in supporting the startups in Lebanon, KAS Lebanon Office provided Nation Station with equipment that would empower them as a civil society organization to contribute to sustainable food security in their local and national contexts. The equipment included a solar system/battery that can support the running food refrigerators, an independent fire system with 4 fire extinguishers and a retractable shading for the space in front of the former car-wash to protect beneficiaries, workers, volunteers and the hosted people from the nature’s elements and to be able to use this public space on longer periods of the year. 
In addition, KAS supported Nation Station to conduct an awareness raising workshop on food security and nutrition, focusing on non-communicable diseases that can be prevented by changing eating habits. The workshop took into account the availability and affordability of produce in Lebanon amid the socioeconomic crisis.