It’s rainy and cold along the waterfront of Tripoli, the largest city in northern Lebanon. Despite being a school day, there are dozens of children walking up and down the ‘corniche’ with piles of CDs in their hands. Every minute or so they approach a passerby, sometimes a local, sometimes a tourist, to see if they are interested in buying a CD. Almost everyone says no.    Thirteen-year-old Bilal* has been working on the streets of Tripoli for the past two years. Originally from Aleppo, he would work 12 hours a day to bring in cash to support his family.

The Parents Make the Difference project in Liberia aimed to promote the wellbeing of young children aged 3 to 7 through reducing harsh punishment, improving parenting practices, improving child development, and increasing malaria prevention behavior. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and research partner Duke University found that the intervention reduced harsh punishment and improved parenting practices and caregiver–child interactions, but had no impact on malaria prevention or early childhood development outcomes.

An instructor at a non-profit that teaches skateboarding to children, Belqisa’s dreams of pro-competition were put on hold when she had to escape Afghanistan. Now she’s seizing a chance for a new start.