The impacts of World Bank education programs in alleviating Middle East economies within Syrian refugee crisis

Purpose - This study aims to investigate the World Bank achievements in reinforcing Middle Eastern economies in the light of the Syrian refugees’ crisis. It aims to analyze the influence of the World Bank activities in sustaining and developing a key Lebanese sector under pressure, namely, education. Design/methodology/approach - Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted, followed by thematic analysis of gathered data. The study participants included senior Lebanese World Bank professionals and education experts, who once held major leadership roles in the World Bank. Findings - Data analysis revealed major contributions in human development, substantial governmental support and controlling damaging consequences of the Syrian crisis, which helped in supporting economic stabilization and prevented education sector from collapsing. Originality/value - The desire of evaluating the World Bank activities in the education sector will help in understanding the World Bank’s role in the development process of the education sector and the associated local government support. In addition, the study seeks to assess governmental performance in adapting the required changes to achieve development and revealing strategies used for refugee crisis. Due to a shortage of relevant studies, this study seeks to fill the associated gap with implications and recommendations guiding educational development in the Middle East, in addition to operational recommendations and indications for further studies in the field.