In response to the acute crisis in Lebanon, which has had a devastating impact on the Lebanese arts scene, the Institut français, the Association des Centres culturels de rencontre (ACCR) and the Institut français du Liban have joined forces to offer residencies in France to 100 Lebanese creative artists and arts professionals via an emergency programme entitled "NAFAS", from the Arabic word نفس, meaning "breath". The programme is an extension of the emergency aid for Lebanon announced by the President of France in September 2020 and is jointly funded by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the French Ministry of Culture. The arts - in the shape of restoration of heritage and help for creative artists - feature prominently in the French emergency reconstruction aid package.

The NAFAS residencies are designed to offer Lebanese artists a breathing space and allow them to continue producing creative work via cultural exchanges with France. The aim of the programme is to provide Lebanese creative artists, designers and arts professionals with support in the form of residencies lasting for a specified duration in all parts of mainland France to enable them to develop a creative and/or research project in any sector of contemporary creative arts.