BACK
Contact details
Submitted by: Dr. Ralf Schröder, Head of Division 222, Crisis management, transitional development assistance, reconstruction, infrastructure in crisis situations
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.bmz.de/en
Social: @BMZ_Bund (Twitter)
Introduction to the project
Country
Lebanon
Duration
2016-2023
Description
More than a million Syrians have fled to Lebanon, which has accepted more refugees in proportion to its population size than any other country in the world. This project supports both Syrian refugees and Lebanese families in need by providing work and training in community-driven programmes.
For instance, up to 30.000 men and women have done construction and reforestation work, which was paid by transfers to electronic voucher cards. This strengthens the local economy and contributes to a more dignified and self-determined life. In addition, Lebanese and Syrian women and men were engaged in the construction and rehabilitation of productive assets as well as in a wide variety of training activities to strengthen their resilience. Working and learning together in community-driven programmes promotes exchange and mutual understanding between the Lebanese and Syrian populations and contributes to social cohesion. In order to prevent growing poverty in Lebanese communities, World Food Programme (WFP) supports more than 50,000 Lebanese individuals through a national social safety net programme, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Resources used
- Transitional Development Assistance (TDA) of the BMZ
- Implementation by the UN World Food Programme (WFP)
Main activities of the Good Practice
Individual capacity strengthening activities:
- Smallholder farmers receive training and technical support to increase their production and sales, and through value chain development increase their market linkages.
- Vulnerable Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese people receive training to build their marketable skills and strengthen their livelihoods.
Asset creation and livelihood support activities:
- Construction and rehabilitation of small-scale agriculture infrastructure and markets.
- Reforestation and forest conservation.
- Vulnerable Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese people receive conditional food assistance through cash-based transfers (CBTs) to meet their basic food and nutrition needs.
Assistance to the National Poverty Targeting Programme (NPTP):
- Unconditional resource transfers through monthly electronic vouchers (CBTs) to support access to food for vulnerable Lebanese households with high levels of food insecurity.
Partners
UN World Food Programme (WFP)
How challenges were overcome
The protracted Syrian crisis represents a significant risk to Lebanon’s political, economic and internal security. It has exacerbated pre-existing deficiencies in Lebanon’s public sector governance and the political climate remains fractious, particularly relating to refugee support. Across all key public services, the surge in demand is faced with a decline in both access to and quality of public services. Lebanon's social protection system is not sufficiently developed to ensure the provision of adequate support to its poorest citizens. With rising needs amongst its own population, and a lack of capacity and resources to increase services, there is a clear need to support the Government of Lebanon to increase the quality and quantity of assistance for its vulnerable population.
In response, WFP engages with the government at all levels to deliver on its mandate and provide both Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese people with assistance through different modalities. Adaptive programming and partnerships will also help mitigate the risks that hinder the successful implementation of WFP’s activities and achievement of its outcomes.
Results of the Good Practice
With BMZ’s support, WFP has delivered over 200 livelihoods programmes in 2018 and 2019 with the main objective of addressing immediate food needs and building individual capabilities to increase livelihood opportunities.
Reaching more than 81,000 women, men, girls, and boys, of which 51% are Syrian refugees and 49% vulnerable Lebanese, WFP successfully built 14,600 metres of agricultural roads and 78,200 metres of irrigation canals, rehabilitated two markets, planted 135,000 tree seedlings and helped maintain or reforest 400 hectares of forests throughout Lebanon.
In addition, more than 14,000 participants were supported through training to increase their basic life skills and technical marketable skills. With a focus on women empowerment, WFP and its partners were able to engage a total of 53% women in resilience activities.
