Strengthening safety nets in Lebanon to support the most vulnerable Lebanese and Syrian refugees

• Budget: € 151.2 million
• Location: Lebanon
• Date of project: February 2019 – February 2022
• Implementing Partner: World Food Programme

Since the Syrian civil war broke out in 2012, Lebanon has borne a great share of the crisis’ humanitarian burden, hosting over one million of the 5.6 million registered Syrian refugees. This represents 30% of Lebanon’s entire population, making it the country with the largest per-capita concentration of refugees in the world.

This protracted influx of refugees, compounded by the maltifaceted crisis in the country as as by continuous regional tensions, has put a terrible strain on Lebanon’s fragile public sector governance and service delivery, which already suffered from pre-existing deficiencies. As the quality of these services further deteriorated, the level of poverty has increased dramatically both among Lebanese and refugees. Hafl of the Lebanese population live below the poverty line, while 9 in 10 refugees live in extreme poverty.

While the humanitarian response to the Syrian crisis - led by the European Union and its international partners - is needed more than ever, it remains important to focus on longer-term resilience, with an emphasis on cost efficiency and systems strengthening.

The European Union has been leading the response on social assistance in Lebanon, as agreed in the joint commitment at the Brussels II Conference in April 2018: “The Government of Lebanon and the international community will also support the development of Lebanese social protection systems, with a particular emphasis on reforming and expanding the National Poverty Targeting Programme (NPTP), drawing from the experience of humanitarian social safety nets, and emphasising a graduation approach into active labour market participation.”

The EU remains committed to prevent the deterioration of people's well-being, dignity, and safety, while increasing the state's capacity to address vulnerabilities and respond to crises, in line with the 2020 Reform, Recovery and Reconstruction Framework (3RF).

See also

• The story of Mahmoud
• The story of Mohammad