Mission Report, Lebanon, July 2017

As of 2017, Lebanon hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees, some 1.017 million that are registered with UNHCR. The conflict in Syria has significantly impacted Lebanon’s social and economic growth, caused deepening poverty and humanitarian needs, and exacerbated pre-existing development constraints in the country. The high numbers, coupled with their needs largely outweighs and surpass the capacity of humanitarian actors to respond, both physically and financially, with ECHO's response also not able to sufficiently cover all of the most urgent needs[1].

For shelter, the pressure on the housing market means that the most vulnerable have limited access to affordable and adequate housing, 24% of displaced Syrians live in substandard buildings and 17% in informal settlements, with 12% of all displaced shelters ranked as being in dangerous condition.  High numbers of persons displaced from Syria resorting to sub-standard units (SSUs) in urban centres, as well as, existing Palestinian camps, including, a large portion of vulnerable people. In poor urban centres, which now host 30% of displaced Syrians, dispersity and difficulty in identify and locating vulnerable people is becoming increasingly challenging. Beyond that of poor living conditions and increasing rents, there is also increased pressure on the provision of basic services, such as, water, energy, sanitation and solid waste collection. Water supply networks are experiencing chronic water shortages across the country, with water quality declining due to increased extraction of groundwater coupled with bacteriological contamination. Although, network coverage is high, estimated at 80%, “unaccounted for” water (leakage) averages 48%, and supply continuity is low. Sanitation services are failing, causing environmental health problems, including, contamination of water resources. The wastewater network coverage, of 60% is higher than the average of the region; however, only eight percent of all sewage generated is actually treated. This alarming water and sanitation situation, compounded by poor hygiene practices, has already had health impacts on children[2], with dysentery, Hepatitis A and typhoid cited as the leading types of communicable diseases1.

Due to this, delivery of timely, appropriate emergency assistance for newly-displaced populations, along with continued support to the most vulnerable severely impacted by the protracted crisis were prioritised under the HIP 2017. This year, ECHO’s action has aimed to ensure appropriated complementarity between humanitarian assistance and development support, in line with the Joint Humanitarian Development Framework (JHDF), to further reinforce development opportunities made by other EU instruments and international assistance donors to address medium terms structural and protracted needs. Within this scope, the mission aimed to provide technical support to evaluate funded actions with WASH and Shelter partners under the HIP 2017, along with update the WASH and Shelter strategy and operational framework in preparation of the launch of the HIP 2018.

[1] UNCHR, Lebanon Crisis Response Plan (LCRP), 2017 - 2020. http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=122

[2] Particularly for children under five