Lebanon

Rapid Gender Analysis: Gender, Conflict and Internal Displacement in and from South Lebanon

The overarching objective of this Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA) is to highlight the differential impacts of the growing insecurity at Lebanon’s southern border for men, women and other vulnerable populations such as migrant domestic workers, refugees, and those with diverse sexual identities. The specific objectives are to: (1) Unpack potential shifts in attitudes, behaviours, roles and responsibilities among men and women within the household and community that may enable or prevent more equitable participation in humanitarian program planning and response, especially among internally displaced populations; (2) Identify the gender-based constraints (including gender-based violence and mobility restrictions) that hinder equitable participation or access to humanitarian services/resources/programs; (3) Understand the direct and indirect impacts of the conflict on health, livelihood, shelter, safe access to essential services and resources, including solidarity networks; (4) Generate actionable recommendations for CARE and other humanitarian stakeholders to design and implement more inclusive, equitable and targeted program interventions around key priority areas.

Key Findings
• For domestic migrant workers, refugee and IDP and those identifying as LGBTQI+ mutual aid groups and seeking local solidarity networks are essential in securing essential services, creating advocacy channels and build social safety nets.
• Women in urban regions hold more influencing power over household decisions than those in rural areas.
•Female refugees/IDPs, domestic migrant workers and LGBTQI+ individuals reported barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health services as well as other essential health services.
•The psychological toll of the current violence is triggering overwhelming levels of stress, anxiety, and fear across the community, especially affecting children and those with memories of migration and conflict.
• Overcrowded shelters lack gender-sensitive considerations and amplify risks of GBV, particularly exploitation and harassment.
• Economic coping strategies from the long-standing economic crisis is taking a toll on livelihoods and the ability of households to save, leading women and other vulnerable groups to be exposed to disproportionate safety and protection risks. Read More...

Lebanon: Cash Transfers for Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) within Protection

This study is part of a larger multi-country study by CARE entitled “Cash and Voucher Assistance for Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Outcomes: Learnings from Colombia, Ecuador, Lebanon and Somalia.”
On August 4, 2020, an explosion in the port of Beirut left hundreds killed and thousands injured, damaged numerous neighborhoods – including hospitals and residential buildings – and left 300,000 people homeless. The economic, social, and psychological tolls of the blast were added to an already strained population suffering from an economic crisis and the impacts of COVID-19. The Lebanese Red Cross reported in a post-blast study2 that, of those surveyed, approximately 5% of respondents reported having family members who were pregnant or lactating and, of those households, 40% reported needing Maternal Child Health (MCH) services. A UNFPA report identified a decrease in SRH service availability due to facilities destroyed or damaged in the blast.
Prior to the blast, the Interagency Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV) Task Force conducted an assessment with 562 women and girls across the country on the SGBV impact since the beginning of COVID-19. This assessment found that 51% of respondents felt less safe in their communities and only 30% reported accessing health services.4 Sixty-seven percent of respondents reported that the main barrier to accessing services was lack of money.5 Read More...

CASH AND VOUCHER ASSISTANCE FOR SEXUAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS LEARNINGS FROM ECUADOR, COLOMBIA, LEBANON, AND SOMALIA

CARE is committed to ensuring that projects with cash and voucher assistance (CVA) are designed with and for women and girls, addressing recipients’ needs, challenges, and opportunities. CARE has invested in research on how to make CVA work for women and girls through gender-sensitive approaches to framing processes and outcomes of the modalities. As a widely accepted method of increasing access to services and improving autonomy, dignity, and resilience, programming with CVA has been integrated into numerous sectors to improve the lives of displaced communities, particularly the most underserved. To date, CARE’s CVA has primarily been used for food security and livelihood outcomes and multisectoral outcomes via multipurpose cash (MPC) transfers. Now, aligned with its strategic intent, CARE is investing in sectoral areas where CVA is less often used and that are of primary interest for women and girls, including gender-based violence (GBV) response and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

Building on extensive experience with CVA and SRHR programming, CARE conducted a study to investigate how outcomes for the pilot initiatives using CVA for SRHR compare to global learnings, and to identify opportunities for strengthening and expanding pilots for long-term programming. The study reviewed programming in four contexts (Colombia, Ecuador, Lebanon, and Somalia). The initial study was undertaken by two consultants, one focused on Lebanon and Somalia and one focused on Colombia and Ecuador. Data collection included 25 remote key informant interviews (KIIs) with CARE staff at the global and country levels as well as staff from partner organizations, followed by After Action Reviews with each country team and a validation meeting. All activities were undertaken in either English or Spanish and transcripts were analyzed using data analysis software. Analysis was conducted both by country and across contexts to identify commonalities and thematic learning, mostly led by CARE technical advisors. Read More...

Beyond four walls and a roof Reflections on the multi-sectoral One Neighbourhood Approach for Syrian Refugees and Host Communities, Tripoli, Lebanon.

The Syrian Civil War, now in its tenth year, has displaced millions of Syrians, both within Syria and into neighbouring countries. Over one million Syrian refugees reside in northern Lebanon, including in the city of Tripoli. This large scale displacement has placed additional strain on housing and services; refugees and vulnerable host communities frequently reside in informal, poor-quality homes in various states of disrepair that are poorly serviced and often damp and damaged. With displacement ongoing, many humanitarian programmes seek to meet the needs of both refugees and address underlying causes of poverty in host communities. These programmes are often multi-sectoral and have social cohesion as an intended outcome and deliver community-wide protection activities alongside housing and WASH support.
With four phases over four years funded by the US Government’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), the ONA programme has worked to improve housing conditions for the most vulnerable whilst enhancing individual and community resilience and social cohesion through protection programming and participatory approaches. In Phase IV (2018-19), CARE International in Lebanon (CIL) aimed to build on Phases I to III. In common with previous phases, for Phase IV, CIL worked in partnership with local partner Akkarouna to provide multi-sectoral shelter, WASH and Protection assistance to vulnerable Syrian refugees and the Lebanese host community, including Palestinians returning from Syria (PRS) in five neighbourhoods in Tripoli Read More...

A RAPID GENDER ANALYSIS OF THE AUGUST 2020 BEIRUT PORT EXPLOSION

On August 4 2020, the devastating Beirut explosion shook the whole city to its core, taking the lives of 191 persons (120 males, 58 females, and 13 unspecified), wounding at least 6,500, and leaving 300,000 people displaced. Prior to the explosion, Lebanon’s crisis has been underpinned by extreme structural gender inequalities: Lebanon ranks 145 out of 153 countries in the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report, due to low rates of women’s economic and political participation and patriarchal socio-cultural norms. The impact of the explosion compounded with the worst economic crisis in the history of Lebanon and the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to significantly push back what gains have been made on gender equality in the country.
This joint rapid gender analysis (RGA) of the Beirut port explosion assesses how diverse women, men, girls, boys, and gender minorities were affected by the events of August 4, with a close look at the specific impact on older, disabled, refugee, migrant, and LBQT (lesbian, bisexual, queer, and trans) women.
The assessment combined a secondary review of existing data with primary data collection. Secondary analysis included reviewing 45 reports, sit-reps, and needs assessments published by United Nations (UN) agencies, international and non-governmental organizations (I/NGOs) since the explosion and conducting gender analysis on three quantitative datasets from assessments carried out in response to the explosion. Primary data consisted of 16 key informant interviews (KIIs), 4 focus group discussions (FGDs) with 17 participants, and 16 community interviews – a total of 49 people overall.
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CARE Rapid Gender Analysis Lebanon May 2020

On February 23rd, Lebanon reported its first COVID-19 positive case. On March 16th the Lebanese authorities responded in a promptly manner by declaring a state of general mobilization and encouraging citizens to observe physical distancing. At the same time the newly formed government adopted a series of measures including movement restriction, curfews, shop closure the temporary suspension of flights. The virus was identified on January 8, 2020 and has since spread to 210 countries, infecting more than 5.33 million people and caused fatalities all around the globe. As of June 16th, Lebanon counts 1,446 COVID-19 positive cases.

The Covid-19 pandemic in Lebanon is a crisis within a crisis. It occurred during a broader socio-economic meltdown that has shaken the country in recent months. In October 2019, Lebanese occupied the streets in various cities across the country demonstrating against corruption, unemployment and sectarianism in the country. Lebanon appears to have responded effectively to the pandemic so far, a number of major challenges await it. With little measures to mitigate the economic impact of the confinement and protesters pushing to return to the streets, the country is entering a challenging era with a major impact on people’s lives; refugees (about 1,5 million) and host communities. It is imperative that measures that address the different needs of women, men, children and youth with particular attention to underlying vulnerabilities of certain groups including displaced people, refugee populations and migrant workers should be adopted in a comprehensive and coordinated way.

The Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA) intends to highlight how COVID-19 in the context of the socio-economic crisis impacts differently women, girls, boys and men and recommend measures to address and mitigate risks related to the protection and wellbeing of affected population. The RGA is looking into the following areas of interest:

• Gender roles and responsibilities
• Decision making, participation and leadership
• Health, mental health and SRHR
• Access to services and resources
• Safety and Protection
• Access to information and technology
• Capacities and coping mechanisms Read More...

COVID 19 Rapid Gender Analysis Middle East and North Africa Region

The novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been wreaking havoc on the international community in recent weeks and months, leaving almost no corner untouched. As of 8th April 2020, 1,464,852 cases and 85,397 deaths have been recorded in 212 countries1, including all countries in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region with the exception of Yemen. MENA is at a critical stage in containing the pandemic. Some countries have been successful in curtailing the spread by utilizing stringent lockdown measures, while other more fragile and conflict-affected countries, that are less equipped for additional crises, are only beginning to face the inevitable spread of the virus, with incredibly diminished health infrastructures. Widespread conflict, displacement, and migration in the region significantly complicates a controlled response to COVID-19, and extreme water scarcity makes
preventative measures even more challenging.
Women and girls in MENA faced numerous barriers to education, mobility, financial and asset control, and public leadership prior to the pandemic, and any positive gains made recently are at risk. They are impacted by losses in the informal labor market, elevated levels of violence and harassment, and increased burdens of caregiving for out-of-school children, sick and elderly family members.
Levels of psychosocial distress, already high in a volatile region are only escalating, with reductions in men’s roles as providers
being felt in a context of strict gender roles and stigmatization. The potential shift in men’s and boys’ role to provide increased
caregiving should be explored in contextually-appropriate manners. Read More...

Integrated Shelter and Protection Improvements Programme Evaluation Summary

The programme contributes to building resilience by:
• Increasing access to infrastructure through upgrading housing units and implementing neighborhood building and street upgrades;
• Increasing the knowledge of the residents about protection issues through supporting relevant interactive performances and delivering awareness raising sessions for adults and children;
• Improving the health of the residents through upgrading housing units, neighborhood building and street upgrades and running awareness raising sessions.
Further investigation is required to confirm if the programme contributes to building resilience by:
• Increasing community cohesion through establishing the neighborhood committees and running awareness raising sessions;
• Increasing connectivity between residents and external stakeholders through introducing the neighborhood committees to the municipality and CSOs. Read More...

Evaluation of the Integrated Shelter and Protection Improvements Programme for Syrian Refugees and Host Communities in Tripoli, Lebanon

Since 2015, Care International in Lebanon (CIL) and its local partner Akkarouna, have provided shelter, water and sanitation, and protection assistance to vulnerable Syrian refugees and Lebanese host community members in Tripoli and Beirut as part of its Integrated Shelter and Protection Improvements programme for Syrian Refugees and Host Communities (the ‘programme’). The programme is on going – with phase IV continuing from September 2018 to September 2019 – and is funded by the US Government’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM).
The aim of this evaluation is to ‘provide guidance to CARE Lebanon and its partners in order to learn from experiences, strengthen capacities and identify opportunities for increased integration of sectoral approaches as a pathway towards greater effectiveness and sustainability’. There are two objectives to the evaluation, firstly an assessment of Phase III of the programme (completed from September 2017 to August 2018); secondly a contribution analysis evaluation of Phases I, II, and III of the programme (from 2015 to 2018) in order to develop a theory of change. Fieldwork to collect primary data- interviews, focus groups and direct observation- was carried out in September 2018. This was combined with an extensive literature review in order to triangulate the data and refine the findings. [66 pages] Read More...

Enhancing Safe Water Supply and Solid Waste Management for the Vulnerable population affected by the Syria crisis in south Lebanon

For the water component, CARE International in Lebanon developed with good coordination mechanisms and collaboration with the different stakeholders, particularly South Lebanon Water Establishment and the municipalities. This great collaboration was very fruitful to identify the project objectives and the priority interventions on the water supply infrastructure. Both SLWE and the municipalities have positively received the collaboration and have shared available plans and data and have taken an active role in designing and selecting the interventions type and intervention areas. CARE met with the SLWE authorities to identify the most needed interventions in terms of access to water. The priorities shared by SLWE were discussed at WASH Sector level first in order to prevent overlapping among implementing agencies or intervention gaps. The municipal representatives were consulted to ensure alignment of municipal plans with SLWE’s plans. CARE WASH specialists examined the proposed options and discussed them with SLWE and with the municipalities in order to guarantee the impartiality of the selection, cost-effectiveness, and relevance to the mandate of the organisation. During the period of the enginnering design preparation done with Kredo Engineering, a change of the lines to be rehabilitated was raised compared to what was planned in the initial proposal and new targeted areas have been identified by SLWE in coordination with CARE WASH team to be included in the design package (see more details in R1). [42 pages] Read More...

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