The monthly dashboard summarizes the progress made by partners involved in the Lebanon Crisis Response and highlights trends affecting people in need. Partners in Lebanon are working to ensure that for vulnerable groups, especially youth, access to income and employment is improved.
Changes in Context - First Quarter
With only US$8 million in funding received so far for 2016 programmes (excluding carry over from 2015), the livelihoods sector still faces a major obstacle in scaling up its activities and is therefore unable to effectively mitigate the impact of the crisis on economic opportunities and jobs. Yet, the increasing trends in terms of number of ongoing programmes and result achieved observed in late 2015 is still valid.
This is particularly the case for activities related to local economic development, where partners have achieved more results in the first quarter of 2016 than in all of 2015 combined. Indeed, the sector has already provided support to 180 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and cooperatives through in kind and cash-grants of a cumulated value of $340,000 (vs. 164 businesses supported with $200,000 in 2015), 389 entrepreneurs (158 of who are youth) received business management trainings. So far, one partner has confirmed that this resulted in new job creation by supported businesses, with 26 new jobs created in Tripoli. A recent assessment by IRC of MSMEs’ needs in Mt. Lebanon emphasized that to yield more immediate results in terms of growth and job creation, MSMEs need targeted support on sales and marketing, customer service, financial management and business planning.
In parallel, partners are working in Akkar and Bekaa to upgrade key value chains, working from the production stage of a product till the final consumer. 11 interventions aiming at addressing quality, production technique, or the regulatory framework of the potato and green leafy vegetables, waste management, shanklish and pickles value chains in Akkar and Bekaa have been implemented, vs. only 3 in 2015.
As for shorter-term interventions, the sector reached 4,371 beneficiaries in total this quarter, primarily through employability support and labour intensive infrastructure rehabilitation programmes. The impact of current employability programmes (skills training, internship schemes…) on actual access to employment remains to be determined, as the proportion of beneciaries of such programmes who eventually find a job varies from 15 to 66%. The sector is reviewing all the skills training programmes provided by partners to identify which ones are most successful in facilitating access to employment.
The impact of public wok programmes is much clearer, with 100 villages already benefitting from improved infrastructures.