HIGHLIGHTS
Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees results for 2017.
Lebanon Humanitarian Fund holds a Donor Meeting to raise awareness and discuss future steps.
An Arsal Action Plan is developed by the humanitarian community, refugees, and local authorities.
Funding received toward the LCRP in 2017 remains low in comparison to 2016.
This issue puts a spotlight on the Donor Meeting, aimed at strengthening relations between the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund’s current and previous donors, and collecting first-hand feedback from potential donors. In addition, it provides an update on the latest results of the 2017 Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees (VASyR), and looks at an Action Plan for Arsal being developed by the humanitarian community, local authorities, and refugees. Finally, this issue gives an overview of funding for Lebanon in the third quarter of 2017, and tells the story of a vulnerable refugee woman who benefited from cash assistance.
Living conditions of refugees degrade in 2017
Preliminary findings of the 2017 Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees are released
The preliminary findings of the 2017 Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees (VASyR), the annual survey of Syrian refugee households in Lebanon, were presented to the humanitarian community in October. The VASyR has been conducted on a yearly basis since 2013, and it intends to provide valuable insight into refugees’ living conditions and trends. VASyR is an essential process to shape planning decisions and programme design, and its findings are incorporated into the humanitarian agencies’ programming including the 2017 Lebanon Crisis Response Plan (LCRP).
Poverty and vulnerability persist
VASyR 2017 reflected an increased level of poverty and a high debt rate among Syrian refugees. The share of households living below the poverty line (US$ <3.84 per capita per day) increased from 71 per cent in 2016 to 76 per cent in 2017. 58 per cent of refugee households have a total per capita expenditure that falls below the Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket (SMEB), a measure of items deemed essential for a household’s survival. While households with high debts remained stable, the percentage of households borrowing money remained extremely high, at 87 per cent.
Legal residency remains a challenge for refugees, whereby the high cost of residency permit renewals and an inability to find a Lebanese sponsor are major impediments which further compound refugees’ vulnerability. The survey reveals that only 31 per cent of refugee households have at least one member holding a legal residency permit. In an attempt to address this, the General Security Office (GSO) waived, in February 2017, the renewal and overstay fees of legal residency ($200 per person per year) for Syrian refugees who were registered with UNHCR before 1 January 2015 and who had not renewed their residency previously based on tourism, sponsorship, property ownership or tenancy in 2015 or 2016. The obstacles to obtain legal residency can impact the mobility of refugees and thus limit their access to livelihoods opportunities and essential services.
The ongoing pressure on the housing market means that the most vulnerable have limited access to affordable and adequate housing: 17 per cent of Syrian refugees live in informal settlements, 9 per cent in non-residential buildings and 73 per cent in residential buildings, with 4 per cent of all refugees’ shelters ranked as being in dangerous condition.
Overcrowding among refugees is on the increase, at 33 per cent in 2017 compared to 27 per cent in 2016. 80 per cent of Syrian refugees are renting. A slight decrease in the average cost of rent was observed for 2017, at $183 per month, down from $189 in 2016.
Lebanon’s hospitals and health centres have been overburdened by the sudden increase in utilization, which has also greatly affected their infra-structure. Refugees’ need to access primary health care in the last six months remained similar to 2016, at 46 per cent; 11 per cent did not get the care they needed due to an inability to cover doctors’ fees.
Food Insecurity remains high
Food insecurity remained stable over the past year with 91 per cent of Syrian refugee households presenting some level of food insecurity, a decrease of 2 per cent compared to 2016. Food insecurity is mainly associated with high economic vulnerability and limited incomeearning opportunities. Limited income sources remained one of the underlying causes of food insecurity, with 40 per cent of refugee households reporting World Food Programme (WFP) assistance as among their three main sources of income. Worryingly, 28 per cent of households reported WFP assistance as their primary source. Female-headed households remained more vulnerable than their male counterparts. In addition, debt levels remain very high for refugee households in 2017, where approximately three quarters of households borrowed money to buy food.
Education
Almost half of all school-age Syrian refugee children (3-18) are not attending school (49 per cent). There are some signs of progress though – an 11 per cent increase in primary school attendance was observed, up from 52 per cent in 2016 to 63 per cent in 2017. The percentage of women aged between 15 and 19 years currently married or in union is 22 per cent. Finally, almost 8 per cent of youth reported working regularly.