The ‘Municipal Empowerment and Resilience Project’ (MERP) aims to strengthen the long-term resilience of subnational authorities in Lebanon as well as host communities, refugees and displaced persons affected by the Syrian Crisis. To achieve this, the Project engages in a three-pronged approach: “1. Strengthen processes, procedures and practices to enable Unions of Municipalities (UoMs) and municipalities to deliver effective and efficient services in a transparent and accountable manner; 2. Empower UoMs and municipalities to facilitate local economic development (LED) and to deliver basic services that address the needs of both host and refugee populations, and; 3. Support communities to engage in municipal processes and procedures to ensure that UoMs and municipalities are responsive to their needs.”

Under its second component, MERP developed the policy paper “Rethinking Central Government Policymaking for Local Economic Development – National Recommendations to Revitalize Local Economies in Lebanon”. The policy paper recommends measures that could be advocated for and supported across the central government level to enable an environment conducive to local economic development.

The ‘Municipal Empowerment and Resilience Project’ (MERP) aims to strengthen the long-term resilience of subnational authorities in Lebanon as well as host communities, refugees and displaced persons affected by the Syrian Crisis. To achieve this, the Project engages in a three-pronged approach: “1. Strengthen processes, procedures and practices to enable Unions of Municipalities (UoMs) and municipalities to deliver effective and efficient services in a transparent and accountable manner; 2. Empower UoMs and municipalities to facilitate local economic development (LED) and to deliver basic services that address the needs of both host and refugee populations, and; 3. Support communities to engage in municipal processes and procedures to ensure that UoMs and municipalities are responsive to their needs.”

The municipal finance landscape in Lebanon is known for its complexity and diversity. While some municipalities have relatively good financial positions and robust local public finance management systems and capacities, many, and in particular smaller-sized municipalities, face significant challenges. The Municipal Finance Assessment conducted in the Al-Fayhaa, Matn, and Tyre Unions of Municipalities is a review of local institutional behaviour and performance over the past five (5) years. As such, it can be used by the municipalities as a management tool for performance improvement. The assessment process will also help the municipal council to identify areas in need of improvement and to formulate action plans to address specific shortcomings. In addition, the institutional and finance assessment includes an overview of the city or village which includes the political, economic, social, and demographic context within which the municipal institutional and financial systems function. Combined, the assessments also yield insights in relation to needed national policy reforms to support and strengthen municipal finance.

The Port of Beirut explosions (4 August 2020) resulted in extensive damage on multiple levels – the loss of life, injury and the destruction of vast tracts of urban fabric within the municipal boundaries of Beirut and Bourj Hammoud. In support of the Municipality of Bourj Hammoud, UN-Habitat together with the Polish Center for International Aid, Naba’a and Beirut Arab University, undertook a rapid damage assessment at the building level (exterior visual survey).

The assessment covered all building types, dividing them into four categories (unsafe / evacuate, restricted use, safe / minor damage and not affected) in order to understand the extent of damage, particularly structural impacts, as well as immediately identifying buildings at risk of collapse and in need of evacuation. The assessment provides a basis on which to formulate recovery and reconstruction measures, with regards to building damage rehabilitation.

The Port of Beirut explosions (4 August 2020) resulted in extensive damage on multiple levels – the loss of life, injury and the destruction of vast tracts of urban fabric within the municipal boundaries of Beirut and Bourj Hammoud. Led by the Municipality and Governor of Beirut, UN-Habitat supported a rapid damage assessment at the building level (exterior visual survey).

The assessment covered all building types within an immediate 2km radius of the last, dividing them into four categories (total collapse, unsafe / evacuate, restricted use, safe/minor damage, unclassified) in order to understand the extent of damage, particularly structural impacts, as well as immediately identifying buildings at risk of collapse and in need of evacuation. The assessment provides a basis on which to formulate recovery and reconstruction measures, with regards to building damage rehabilitation.

The “Housing, Land and Property Issues of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon from Homs City” project was launched in 2017 in partnership with UNHCR and with the support of the Ford Foundation. The aim of the study is to analyze the housing arrangements that refugees coming from Homs city have secured, seven years into the crisis, in addition to their living conditions, the implications of their legal status on their presence in Lebanon, and the role/influence of social networks - characteristic of this community coming from the city of Homs - on their access to shelter and trajectories. The project contributes to the knowledge about refugee trajectories in the context of a protracted refugee crisis particularly in relation to shelter acquisition. The results reported in this study can promote public awareness about the implications of the absence of affordable housing programs and the current restrictions that refugees in Lebanon face to access adequate shelter. They can further inform policymakers and other actors in the shelter sector about the current operations of the housing market.

Partners: UN-Habitat and UNHCR

Locations: Lebanon, Syrian Arab Republic, Homs

Donors: Ford Foundation