Lebanon

Brief Description

The Joint Programme seeks to ensure that the Lebanese central government, donor partners, international financial institutions and the private sector invest adequately, transparently, and in an accountable way in the sectors related to SDG 2 - Zero Hunger including agriculture, food security and nutrition to generate employment and income generating opportunities for vulnerable communities living in the poorest Governorates of Lebanon. The programme aims to prevent further erosion of agriculture, forestry, livestock, and fishing sectors which, at aggregate level, have been shrinking since the beginning of the Syrian Crisis.

Approach

The JP puts forward and objective to develop a set of interventions involving both public and private sectors to maximize investments in SDGs. On the public sector side, the interventions will help the Government of Lebanon prioritize and mobilize through its national budgeting process formulation, execution, and monitoring and evaluation process, as well as productive spending and investment in order to initiate the economy restructuring process announced in the Ministerial Declaration. This will take into consideration criteria on economic, social, gender benefits and contribution to selected high priority SDGs criteria or “budgeting for SDGs”. On the private sector side, the intervention seeks to leverage the work done with the government in SDG policy-making, objectives setting, and budgeting to incentivize the private sector but also donor partners and international financial institutions to align their investment decisions with the SDGs and particularly SDG 2.

The programme brief description

The lack of an inclusive national Social Protection (SP) system in Lebanon and significantly underdeveloped social assistance and social insurance programmes, are a major barrier to achieving the SDGs, as well as poverty and vulnerability. This is especially critical at a time when the country embarks on major social and economic transformation, 1 in 4 Lebanese live in poverty, and growth from humanitarian SP to more systemic support is crucial. Lebanon’s Joint Programme aims to establish a strengthened national Social Protection system, that is inclusive, integrated, rights based, efficient and effective, with a specific emphasis on gender and persons with disabilities. The SDG Fund Joint Programme to develop inclusive and integrated SP for Lebanon aims at supporting the Government of Lebanon to develop a national SP system through the development of a national SP policy and transformation of the country’s two main, existing SP programmes – the National Poverty targeting Programme and the national Social Security Fund. The programme aims to be evidence-based according to vulnerabilities across the life- cycle, introduce gender-responsiveness to the dialogue, promote access for people with disabilities, and create opportunities for participation and broader consultation.

Approach

The programme aims to be evidence-based according to vulnerabilities across the life- cycle, introduce gender-responsiveness to the dialogue, promote access for people with disabilities, and create opportunities for participation and broader consultation. The Programme takes a human rights approach by attempting to shift the national understanding on SP from a charity or needs-based dialogue to a rights-based one. Furthermore, the programme aims to operationalize the Leaving No One Behind agenda by ensuring that upcoming surveys are used to identify the poorest and most vulnerable in Lebanon, specifically focusing on gender, youth and those with disabilities.

Target groups

Women, persons with disabilities, older persons.