Transcript Programme Overview - JPO Service Centre

JPO Regional Workshop
Crisis Prevention and Recovery
The experience of Lebanon
Nada Al-Nashif
Sarajevo, October 2004
Context: The Civil War 1975-1990
Before the war: high standard of living, with a prosperous
and dynamic middle class
"laissez faire" economy with an important role for the
private sector while Government does not exercise a
dominant central planning function.
15 years civil strife (1975-1990) with:
massive loss of life (120,000-150,000 deceased and 250,000
casualties/disability)
displacement (around 1 million)
loss to the national economy amounting to billions of US Dollars
Others: institutional weakening of the public sector, serious
deterioration of the natural environment, spatial imbalances, etc.
The Case of Mount Lebanon:
Displacement
Approximately 950 villages and towns
were displaced (174 were totally or
partially destroyed)
Over 500,000 Lebanese (90,000
families)
were
displaced/became
refugees
Alteration
of
the
geographical
distribution
of
multi-confessional
population of the area
Displaced are among the poorest
echelons of the Lebanese society -due
to the loss of their houses and income:
50% cannot meet their basic needs
and 12.5% live in absolute poverty.
Reintegration and Socio-Economic
Rehabilitation of the Displaced
Objective: Providing economic
and social support to the
displaced for cementing the
return process and complement
government efforts for housing
resettlement and reconstruction,
and rehabilitation/reconstruction
of basic infrastructure
Target: 11,600 families or an
estimated 66,100 people in the
Mount Lebanon region
Reintegration & Socio-Economic
Rehabilitation of the Displaced: Axis of
Intervention
Economic development focusing on:
agricultural development, including small
community based infrastructure (rural
roads and irrigation canals), extension
services, etc.
Social development: focusing on:
Education: rehabilitation of community public
schools, equipment, IT infrastructure,
school clubs
Health: rehabilitation/ equipment of
community health centers
Reintegration & Socio-Economic
Rehabilitation of the Displaced: Axis of
Intervention
Environment: studies and general
awareness
Local Community Mobilization focusing
on municipalities and cooperatives
(training and implementation of
community projects)
and establishing long term
development plans based on statistical
profiles (GIS)
Reintegration & Socio-Economic
Rehabilitation of the Displaced: Axis of
Intervention
Reintegration and conflict resolution focusing on youth and community
groups through:
•
animated meetings with community members
•
Inter and intra-village meetings
•
Youth camps and clubs
•
youth training workshops
(reconciliation, democracy &
social acceptance including youth
participants, NGOs and
community partners
Occupation of South Lebanon: Another
Story
A conflict that continued for 33
years and was accentuated
following the occupation of a
borderline zone in 1978, then
the extension of this occupation
towards new land in 1982.
This exceptional longevity of the
conflict has deeply marked this
region, both physically and on
the human one.
Occupation of South Lebanon: Another
Story
Socio-economic characteristics:
young population, high percentage
of widows and orphans, high
illiteracy, and gender inequality in
illiteracy rates
Other concerns include thousands
of damaged housing units,
environmental degradation, and
thousands of mined zones
Basic infrastructure and services
either totally damaged or in need
of rehabilitation
Occupation of South Lebanon: The
Main Results
massive displacement,
over-representation of female heads
of households,
high rates of disability,
poverty incidence high (25% of
population live below the poverty
line)
high rate of unemployment and high
dependency on war-economy for
income generation (representing
more than 30% of household
economy)
Other specific problems; e.g freed
prisoners, soldiers, etc.
Occupation of South Lebanon: The
Potential
Strong attachment of the disapora
to the region
Existence of educated elite and
dynamism of the inhabitants
Potential for mobilizing investors
Adequate area for cultivation,
availability of water resources and
rich soil
Touristic and natural wealth
Well situated urban centers, low
cost of land and young dynamic
workforce
Socio-Economic Rehabilitation of
South Lebanon: Target Components
Reintegration and rehabilitation of
former detainees
Support to economic/enterprise
development
Local mobilization and local
governance
Youth mobilization for post conflict
reconciliation
Socio-economic mine-action
assistance
Information resource and resource
mobilization
Socio-Economic Rehabilitation of South
Lebanon: Reintegration and
Rehabilitation of Former Detainees
Objective: ensure the smooth
reintegration of former detainees into
normal life to enable them to contribute
to national reconciliation and economic
recovery.
Target Poprluation: 2,200 former
detainees and their family members
Duration: 1.5 years
Components: medical screening,
assistance for disability, counseling,
literacy & vocational training, job
search, small-scale credit
Socio-Economic Rehabilitation of South
Lebanon: Income-Generating Activities and
Enterprise Development
Objective: Generating productive
employment through developing
small-scale enterprises
Target: small-scale entrepreneurs and
other economic agents,
cooperatives, small businesses
Components: Training on enterprise
establishment and development,
business counseling services, startup small credit provision
Socio-Economic Rehabilitation of South
Lebanon: Local Mobilization & Capacity
Building
Objective: strengthening the capacity
of Cooperatives and municipalities
to form a lobby group for advocating
the development of the region, in
addition to improving income
generation at the local level
Components: Capacity Development
(including HRD), implementation of
community projects, and fostering
linkages with gov’t/donors/NGOs
Socio-Economic Rehabilitation of South
Lebanon: Local Mobilization & Capacity
Building
Objective: mobilize youth in the
southern Lebanon region to contribute
to post-conflict peace building in
region in order to avoid conflicts and
tensions among different communities
with different political, social and
religious groups.
Components: Facilitate establishment
of youth groups, capacity
development and training of youth
and community facilitators,
implementation of voluntary
community projects and youth
structures
Socio-Economic Rehabilitation of South
Lebanon: Socio-Economic Liaison to Mine Action
Objective:to provide the link
between physical
demining and socioeconomic rehabilitation
(surveys and
implementation of projects
Management Information
System:
to
facilitate
the
efficient
organization, updating, and retrieval
of community information as
deemed necessary by stakeholders
in order to be used by partners
involved in the development of the
region. (e.g. development of
databases, acquisition of shared
information; preparation, release
and dissemination of information
reports)
Post Conflict Recovery: Some lessons
learned from the Lebanon Experience
It is important to invest in background strategy
preparation in anticipation of the post-conflict situation.
Such a strategy should be as participatory as possible
in order to ensure buy-in of “most” stakeholders.
It is also very important to to have systems of follow-up,
evaluation and impact assessments consolidated within
project interventions from their onset.
Coordination mechanisms should be established and
should include all stakeholders, including national
counterparts, donors, and civil society organizations.
Post Conflict Recovery: Some lessons
learned from the Lebanon Experience
In terms of programme interventions:
•
Activities supporting reconciliation are of high importance in the
reconciliation process and
have helped in the return and
reconciliation processes – this is primarily true in the case of youth
reconciliation and rehabilitation activities that constitute a
cornerstones for cementing the returning process.
•
Activities supporting the rehabilitation of the socio-economic
sectors are important for strengthening the return process in terms
of increasing access to basic social services and productivity.
•
Focusing on local capacity building for community structures,
including CBOs and cooperatives, assists in building a lobby group
at the local level.
•
Capacity-building interventions targeting all sectors are an
important part for sustaining interventions.
Post Conflict Recovery: Some
lessons learned
Targeting is an important step- chosen villages and clusters
should be selected based on transparent well-defined
criteria, with adequate confessional distribution over
severely depopulated, physically devastated, economically
remote, and socially deprived areas.
Local participatory development processes should be used
by the project in the selection of interventions, including
determining the priorities and ensuring sustainability.
Sustainability considerations should be underlined from the
onset of the project. These may include issues of capacity
building, local community contribution (as a pre-condition to
move from issues of “entitlements”), participation, etc.
Post Conflict Recovery: Some
lessons learned
Is is important not to raise expectations at the local levelbudgets of projects may be limited, and decisions on the
scope of activities and geographic coverage should be
given in light of budget considerations.
Implementation of projects at the level of more than one
community in order to achieve better measurable
impact; and promote participation among different
localities.
All projects should include a communication/ information
strategy to be widely disseminated on all stakeholders,
stressing on the neutrality of UNDP’s interventions and
transparency in activities.