BEIRUT: Donor states should realize the necessity of balancing support for Syrian refugees with assistance for the host country population living alongside them, Lebanon’s U.N. resident coordinator said Tuesday ahead of a high-level international donor conference.
“We are not just dealing with a human emergency,” UNDP resident representative Ross Mountain told The Daily Star in an interview. “It is important that donors realize that it is worth investing in Lebanon to try and maintain stability.”
On March 31, the Kuwait III conference in Kuwait City will bring together international donors and host country representatives to ask for funding to meet the needs of the displaced, as well as those still in Syria. The high-level pledging conference is now in its third year, and funding needs have risen from years past as additional resources are needed to address impacts on host country communities and infrastructure.
The emir of Kuwait will host the conference, which will be chaired by U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon.
Mountain will be attending the conference, asking, along with Lebanese attendees, for $2.1 billion to fund this year’s Lebanese Crisis Response Plan, which was introduced in December 2014.
He explained that the funding would cover approximately 2.9 million individuals, half of whom are Lebanese. Two-thirds of the funding will go to humanitarian aid, while one-third will address stabilization needs in the country.
The $2.1 billion funding amount is up from the call last year for $1.9 billion at the Kuwait II conference, which primarily focused on humanitarian relief for refugees.
Over four years have passed since the start of the Syrian uprising. Since that time, more than 3.5 million Syrians have been displaced from their homeland. Neighboring Arab countries continue to shoulder the burden of the refugee influx, which has relief agencies pressing international donors for more funding at this year’s conference.
“Lebanon has been acutely impacted, proportionally more than any other country in region,” Mountain said.
The UNHCR estimates the number of registered refugees in Lebanon to be at 1.5 million. The government believes the number of unregistered refugees to be approximately 500,000.
Due to overwhelming need and weak Lebanese government resources, aid organizations and the Lebanese government have struggled to keep up with the needs of refugees.
Mountain said that Lebanon “defied gravity” as an example of resilience. “But even the most resilient country has limits.”
Conference attendees from Lebanon will include Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas.
The plan emphasizes community-based, local support for social services, including development initiatives and health services for both vulnerable Lebanese and Syrian refugees.
Syrians are concentrated in 250 communities where the poorest Lebanese live. They are competing for access to health care, education and employment.
“We are particularly targeting those communities, the objective here is to minimize social tension,” Mountain said, adding that he was “impressed” at lower-than-expected tensions in host communities, a success he attributed to the locals themselves and Lebanese leadership, from the local to the national level.
Funding in support of the Lebanese Crisis Response Plan aims to “stimulate employment among Lebanese,” Mountain said, “and deal with environmental issues” as a result of the refugee influx.
Syrian refugees in Lebanon are not housed in official refugee camps, as government officials are wary of a permanent refugee presence. Many live in informal settlements across the country which has made it a challenge for relief organizations to distribute aid.
Further, donor enthusiasm has waned since the start of the influx.
“At the beginning there is greater donor interest than when a conflict becomes protracted,” Mountain said. He explained that there is a competition for resources to meet relief needs on an international scale.
The vast majority of Syrian refugees are still waiting for resettlement to a third country, and have spent multiple years living under difficult conditions in neighboring states. Long-term funding for host countries remains a challenge.
“One of the problems is that the World Bank classifies Lebanon as a higher middle-income country, so a number of countries do not give development assistance, they give humanitarian assistance,” Mountain said.
He emphasized the need for host country support, explaining that the Lebanese have experienced a lowered average per-capita income as a result of the refugee influx.
Mountain estimated that 28 percent of Lebanese were living in poverty before the Syrian refugees began arriving in Lebanon. He said that has risen to 30 percent since then.
He emphasized the importance of the locally based approach tailored to each community’s needs, typically focused on education, health care and safe water supply.
While stressing the importance of meeting Lebanese needs, Mountain said that “it is vital [Syrian refugees] not become desperate; they need to be able to feed themselves and families. This is part of stabilization.”
Syrian youngsters have faced difficulty accessing education in Lebanon. The UNHCR’ s 2014 Syria Regional Response Plan found that as of May 2014, only 22 percent “of Syrian refugee children (5-17 years) were enrolled in formal education.”
The same report found that registered refugees are responsible for paying 25 percent of secondary health care needs.
Amid funding shortages, the UNHCR is not able to cover 100 percent of health care costs.
Mountain explained that holding off threats to Lebanon’s stability involves not just spending for military aid but also investment in services where communities are at risk.
“Isn’t it better to try to control stability with investment now, rather than later on, if things go bad, to try to help get Lebanon back together again?”
“I think that the donor community based here in Lebanon understands this approach, and its logic,” Mountain said.
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