Lebanon Crisis Response Plan 2024

Year

Last updated: August 27 2024

$32,690,000

Funding required

123,200

People Targeted

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IOM Vision

IOM aims to support and protect the most vulnerable individuals across Lebanon, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), migrants, refugees, and local community members, against mounting humanitarian needs and socioeconomic hardship caused by multidimensional crises. To address the mobility dynamics of the multi-faceted crisis across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, IOM will provide lifesaving protection support, build economic and community resilience against the loss of job opportunities and growing tensions, and seek to prevent and discourage unsafe and irregular migration.

Beneficiary of a livelihood activity in Tripoli, North Lebanon. © IOM Lebanon 2023

INFORM Risk Index (August 2023)	Medium (65/191)
Human Development Index (2023/4)	High
Fragility Index (2022)	Extremely Fragile
IDPs (IDMC, Dec 2022)	N/A

The humanitarian situation in Lebanon continues to deteriorate, triggering growing poverty and increasing needs. The country's economic collapse ranks among the worst globally in the last century, causing severe inflation and unemployment, making living costs unaffordable for thousands, and creating acute humanitarian needs. Over half of the Lebanese population is living below the poverty line (World Bank, 2022). Lebanon has among the world’s highest numbers of refugees per capita, out of which an estimated 90 per cent of Syrian households in 2023 are living in extreme poverty.

Without a functioning government, Lebanon’s presidential vacuum has contributed to local clashes and further destabilization of the country’s delicate political balance. State bankruptcy has weakened public services, including electricity, and by extension, life-saving health care. The Russo-Ukraine war has disrupted grain supplies, causing food insecurity. With the cost of bread rising, 45 per cent of Lebanese households are struggling to afford food (WFP, 2023).

Additionally, since the outbreak of hostilities in Gaza on 7 October 2023, cross-border clashes between Israel and Hezbollah have intensified daily. These clashes have caused significant material damage to public and private properties and led to the internal displacement of an estimated 111,940 people as of 20 August 2024. (Round 43 - IOM DTM).

This internal displacement crisis compounds Lebanon's ongoing struggle with its broader economic and political crisis, leading to severe degradation of public infrastructure and essential services and a significant increase in poverty across the country.

Fuel shortages have left critical water pumps idle, increasing reliance on suspect water sources in vulnerable communities such as informal tented settlements. The cholera outbreak in October 2022 highlighted the consequences of faltering infrastructure, putting an already strained healthcare system with limited capacity under more pressure. Essential medicines to treat chronic diseases and antibiotics are increasingly difficult to obtain, impeding access to adequate health care for Lebanese, Palestinian and migrant households (REACH, 2022).

These challenges reflect a number of development deficits such as weak infrastructure, lack of preparedness and high exposure to catastrophic hazard events, which are aggravated by the combination of poor environmental governance and climate change. Despite middle-income status, and a ranking of 65 out of 191 countries globally on the 2024 INFORM risk index, this same index ranks Lebanon as 14 out of 191 in terms of vulnerability.

The current economic and state decay is among the main drivers of mobility trends; with increased irregular boat departures attempting to reach Europe. 5,221 people attempted to leave Lebanon irregularly by boat in 2023. In the first six months of 2024, already IOM has recorded 3,267 people attempting to leave by boat on these dangerous irregular journeys.

Over 175,000 migrants reside in Lebanon from 98 different nationalities, a 10% increase in population to 2023 (IOM, 2024). Migrants are severely affected by high rates of unemployment, poor access to essential services and food, and shelter insecurity (OCHA, 2022) and are unable to return to their country of origin or support families back home. The sponsorship (kafala) system forces many to choose between accepting exploitative working conditions, and wage theft, or falling into irregular status, limiting their access to assistance and increasing the risk of falling victim to human trafficking, sexual exploitation, exploitative working conditions, detention, and deportation. Protection concerns including the worst form of child labour have also increased. Sixty per cent of Lebanon’s migrants require humanitarian and protection assistance (a 31% increase since 2022) and a quarter of them are potentially seeking assistance to return home. However, only nine per cent received humanitarian assistance in the last year and funding for specialized assistance is urgently required to ensure they are not left behind (REACH & IOM, 2022).

IOM Lebanon’s programming forms part of wider United Nations response frameworks, including the forthcoming Lebanese Crisis Response Plan (LRP), and the UN Strategic Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF). IOM’s interventions are coordinated with and guided by the LRP sectors, and respective pillar working groups of the UNSDCF. These include basic assistance, livelihood, protection, health, social stability, child protection, gender-based violence (GBV), and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sectors, and the people, planet, prosperity, and peace pillars. Additionally, IOM leads the Migrant Sector which coordinates specialized assistance for migrants across more than 40 organizations, as well as the lead agency for Site Coordination under the Shelter Sector. IOM also engages with local and national government counterparts, including the General Security Directorate, the Lebanese Armed Forces, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities, and local government. IOM works with the Government of Lebanon and the Lebanese Red Cross to monitor internal displacement, enabling IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) to serve as the official data source for displacement in Lebanon. Additionally, IOM works closely with a wide network of local actors, including non-governmental, civil society, and community groups, who constitute a key part of the overall social and protection landscape providing services to vulnerable communities. Through coordination, referral, and capacity development, IOM is dedicated to strengthening these actors to improve protection frameworks and service provision.

IOM Lebanon has strong implementation capacity, based on institutional experience, global mandate and in-country presence. Established in 2006, IOM Lebanon has set a strong record on the delivery of frontline services to crisis-affected populations, while steadily developing models and partnerships for longer-term recovery and migration governance. The Mission currently has 367 staff (including IOM staff, consultants and daily workers) based in Beirut, North Lebanon (Tripoli), the Beqaa Valley (Chtoura), Mount Lebanon, and South (Tyre). IOM works across all frameworks and supports all populations in Lebanon and has a history in emergency response in the south. IOM has good relations with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and is well positioned to be a leading actor in an internally displaced persons (IDP) crisis in the country.

IOM Lebanon conducts a wide range of activities, spread across six areas of engagement. These areas are i) resettlement and complementary protection pathways, including family reunification and labour migration, as well as pre-departure orientation activities; ii) migrant protection and reintegration; iii) border management, including support to national search and rescue services; iv) emergency response and community stabilization; v) migration health; and vi) data and research.

IOM Lebanon is committed to adhering to the mainstreaming of accountability to affected populations (AAP) across all its programmes and interventions. Three aspects in which IOM Lebanon works towards mainstreaming AAP include:

Information provision: Various forms of information, education and communication (IEC) materials are printed and disseminated to staff and affected populations. A series of banners, leaflets and posters have been printed and disseminated across all offices and made accessible to all frontline responders for distribution purposes. These IEC materials were based on consultations conducted with the affected populations, to ensure the relevance and efficiency of the messages. The materials are used to raise awareness and contain information on the following topics: protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), IOM Lebanon’s complaint and feedback mechanism (CFM), general AAP messaging, and anti-fraud awareness-raising.
Consultation and participation: Wherever applicable and relevant, various methods are used to actively collect feedback from affected populations on IOM’s services. These methods vary from information sessions, capacity-building of community representatives, face-to-face consultations, online feedback forms, and dissemination of the CFM, among others.
Complaint and feedback mechanism (CFM): The mechanism is dedicated to receiving submissions related to complaints/feedback/suggestions from external stakeholders (including affected populations) and ensuring appropriate and timely feedback on the complaints. IOM’s CFM complies with the following core principles: confidentiality, accessibility, independence, diversification of reporting channels, and clarity.

The creation of the CFM serves the overall objective of enhancing and reinforcing accountability towards the affected populations at IOM Lebanon. IOM Lebanon’s current CFM channels are:

Face-to-face: All IOM staff are trained to receive complaints/feedback/suggestions from affected populations, and to channel those to the assigned focal point.
Comment box: Dedicated comment boxes are in place in all IOM offices and centers.
Helpdesk (walk-ins): Helpdesks are part of the walk-ins in IOM Beirut’s office. These walk-ins are hosted by two staff trained in handling and referring complaints/feedback/suggestions to the right channels.
Consultations with beneficiaries/migrant-community leaders: An important step to building trust with migrant populations is to ensure the confidentiality of any sensitive complaints, appropriate follow-up procedures, and keep them in the loop of steps taken. It could be through the selection of representatives of key community members, community volunteers, or representatives of community-led organizations. Dedicated email address: lbecomplaint@iom.int
We Are All In Platform: A confidential platform to immediately report to IOM’s Office of Inspector General.

IOM grounds its operations in the centrality of protection and mainstreams protection across all sectors of intervention, ensuring that all activities are provided in a way that avoids any unintended negative effects (do no harm), is delivered according to needs, prioritizes safety, dignity, ensures and meaningful access and fosters the participation and empowerment of local capacities. This includes delivery of services that are accessible and inclusive of all targeted populations, and particularly those who may experience additional vulnerability, considering for instance the specific protection risks facing children, women and girls, persons of disabilities, and elderly person.

Particular attention will be given to effective participation by and empowerment of the community, ensuring that the CFM and other reporting mechanisms related to the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) and IOM's Child Safeguarding Policy are in place to prevent misconduct and guarantee accountability to the affected population, in line with the IOM AAP Framework. As part of mainstreaming protection. IOM will ensure that staff and implementing partners have an appropriate PSEA response in place and are duly trained on how to prevent, respond to, and report SEA incidents. At the same time, IOM will ensure that populations are aware of SEA policies, reporting channels and services available for victims. This will be achieved through the development of an action plan including capacity-building and awareness-raising.

IOM works closely with the government of Lebanon to deliver results for the people who need them the most and help put national efforts back on a development track. Specifically, IOM will contribute to: (i) addressing the immediate humanitarian and protection needs of the most vulnerable populations in Lebanon; (ii) developing the resilience of people on the move and host communities, particularly those in situations of vulnerability; and (iii) strengthening Lebanese institutions and systems to promote good migration governance. IOM will promote intra- and inter-sectoral collaboration with the government at the local, national, and regional levels to support timely and coordinated emergency response efforts across Lebanon. Key partners include the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Public Health, among other Ministries. IOM is also participating in the government’s coordination platform, overseen by the Prime Minister's Office, and is a member of the Emergency Operations Cells established by the Ministry of Public Health.

IOM also works with the General Security Directorate, municipalities, local stakeholders and the Ministry of Public Health to strengthen their emergency response capacity in relation to disease surveillance, search and rescue, and disasters.

Key Operating Modalities

Cross-cutting priorities

Objective
Saving lives and protecting people on the move

$13,440,000

Funding required

100,000

People Targeted

Entities Targeted

Internally displaced person, International migrant, Local population / community, Refugee

Primary target groups

Description of People and Entities Targeted

Under this objective, IOM will provide humanitarian and protection assistance to the most vulnerable groups, including IDPs migrants, refugees, and Lebanese citizens, including health assistance, cash-based support (multi-purpose cash assistance and cash for winterization, protection, accommodation and health care), and case management and protection services for people in need, including for victims of exploitation and abuse. In doing so, IOM will work with a range of entities including primary health-care centres, hospitals, local municipalities, government ministries and agencies, and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs). IOM will also conduct data collection activities, with a focus on migrants and irregular migration trends, to inform humanitarian programming in Lebanon.

Funding confirmed 23%

77% Funding gap

Basic needs, including food and multi-purpose cash assistance

IOM will provide basic assistance to severely vulnerable households, including migrants, refugees, and Lebanese. Activities will include:

Providing winterization cash support.
Providing non-food items and in-kind assistance for displaced populations and vulnerable host communities.
Providing multipurpose cash assistance.

Funding required

$1,340,000

Plan types

Direct health support

IOM will support primary and secondary healthcare services, to improve access to health for vulnerable groups, particularly migrants. Activities will include:

Delivering primary healthcare services including maternal and child health services, management of non-communicable diseases, nutrition and vaccination, through subsidized consultation fees, laboratory tests and diagnostic imaging.
Covering secondary healthcare hospitalization fees of migrants.
Providing transportation services for beneficiaries in remote areas to improve access to Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCCs), National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP) centres and healthcare services.
Supporting hospitalization and quarantine of tuberculosis (TB) cases.
Providing diagnostics and medical support for suspected TB/human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases through support to the respective National Programmes.
Extending reach for TB and HIV programs through a network of field coordinators and community health workers who also provide awareness and health promotion on TB and other communicable diseases.
Providing lifesaving medicines and supplies to hospitals and health centres across the south and prepositioned vital equipment for potential escalations, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health.

Funding required

$2,800,000

Funding confirmed

$2,039,397

Last updated: 12 Sep 2024

Plan types

72%

Funding confirmed

28%

Funding gap

Protection

IOM will deliver protection assistance to IDPs, migrants, refugees, Lebanese citizens reached through partner referrals and community outreach. Assistance will include those who have been subject to violence, exploitation, and abuse, including people facing GBV risks and GBV survivors, victims of human trafficking (VoT), as well as other vulnerable profiles. IOM will carry out GBV risk mitigation in line with IOM's Institutional Framework for Addressing GBV in Crises. IOM will also target returning migrants, including irregular migrants intercepted at sea and shipwreck survivors, and families of victims. People targeted will receive case management support and services either directly by IOM or via partners. Protection services will be grounded in protection analysis and tailored according to the needs and protection risks identified.

Activities will include the following by IOM and implementing partners:

Providing appropriate case management and counselling to migrants in vulnerable situations in Lebanon, including migrants who have been subjected to violence, exploitation, and abuse as well as survivors of trafficking.
Providing mental health and psychosocial support to displaced people in the areas most affected by the conflict in the south and other areas hosting displaced persons.
Building capacity including via trainings in psychological first aid (PFA) for all humanitarian workers.
Providing individual and group counselling sessions as well as art, informal learning and recreational activities for crisis-affected people.
Providing follow-up care, including basic assistance, cash for protection, accommodation, health-care services, and legal assistance.
Strengthening referral systems and the capacity of local service providers to ensure services are available, accessible and of quality.

Funding required

$5,000,000

Funding confirmed

$1,168,601

Last updated: 12 Sep 2024

Plan types

23%

Funding confirmed

77%

Funding gap

Humanitarian border management and services for citizens abroad

IOM provides capacity development to support the Lebanese government, the General Security Directorate (GSFD) and Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) Navy in border management, responding to irregular migration, and addressing transnational crimes, particularly trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants. IOM also works with the Ministry of Health to strengthen disease control and prevention at key points of entry.

Activities will include:

Strengthening national humanitarian border management and search and rescue capacities to help address transnational organized crime, including the smuggling of migrants, and ensure that migrants facing risks to life or safety at sea are rescued and offered protection and assistance. This support includes provision of equipment, technical assistance, and support to small-scale infrastructure.

Funding required

$1,000,000

Plan types

Emergency preparedness

IOM will support national search and rescue services and front-line responders. Complementing the Lebanese government’s efforts to address the current humanitarian needs of IDPs and host communities, IOM will also enhance preparedness for a potential larger-scale conflict. This is in line with Lebanon’s National Response Framework, Preparedness Plan, and the UN Contingency Plan, based on various scenarios of escalated conflict and the needs those would present.  Activities will include:

Supporting the Ministry of Public Health to ensure its warehousing for medications and essential equipment is maintained to the highest standard.
Working with embassies and providing bespoke training to support their nationals in times of crisis.

IOM will support national search and rescue services and front-line responders. In addition, annual wildfires in Lebanon cause temporary displacement and significant damage to public infrastructure and private homes, as well as casualties. IOM will strengthen preparedness to respond to conflict in Lebanon and natural hazards such as forest fires, particularly in the country’s northern region where local capacity is lacking and unable to respond effectively. Activities will include:

Providing technical assistance, training, and equipment to strengthen search and rescue capacity.
Supporting the Civil Defence to strengthen preparedness for multiple hazards, notably wildfires.

Funding required

$2,000,000

Plan types

Displacement tracking

IOM Lebanon will conduct a series of research and data activities to improve knowledge of migration trends in Lebanon and monitor population changes more effectively over specified periods. Activities will include:

Conducting Mobility Tracking to monitor population movements, with the objective of informing preparedness and response planning.
Conducting Migrant Presence Monitoring (MPM).
Contributing to Multisector Needs Assessments (MSNA).
Conducting research on irregular migration drivers and trends to inform IOM programming.
Conducting regular protection monitoring among migrant communities in Lebanon, in cooperation with the Migrant Sector NGO partners.

Funding required

$800,000

Plan types

Site coordination

As the lead agency for site coordination within the UN emergency coordination structure in Lebanon, IOM facilitates and coordinates the delivery of assistance, services and protection to internally displaced persons in collective shelters and supports local authorities and partners managing those collective shelters. Activities will include:

Building Site Management and Coordination capacities of government and non-government partners at both national and sub-national levels. This includes support to local authorities including capacity strengthening to collective shelter managers, Disaster Risk Management (DRM) teams to coordinate and facilitate the efficient, effective and predictable delivery of protection and services at community level, ensuring the rights of IDPs and other affected populations are upheld and protected, and advocate for durable solutions for those displaced.
Strengthening emergency preparedness and management systems to improve site management and coordination, to strengthen the Lebanese government’s capacity to respond to emerging humanitarian needs resulting from the prolonged displacement and to prepare for a worst-case scenario.
Where possible and needed, supporting physical upgrade and maintenance of collective shelters.

Funding required

$500,000

Plan types

Read less

Cash for work beneficiaries in Qaroun, Bekaa. © IOM Lebanon 2023

Objective
Driving solutions to displacement

$19,250,000

Funding required

23,200

People Targeted

Entities Targeted

International migrant, Local population / community, Refugee

Primary target groups

Description of People and Entities Targeted

Under this objective, IOM will target communities experiencing inter-communal tension and/or prone to irregular migration, with a focus on North Lebanon, Akkar, and the Beqaa Valley. IOM will deliver locally-centred interventions to promote community resilience and social cohesion, with a focus on livelihoods and cash for work activities, local governance, and improvement of local services and public infrastructure, as well as strengthen emergency response capacity in relation to disease surveillance, search and rescue, and disasters. In doing so, IOM will work with a range of entities including municipalities, local businesses, schools, clubs, government ministries, Social Development Centres, and primary health-care centres.

Funding confirmed 9%

91% Funding gap

Community stabilization

IOM will implement projects to support local communities experiencing tensions and/or prone to irregular migration. This will be through community-based planning that promotes local collaboration and trust, while also enhancing community life, e.g., through improved public infrastructure, local services, or livelihood activities. In complement to providing direct mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) to migrants, IOM will integrate mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) throughout community stabilization activities to support social cohesion and strengthen resilience of individuals, families and communities. Activities will include:

Initiating community-based planning activities within areas facing tension, by establishing or reviving local committees that promote cross-communal collaboration in pursuit of mutual agendas.
Implementing community support projects to improve local facilities, public infrastructure, and services.
Following inclusive programming, such as community dialogues, to ensure typically marginalized groups, such as women and youth, are represented.
Providing capacity and coordination support to local authorities to build greater trust with local communities.
Piloting a Co-funding Mechanism, a community fundraising tool designed to promote horizontal and vertical trust.

Funding required

$10,000,000

Funding confirmed

$1,708,759

Last updated: 12 Sep 2024

Plan types

17%

Funding confirmed

83%

Funding gap

Livelihoods and economic recovery

IOM aims to support and protect people’s livelihoods to reduce the socioeconomic drivers of irregular migration among Lebanese and Syrian refugee communities. IOM activities will provide vulnerable Syrian refugees and Lebanese with access to temporary employment and longer-term income-generating opportunities, in addition to improving employability and job retention. The activities will target vulnerable populations in Akkar, North Lebanon and the Bekaa. Activities will include:

Providing aspiring business owners with microfinancing grants and trainings to support business development.
Providing grants to small and medium enterprises to boost local businesses and job creation.
Providing vocational training designed to improve employability by enhancing technical and soft skills.
Implementing cash-for-work activities, such as public work projects and infrastructure maintenance.

Funding required

$5,000,000

Funding confirmed

$50,896

Last updated: 12 Sep 2024

Plan types

Funding confirmed

99%

Funding gap

Health system strengthening

IOM will continue efforts to strengthen the health system in Lebanon through the following activities:

Providing support to the National Tuberculosis Programmes (NTP) by integrating TB services into public facilities and primary health care.
Providing support to the National Referral Lab on TB.
Using a community-based approach to find active TB cases.
Developing a large-scale TB screening in prisons with the NTP.
Supporting thematic NGOs and community-based organizations (CBOs) related to the National AIDS Programme (NAP).
Advocating and supporting the NAP and the NTP in transforming digital health information systems.
Engaging with MoPH in a potential insurance scheme for migrants living in Lebanon.
Providing migrants with follow-up care, accommodation, health-care services, psychosocial support (e.g. therapy, support groups), and legal assistance.

As part of border health interventions, IOM will coordinate with the MoPH to develop public health emergency contingency plans to respond to suspected communicable diseases at the borders, in an overall objective to improve preparedness and risk reduction at the borders, in line with the 2005 International Health Regulations. In addition, IOM will enhance the resilience of Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCCs) to climate change and disease outbreaks such as cholera. Activities will include:

Training of health and non-health staff at borders on border health and International Health Regulations (2005).
Developing standard operating procedures and contingency plans at borders for public health threats.
Procuring supplies, equipment, and diagnostic tests.
Cultural sensitization training for primary health-care staff.
Supporting the MoPH to develop the public health emergency response plan.
Conducting symptom screening and awareness sessions for migrants at borders.
Supporting a network of volunteers all over Lebanon in outreach activities to migrants and vulnerable communities, to raise awareness about different public health topics including but not limited to cholera, COVID-19, tuberculosis, and HIV.
Supporting outbreak preparedness, building a stockpile of kits to distribute in emergencies.
Enhancing the capacity of the PHCCs to respond to environmental crises, particularly those stemming from climate change.

Funding required

$3,750,000

Plan types

Adaptation and disaster risk reduction

IOM will strengthen relevant stakeholders’ capacity to reduce disaster risk through a multi-hazard approach that will identify hazards by improving relevant local and national capacities to respond to these dangers. Activities will include: