IOM Lebanon will conduct research and data activities to improve knowledge of migration trends and monitor displacement and return dynamics in Lebanon. As the primary source of internal displacement data in the country, DTM not only ensures high standards of data quality and protection but also strengthens IOM’s analytical capacity to transform data into actionable insights. By integrating research with analysis, IOM enables evidence-based decision-making, enhancing service delivery and ensuring that humanitarian and development responses remains targeted, effective and responsive to evolving needs. 

Key activities will include:

• Conducting Migrant Presence Monitoring (MPM).
• Contributing to Multisector Needs Assessments.
• Researching drivers and trends of irregular migration to inform IOM programming, aligned with IOM's Global Data Institute (GDI) priorities. 
• Conducting a recurrent Intention Survey with IDPs to guide humanitarian planning and response.
• Regularly monitoring protection issues among migrant communities in Lebanon, in cooperation with the Migrant Sector and NGO partners.
• Monitoring and analyzing cross-border population movements.
   

IOM will deliver healthcare services to diverse populations, including IDPs, refugees, migrants and vulnerable Lebanese communities. In partnership with the Ministry of Public Health, IOM aims to build inclusive, migrant-friendly healthcare systems.

Key components of IOM’s public health interventions will include:  

• Strengthening the Ministry of Public Health’s capacity to integrate health into migration policies by providing training, facilitating consultations, and enhancing governance to ensure inclusive and effective migration health responses, aligning efforts with the Toolkit for Integrating Migration into Health Interventions through the Mainstreaming Migration into International Cooperation and Development (MMICD) initiative for comprehensive implementation.
• Delivering primary healthcare services following the Long-term Primary Healthcare Subsidization Protocol (LPSP) set by the Ministry of Public Health, including maternal/child health, non-communicable diseases, nutrition and vaccination through subsidized consultations, laboratory tests, and diagnostic imaging.
• Providing secondary advanced healthcare services for migrants affected by crises based on lifesaving and limb-saving criteria.
• Facilitating referral assistance to enable access to primary healthcare centres (PHCCs). 
• Supporting the Ministry of Public Health in strengthening the National Tuberculosis and AIDS control programmes by ensuring continuity of treatment and essential services for all vulnerable groups, including migrants. 
• Extending services to hard-to-reach areas through mobile health teams, including community health workers, field coordinators and directly observed therapy workers for screenings, health promotion and awareness activities.  
• Enhancing community health resilience through health education and promotion activities and implementation of preventive health services.
• Supporting telehealth services at PHCCs, with a focus on environmental health and MHPSS.
• Engaging in emergency preparedness and response activities through logistics and procurement of medical supplies and medications. 
• Engaging with the Lebanese medical diaspora, the government and the international community to strengthen the health system in Lebanon. 
• Strengthening the health component at border points by establishing a dedicated health unit.
   

IOM will contribute to improving the protection environment for vulnerable populations in Lebanon in accordance with the Organization’s approach to protection. IOM will strive to support all vulnerable individuals, including IDPs, migrants, host communities, refugees, victims of trafficking, women and girls at risk, and others. Key activities will include the following thematic areas:

• Delivering specialized protection services aimed at preventing, mitigating and responding to protection risks, including, GBV, child protection concerns, discrimination, stigmatization and barriers to housing, land and property (HLP) rights. This will also include case management, cash for protection, legal assistance, awareness-raising, safe and ethical referral pathways, community-based protection initiatives, GBV risk mitigation in accordance with IOM’s Institutional Framework on Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Crises (GBViC Framework), and protection monitoring as part of the inter-agency Protection Monitoring Reference Group within the Protection Sector. 
• Providing protection and assistance to migrants vulnerable to violence, exploitation and abuse and ensuring their safety and well-being throughout the migration process and along migration routes. 
• Delivering comprehensive services to address the needs of Lebanese returnees, including virtual counselling prior to return, protection support upon arrival, case management and social, psychosocial and economic reintegration assistance.
• Strengthening the prevention and protection measures for migrants at risk of trafficking. This includes implementing standardized screening procedures for early identification of trafficked migrants, providing trauma-informed support services, enhancing coordination with anti-trafficking stakeholders to strengthen referral mechanisms and case management, supporting policy reforms, and building the capacity of government counterparts. In addition, IOM will engage with the private sector to promote ethical recruitment practices that safeguard migrant workers from exploitation. 
   

IOM will provide humane, dignified, and voluntary movement support to migrants caught in crisis. In Lebanon, movement assistance will include the following activities:

• Facilitating safe movement assistance for vulnerable migrants, returnees, IDPs and individuals at risk of trafficking, including evacuations, internal relocations within Lebanon, and safe, dignified and voluntary return to home countries, such as AVRR.
• Supporting the reunification of separated families by ensuring the safety of each member and facilitating their safe return to their loved ones.
• Providing transportation assistance for beneficiaries to improve access to healthcare services into PHCCs.

To scale up support to safe, dignified and voluntary return movements to Syria, IOM’s planning and response efforts are documented in the Syria Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) Crisis Response Plan. This aligns with the efforts under the 3RP framework in coordination with other agencies and partners.  
 

IOM will enhance national capacities to address the mental health and psychosocial needs of host populations, IDPs and migrant communities in Lebanon, promoting mental health and psychosocial well-being. MHPSS interventions will focus on fostering social cohesion, community stabilization and the peacebuilding and recovery of conflict-affected communities. These efforts will align with Lebanon’s National Mental Health Strategy to address both existing and emerging mental health and psychosocial needs and will include:

• Strengthening coordination with governmental entities on MHPSS issues, including the Ministry of Public Health through its National Mental Health Programme (NMHP), the MHPSS taskforce and the Ministry of Social Affairs, along with other relevant bodies
• Supporting the Government of Lebanon systems' strengthening on MHPSS including developing relevant strategies to improve mental health and psychosocial support services.
• Delivering MHPSS services through implementing partners, using a community-based and conflict-sensitive approach. This will encompass awareness-raising initiatives, community and family support activities, as well as focused and specialized MHPSS services. MHPSS services will be delivered in line with the IOM Manual on Community-based MHPSS in Emergencies and Displacement. 
• Enhancing the capacity of frontline workers—including governmental and non-governmental stakeholders—on critical MHPSS topics to promote individual well-being, foster social cohesion, and ensure sustainable interventions.
• Equipping frontline workers with the skills to identify and address psychosocial needs, provide psychological first aid (PFA), and apply psychosocially-informed approaches, including trauma-informed care for victims of trafficking, stranded migrants, returnees, and unaccompanied and separated children (UASC).
• Delivering direct MHPSS services to vulnerable migrants, including victims of trafficking, stranded migrants, returnees, and UASC, to enhance their well-being and resilience. This includes facilitating timely referrals to specialized MHPSS services as needed, ensuring comprehensive care and support for those in need.
• Strengthening capacity of community leadership structure representatives (such as community and religious leaders, teachers, youth and women leaders, and caretakers of marginalized groups) and enable them to act as MHPSS resource persons and ambassadors of change in the community. 
• Integrating MHPSS into other programming areas such as protection, livelihoods, peace and recovery programmes, health, border management, amongst others, to ensure a comprehensive and holistic approach to service provision.

IOM will support shelter repair and rehabilitation to ensure safe weatherproofing, and dignified living conditions for displaced populations. IOM will focus on:

• Repairing and rehabilitating shelters and housing units hosting IDPs to create safe, resilient, and dignified living environments. 
• Providing emergency shelter kits to improve weatherproofing and enhance access to dignified shelter.
• Implementing protection risk mitigation measures, fire safety protocols, environmental hazard protection and providing necessary equipment. 
• Promoting mid-term solutions, encouraging collaboration and ownership from displaced and host communities and stakeholders.
• Addressing light and moderate shelter damage by sealing buildings against harsh weather conditions, while ensuring culturally acceptable privacy in shared living spaces.
• Providing winterization cash/in-kind support to help families cope with the harsh winter conditions.  
• Distributing non-food items (NFIs) and in-kind assistance, including essential relief items such as mattresses, blankets, kitchen sets and solar lamps to IDPs and host communities to meet their immediate needs.
• Developing adaptable shelter and settlement interventions that address both residual displacement and returns, with a focus on settlement-level solutions.
• Enhancing IOM's capacity for multi-sectoral assistance by combining WASH initiatives, particularly infrastructure rehabilitation, with shelter and settlement rehabilitation efforts.
• Adopting area-based and strategic urban planning approaches to optimize resource allocation and maximize the impact of interventions.
   

IOM’s WASH interventions are designed to provide life-saving access to safe water and sanitation. In 2025, IOM will construct and rehabilitate key WASH infrastructure, including: 

• Connecting collective sites and housing units to the nearest main water sources, ensuring access to adequate water storage.
• Providing the water storage needed at the household level and ensuring safe and sufficient access to water in sites.
• Rehabilitating/repairing damaged and non-functional water networks at the household and community levels.
• Maintaining safe latrines and waste disposal systems within collective sites to ensure proper sanitation and minimize health risks.
• Conducting hygiene promotion activities, including the distribution of hygiene kits to the needed population, in coordination with the local authorities and WASH sector and partners.

IOM will collaborate with local authorities and site management partners to provide protection, assistance, and protection-sensitive site and environmental improvements in areas hosting displaced populations, vulnerable migrants, host communities, and refugees. These interventions will support collective and informal displacement sites, ensuring that services are effectively coordinated, and core humanitarian standards are upheld. As co-coordinator of the Site Management and Coordination Sector, IOM will ensure effective coordination at the national and local levels, providing support to partners by leveraging its global expertise as CCCM Cluster co-lead and leadership in the areas of information management and capacity strengthening.  

Key activities will include:  

• Supporting site improvements to reduce hazards and improve living conditions, including the installation and provision of essential equipment to meet the community’s needs and mitigate protection risks.
• Implementing activities aligned with contingency planning, light decommissioning, and site closures in response to contextual changes. The decommissioning process will focus on restoring facilities to their original state, ensuring safety and functionality for their intended use. This will also include the responsible handover of schools to the Ministry of Education and the return of sites to the community, promoting sustainable and effective resource utilization.
• Distributing key materials to increase privacy and dignity for displaced individuals.
• Providing tools, on-the-job training and support to partners and affected communities to empower them in managing sites effectively.
• Strengthening community engagement structures and community feedback channels to ensure participation of displaced communities in decision-making and enhance their ability to raise issues that require referral and response from service providers.
• Creating effective coordination mechanisms to streamline partner responses to displacement through technically-focused meetings, ensuring efficient coordination of the overall CCCM response.
• Strengthening the technical capacity of government authorities at the national and district levels on CCCM to improve management of displacement.
   

IOM Lebanon will strengthen the preparedness and resilience of communities in fragile contexts to mitigate disaster risks and strengthen local capacities based on various scenarios of escalated conflict and the needs they would present. This will include: 

• Enhancing capacity and training initiatives for national and local authorities, including developing customized training programmes based on identified needs, focusing on disaster preparedness, contingency planning, and emergency response. 
• Strengthening the capacity of local first responders in partnership with the Lebanon Red Crescent, and including local civil society organizations (CSOs), to enhance their roles in disaster preparedness and response. 
• Providing technical assistance, training, and equipment to strengthen national search and rescue services and frontline responders to enhance their capacity for disaster response. 
• Promoting the establishment of disaster risk reduction (DRR) legislative frameworks in partnership with key stakeholders. 
• Strengthening early warning systems, mitigation efforts and preparedness, through community-centred hazard assessments and analyses. 
• Promoting and supporting the construction of community infrastructure (such as drainage systems, sustainable and durable housing, sanitation and water facilities) that adheres to the Building Back Better (BBB) principle, especially in response to the destruction caused by the recent war in Lebanon, which destroyed an estimated 100,000 housing units. 
• Promoting ecosystem restoration and implementing nature-based solutions to improve community resilience against disasters. 
• Conducting community vulnerability assessments and developing action plans to mitigate hazards, adapt to climate change, improve resilience and livelihoods. 
• Educating communities about the impacts of climate change, pollution, and the importance of biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource management.
• Strengthening relevant stakeholders’ capacity to reduce disaster risk through a multi-hazard approach, including training, education, vulnerability assessments, and the provision of infrastructure and equipment. 
   

IOM aims to enhance livelihoods and protect vulnerable populations by addressing the socioeconomic and climate change factors that contribute to community tension, irregular migration and durable solutions. IOM’s activities will provide vulnerable Syrian refugees, Lebanese and returning IDPs access to temporary employment and longer-term income-generating opportunities, while improving employability and job retention. 

Activities will include:

Providing aspiring business owners with microfinancing grants and training to support business development. 
Distributing grants to MSMEs to boost local businesses through the Enterprise Development Fund (EDF) to create or maintain jobs.
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, including cash in exchange for rubble clearance and rehabilitation of public infrastructure. 

IOM will implement projects aimed at supporting local communities experiencing tensions and/or prone to irregular migration. These efforts will apply a community-based planning (CBP) approach to foster local collaboration and trust and enhance community life through improvements in public infrastructure, local services, and livelihood activities. Community-based planning is crucial for promoting the active participation of returnees, restoring social cohesion, and engaging in joint planning to establish shared recovery and resilience priorities.

Key activities will include: 

• Launching community-based planning activities within areas facing tensions, by establishing or reviving local committees that promote cross-communal collaboration in pursuit of mutual agendas.
• Implementing identified community support projects to improve local facilities, public infrastructure, and services.
• Ensuring inclusive programming through activities such as community dialogues, providing representation for marginalized groups, including women and youth
• Providing capacity and coordination support to local committees and authorities to build greater trust with local communities. 
• Piloting a co-funding mechanism, a community fundraising tool designed to promote horizontal and vertical trust.
   

Many displaced individuals, as well as those returning to their area of origin, face significant challenges in accessing their HLP rights due to dispossession and barriers in obtaining effective legal support. To enhance the resilience of affected persons, IOM will address these challenges by:

• Conducting assessments to identify the specific HLP needs of affected individuals, including displaced persons.
• Providing case management services to displaced persons, ensuring they receive targeted assistance in addressing their HLP challenges. 
• Strengthening the capacity of local authorities, civil society organizations, and community leaders to effectively address HLP grievances and create clear pathways for resolution. This will include supporting the provision of legal aid and raising awareness at the community level about HLP rights and available legal options.
   

IOM will contribute towards reducing risks of conflict, tensions, irregular migration and violent extremism by working with communities to identify the underlying drivers of conflict, strengthen local capacities, and deliver peace dividends. This will entail a range of initiatives aimed at promoting dialogue and understanding among diverse communities, such as:

• Conducting conflict assessments and analysis to understand underlying tensions, grievances and triggers within communities.
• Mapping key actors and conflict dynamics to develop targeted interventions that promote stability and social cohesion.
• Providing training on conflict resolution, mediation, and dialogue facilitation to strengthen local mechanisms for dispute resolution.
• Organizing focus group discussions centred on dialogue, peacebuilding, social cohesion and coexistence to foster mutual understanding.
• Promoting inclusive participation by engaging women, youth and marginalized groups in leadership roles.
• Implementing community events, cultural exchanges and intercommunal dialogues to foster trust and mutual respect.
   

IOM seeks to maximize the benefits of migration through well-planned, managed, and governed policies and services. IOM supports expanding access to regular migration pathways, including educational opportunities as well as complementary pathways for protection, providing an alternative to high-risk irregular migration driven by instability. This will be done through: 

• Facilitating engagement with private sector employers and associations in Lebanon and destination countries to support skills development and vocational training for job placements, including through skills mobility partnerships. 
• Developing labour market-responsive and gender-sensitive vocational training programmes tailored to the needs of employers to increase employability of the beneficiaries and promote job matching. 
• Liaising with government officials on migration governance, legal frameworks, and best practices for managing regular migration pathways, while supporting the development of a Migration Policy Strategy. 
• Engaging with the diaspora and facilitating the Returns of Qualified Nationals Programme for Syria, when the appropriate conditions are met, in accordance with UN guidelines and aligning effort with the 3RP framework in coordination with other agencies and partners.
• Strengthening the capacity of government counterparts, as well as private sector engagement, on ethical recruitment practices. 
   

IOM will provide capacity development to support the Lebanese government, the General Security Directorate (GSD) and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in humanitarian border management, responding to irregular migration, and addressing transnational crimes, particularly human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants, recognizing the heightened risks during crises. IOM also works with the Ministry of Public Health to strengthen disease control and prevention at key points of entry. 

Key activities will include:

• Strengthening national humanitarian border management and search-and-rescue capacities to ensure that migrants whose lives and/or safety are at risk at sea, particularly in the context of migrant smuggling, are rescued and provided with protection and assistance. 
• Providing equipment, technical assistance, and small-scale improvements of border infrastructure to enhance operational effectiveness.
• Providing capacity strengthening to national authorities in evaluating migration movements and migration legislation and policies related to identity, temporary entry, health requirements, as well as migrant smuggling and trafficking.