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| CPR Newsletter: Securing development, peace and justice for all | |
| Supporting Lebanon’s recovery On 31 August 2006, donors pledged a total of USD 900 million towards Lebanon at the Stockholm Conference. This is almost twice the USD 500 million target set by the organizers to finance the Government of Lebanon’s (GOL) national early recovery efforts, based on its own needs assessments conducted in close cooperation with the United Nations. Early recovery initiatives, as presented by GOL, would ensure measures to meet the immediate needs of the Lebanese people across 11 sectors: displacement and shelter, mines and unexploded ordnance, infrastructure, water and sanitation, health, education, environment, employment and livelihoods, agricultural production, industrial production, and assistance to the Palestinian camps. The GOL took the opportunity to present the steps envisaged for its long-term recovery and reconstruction efforts that will be discussed during another international conference scheduled for later this year in Beirut. With an initial contribution of approximately USD 4 million from its own resources, UNDP has launched a number of quick delivery, high-impact projects in support of GOL’s efforts. The projects aim to: enable municipalities to rehabilitate basic local services; clear rubble and debris; rehabilitate key public infrastructure; help clean up the oil spill; and provide assistance to recover fishermen’s livelihoods. UNDP is also providing technical assistance to the Policy Advisory Unit of the Prime Minister’s office in its recovery planning and coordination work. As part of these early initiatives, UNDP has allocated USD 800,000 to 98 municipalities in Southern Lebanon and Baalbek in order to allow them to lead the reconstruction process at the municipal level and facilitate the return of internally displaced persons. UNDP has also provided seed funding to fisherman associations in Lebanon to repair fishermen’s damaged boats, provide the latter with nets and engines and rebuild the fish market in Ouzai. The oil spill, compounded by Israel’s naval blockade, has heavily impacted the fishing sector, where an estimated 3,500 fishermen have lost their only source of income. The Canadian Government was the first donor to support UNDP’s early recovery activities with a contribution of CAD 2 million. Other donors have since provided additional contributions, including Japan (USD 3 million, of which USD 1 million is for mine action through the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security), Brazil (USD 500,000) and Australia (AUD 500,000). UNDP continues working closely with donors to close the remaining financial gap of its quick delivery-highly impact initiatives, estimated at about USD 46 million.
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