Lebanon Baseline information - Syria Needs Analysis Project

from MapAction, Assessment Capacities Project
Published on 10 Oct 2013 View Original

This paper outlines the social and economic situation in Lebanon by explaining the causes of the significant underlying vulnerabilities and by exploring how these issues have been compounded by the crisis in Syria and the subsequent population influx.

Causes of underlying vulnerabilities:

Lebanon’s economic indicators show that the country is highly developed in many aspects, with education and healthcare, for example, being of a relatively high standard. However, the disparity between the wealthy and the poor is vast and many communities found across different parts of the country live in poverty and are under-served by government infrastructure.

Even in the suburbs of Beirut, government-provided electricity is only available for 12 hours a day, forcing families to spend money on expensive generators.

Economic development is hampered by political instability, corruption, the lack of economic diversity and the high cost of the unreliable electricity supply.