ILO Boosts Jobs, Living Standards for Displaced Locals

In response to the escalating crisis in Lebanon the ILO Employment Intensive Infrastructure Programme (EIIP), funded by Germany through the KfW Development Bank and by internal ILO funding is expanding its activities to address the urgent needs of displaced families and individuals affected by the crisis while also creating much-needed job opportunities for local residents.

The initiative will improve living conditions in collective shelters harbouring residents who have fled unsafe parts of the country, while also creating cash-for-work opportunities in rehabilitating buildings being used as shelters. Initially, the new initiative will focus on shelters located in the Dekwaneh area of the capital Beirut and the northern coastal city of Tripoli, with plans to extend assistance to additional shelters and areas throughout Lebanon.

While the initiative will initially create inclusive job opportunities in shelter rehabilitation works for vulnerable women and men, including persons with disabilities, its later stages will also aim to promote early economic recovery and restore livelihoods amongst those communities most severely affected by displacement. The Lebanese authorities report that the current conflict has displaced at least one million people in recent weeks.

Immediate rehabilitation works under the EIIP will focus on installing temporary partition panels to create designated livings spaces, rehabilitating kitchens, sanitary facilities and wastewater and stormwater drainage networks, and cleaning the shelters and their surroundings.

The initiative falls under the ILO's Lebanon Emergency Response Plan and will be implemented under the guidance of the Government's Emergency Response Committee, led by the caretaker Minister of Environment, Nasser Yassin. It builds on existing EIIP activities, with other ILO development projects due to join the initiative.

The ILO's Emergency Response Plan complements the Emergency and Relief Committee established by the Lebanese government and a number of UN agencies. It aims to mitigate the impact of the war on the residents of Lebanon and prepare the ground for recovery, in accordance with its mandate to advance social protection and ensure decent work opportunities and economic sustainability.