EIIP Lebanon update June 2024

General

The economic crisis in Lebanon has led to high levels of inflation, sharp price increases, job loss and increasing vulnerabilities and protection risks for the most vulnerable sections of the population, such as daily workers, elderly, women, and men living in poverty, female headed households, and people with disabilities. The economic situation in Lebanon continues to deteriorate, which is impacting the Lebanese population and in effect also Lebanon’s ability to host 1.5 million refugees[1].

The Lebanese Pound during Jan – June2024 continued trading in the parallel market at an average of 89,500 LBP. While contracts and wages are fully paid in USD based on a technical note developed by ILO together with UNDP and WFP, and in coordination with KfW. The continued price increases and a fluctuating exchange rate pose further challenges to the implementation of cash for work programs like that of EIIP, and thus trigger for revision of wages and transportation allowances on a regular basis. A revision was developed recommending the increase of daily wages of unskilled workers to almost 10$ a day, including transportation. This was implemented starting November 1, 2022, on all wages of unskilled workers. Furthermore, ILO conducted a new wage assessment survey in December 2023, through which it has been apparent that the minimum wage across all sectors in Lebanon was reported to be12$ and in the construction sector 13$. As such, ILO together with members of the cash working group developed a new technical note to advise on updating the minimum wage for CFW projects to better reflect the current market demands. Asa result, the minimum wage of unskilled workers has been modified to 12$ a day with an additional 2$ for persons with disabilities as of July 1, 2024.

Considering all the challenges mentioned above, the EIIP remains an important crisis response approach, to strengthen the resilience of local host communities and Syrian refugees by providing job opportunities and improving livelihoods, contributing to economic development and service provision.

Overall targets for Phase IV were achieved with most projects already completed and delivered. Some delays in implementation have been experienced in the farm infrastructure project, specifically related to the current security situation in the south. As such, a new no-cost extension to the phase IV financing agreement has been applied till June 30, 2024. Furthermore, with the remaining infrastructure budget, EIIP has started to green the roof of the Mhamara school block that was constructed during the same phase as an environmental solution for reducing the energy consumption in the building and improving its air quality in addition to supplying it with furniture that will be constructed through the EIIP approach.

EIIP Lebanon and KfW signed on the financial agreement for Phase V starting January1st, 2023, for a duration of 25 months. Phase V covers both creation and rehabilitation of public assets with more focus on the generation of green works and capacity building as well as skills development both for concerned public institutions (such as relevant Ministries, beneficiary municipalities and other governmental entities) and direct beneficiaries of the program, i.e., workers. Projects have been identified in coordination with KfW and initial employment targets specified. Currently, most of these projects are either ongoing or in mobilization; details of which can be found in the table below.

Phase III completed in May 2022

à Completion report submitted to KfW in September 2022.

Phase I+II ending December 2020

à Completion report submitted to KfW.

‍Project and employment summary below

A live project map can be found on the following link: EIIP Lebanon Projects Map

EIIP Phase V

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EIIP Phase IV

Employment generation by June 2024

[1]2022 Lebanon Crisis Response Plan (LCRP)

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