UNDP Virtual Briefing on the response to Lebanon's crisis

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Over one month after the devastating port explosions that hit the heart of Beirut, the scale of the loss is so vast. The magnitude of damage remains massive, overwhelming.

As I walk around Beirut every day, I listen to stories of shock and of loss. Women and men who have never had to ask for help, now reduced to handouts. Families who have had their homes and futures blown away. Children who no longer feel safe in their neighborhoods. Proud businesspeople who cannot access their savings, unable to start again.

It is these people who must be at the center of the Lebanon Reform, Recovery and Reconstruction Framework – the 3RF - that presents real solutions to these very real problems - so that together, we can deliver institutional, economic and social change that will end need, restore hope and trust, and put Lebanon back on the path to sustainable development.

Excellencies,

We have an enormous hill to climb. That is why I issued a global call for support to Lebanon’s recovery, reform and reconstruction.

While this may seem a very long process to a full recovery, we have mobilized our partners as well as our full capacity and resources to respond swiftly and widely to the needs of the people.

On the ground, UN agencies and partners - including national and international NGOs, as well as volunteers and local communities - have swung into action. Till today, they are sparing no time nor effort to provide life-saving assistance in the healthcare, food, water, hygiene, shelter and protection sectors. 

However, Lebanon needs support that goes beyond the scope of emergency response and appeals. 

Together with the European Union and the World Bank, we have delivered a Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment in record time to help support an evidence-based recovery planning based on a “Building Back Better” approach. This approach guides the 3R framework that prioritizes the needs of the people, particularly the poor and the most vulnerable.

This 3RF consists of three entwined phases that aim to help Lebanon emerge from its interlocking crises.

The first phase focuses on providing emergency relief assistance, through life-saving assistance to over 180,000 people who need it most. This has been channeled through our long-lasting local and international partners. And I want to thank them for stepping up their efforts at a critical time, and for reaffirming their solidarity with the Lebanese people. 

Yet, much more is needed as we were only able to secure US$56.3 million thus far out of the $344.5 million required to address the urgent needs following the blast.

We must continue to make every effort to guarantee strong and predictable financing at a time of instability, volatility and great vulnerability for the Lebanese and those devastated by the explosions. The faster we act, the better we can reduce human suffering and the sooner we can ensure a proper and smooth recovery.

This leads me to the second front for the 3R framework: the recovery. The recovery framework will ensure all activities serve first and foremost the multi-faceted needs of the people.

To recover better, we will adopt a Humanitarian-Development-Peace continuum approach that puts the most vulnerable people at the centre of the response and recovery efforts and ensures coherence and synergy across all interventions.

Throughout the recovery process, we also commit to target every person, every community, every family, to leave no one behind and do no harm to ensure that this crisis instead becomes an opportunity for a more stable and prosperous future for everyone.

UNDP’s important work to support everyone with conflict sensitivity analyses and do no harm analyses will be critical in ensuring that the international community takes this type of principled approach to the recovery.

Women are particularly vulnerable and have been hit the hardest by the blast. We will make sure to have their rights and the principles of equality and women empowerment well integrated in all recovery actions.

A third phase to advance the 3R framework is about reconstruction, which will be far-reaching as it involves, apart from rebuilding and rehabilitating what has been destroyed, significant macro-economic and structural reforms. However, focusing on the long-term is crucial to ensure this tragedy will mark a turning point for Lebanon.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The port explosions served as a wake-up call but also as a window of opportunity to build back a better Lebanon through a series of decisive actions. Above all, it is an opportunity to unleash a new wave of implementation efforts that will deliver for the people of Lebanon, those most vulnerable and those who suffered most from the tragedy.

The UN is moving forward on that front along with its long-standing partners. Our aim is to leave no-one behind and assure a bright future for the people.

My optimism for Lebanon’s future is based upon its past. This small dynamic country knows a lot about resilience. And it has raised a generation of vocal, intelligent, engaged young people who made every effort to support those in need, to clear streets and houses from debris and be part of wider relief efforts. 

But now these people hardly cope with such monumental challenges. They are tired of being resilient, of new thorny problems that life throws at them. They want simply to live in peace and dignity.

We owe it to the Lebanese people to put in place transformative and structural change that addresses all aspects of today’s crisis and helps them get back on their feet and move towards a prosperous future. 

This is the moment for the international community to heed the current call, a move ahead with a collective response in unity and solidarity with the Lebanese people who were and remain generous hosts to more than 800,000 Syrian refugees and over 200,000 Palestine refugees, who themselves have been affected by the blast.

We need your financial commitments but also your sustained political will to ensure a long-lasting recovery and reform process, which will be worthwhile investments in the stability and prosperity of Lebanon, but also of the entire region. 

Let us continue to stand side by side with the people of Lebanon and help them rebuild their lives and livelihoods.

Together, we can ensure the people of Lebanon will recover fast and emerge stronger from this horrendous tragedy.

Thank you.