Statement by Dr Najat Rochdi, UN Resident &Humanitarian Coordinator: Provision of fuel to maintain critical health and WASH services in Lebanon

“This exceptional fuel distribution to healthcare and water facilities across Lebanon has been ensuring provision of critical health, water and sanitation services to the most vulnerable populations affected by the ongoing energy crisis and preserve lifesaving humanitarian activities in all districts” said Dr Najat Rochdi, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon.

The development of this fuel delivery plan has been covering all Lebanese Governorates, allowing the most vulnerable people affected by the crisis in Lebanon to continue getting access to functioning health services and to safe drinking water. More than 300 water pumping stations have been provided with fuel, lessening most vulnerable families’ dependence towards more expensive alternatives such as bottled or trucked water tankers.

Over the past weeks, the emergency fuel supply has been guaranteeing uninterrupted health activities to those most in need. The provision of emergency fuel has allowed 24 public hospitals to remain open, supporting more than 887 functional hospital beds, including care for COVID-19 patients. In parallel, the National AIDS Programme / National Tuberculosis Programme, as well as 138 Primary Health Care Centres (PHCCs), have been able to maintain essential health services to serve the most vulnerable at a critical period of unprecedented rise of demand. This emergency plan has also ensured the uninterrupted operation of 12 cold chain sites to safeguard storage of routine and COVID-19 vaccines and medications for catastrophic illness such as cancer therapy.

“I sincerely thank the leadership of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Lebanon working hand in hand with the Health and WASH sectors in handling the logistics of fuel operations as part of the UN coordinated Emergency Response Plan (ERP)” stressed Dr Rochdi. This US$383 million humanitarian plan has been launched three months ago to deliver crucial life-saving humanitarian assistance to most vulnerable Lebanese and migrants affected by the crisis in Lebanon, in complement to the humanitarian activities already implemented under the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan and UNRWA programs.

Dr Rochdi also sincerely thanks donors to OCHA-managed Lebanon Humanitarian Fund (LHF) and the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) pooled funding mechanism for their generous contributions to financing critical elements of the collective fuel distribution. The rapid mobilization of these financial resources has enabled the humanitarian community to act swiftly in response to critical humanitarian needs.

The unsolved energy crisis in Lebanon unfortunately continues to jeopardize basic health and water services supply across Lebanon, threatening the life of thousands of families in Lebanon. “I call on the Government of Lebanon to take its responsibility in ensuring that families in Lebanon have unhindered access to essential services and in implementing necessary measures to sustainably address the on-going energy crisis” Dr Rochdi said.