Resident Coordinator's Opening Remarks at Workshop on Sustaining Critical Government Functions, The Way Forward

Excellencies,  

Representatives of government administrations,

Esteemed friends and colleagues,   

Good morning,  

I am very pleased to join you all today for this event.

I would like first to thank UNDP and UNICEF, for convening this pertinent workshop which constitutes an important opportunity to reflect on the current challenges facing the public sector in Lebanon and propose viable solutions to sustain core government functions amid a deepening crisis.

Since 2019, Lebanon has been reeling under an unprecedented multifaceted economic, financial, and social crisis. The severe currency depreciation coupled with triple-digit inflation eroded the purchasing power of Lebanese households and their capacity to meet their very basic needs. The deteriorating economic situation and living conditions resulted in widespread poverty, soaring unemployment, and a massive brain drain.

The implications of the crisis hit every single person in the country, but it is evident that civil servants are amongst the most affected, as their salaries were completely eroded by inflation. Also, the dramatic decline in working conditions, represented in electricity blackouts, internet cuts, and limited access to supplies, has triggered hundreds and maybe thousands of experienced and high-skilled civil servants to quit their jobs permanently or temporarily. This is a significant and unrecoverable loss for Lebanon and its public institutions.  

All these factors pose a serious threat to the sustainability of public service delivery to Lebanese citizens. Limited access to and the deteriorating quality of basic services are strongly felt by all factions of the Lebanese society, with the poor and most vulnerable paying a hefty price. This may unfortunately reverse decades of progress that Lebanon struggled to achieve in poverty, health, education, and other development areas. Hence the urgent need to support State institutions, to limit these substantial damages, and put Lebanon back on a sustainable recovery and development path.  

The United Nations family remains committed to continuing its support to the Lebanese Government and its people in a myriad of fields, including in poverty eradication, health, education, social protection, local development, environment protection, security and peace, private sector development, and gender equality, amongst others. Having strong and active public institutions remain a pre-requisite for the UN and the Government of Lebanon to deliver on all these areas of major concern to the people. And this is what the UN system and its partners are keen to see in Lebanon: To have strong and effective institutions delivering on their mandate.

Our work with the government will be aligned with the reform programme mutually agreed upon between the Government of Lebanon and the IMF, as part of the Staff-level agreement signed in April 2022.  On this, we will be in close coordination with the IMF team to make sure that we are moving towards a common objective, that is of helping the people of Lebanon wither the implications of this unfolding crisis. 

It is no secret that this is a very challenging task given the ongoing turmoil and it becomes more challenging with the delay in the provision of support.

But here - and I am speaking on behalf of all the UN agencies working in Lebanon- we have many questions that we would like to address in this workshop: How can we provide this support? Through which modalities? How can we ensure that this support is sustainable and targeted to critical priority areas? What kind of evidence do we have? Is this evidence sufficient to guide our way? And how can we align support with the aspired longer-term reform agenda? 

These questions and many others will be thoroughly discussed and elaborated on in this workshop.

Ladies and Gentlemen,  

Today’s Workshop aims to help us better understand how to sustain critical government functions to prevent a total administrative collapse, without losing sight of the longer-term reform vision, and how to build a stronger and more efficient Lebanese Administration. Existing research done by UNDP and UNICEF will inform our discussion and stimulate our exchange.

And here, I address you -our government counterparts- as we count on you to achieve this Workshop’s goals and leave with key takeaways:  

First, a clear set of priority actions to be urgently implemented in the public sector 

Second, a more informed vision on the way forward toward a long-term full-fledged public sector reform agenda built on lessons learns from previous UN support.  

And third, a network of experts and partners to support the public sector reform.

Distinguished participants,

Public sector reform must be at the very heart of our joint concerns and efforts. Today, and in my capacity as UN Resident Coordinator, representing the UN family in Lebanon, I look forward to supporting our national partners to lead efforts that ensure this is done in the best way possible. 

With these words, let me thank all of you again for joining us today and a special thanks go to the Office of the Prime Minister for supporting and owning this important initiative.

Let’s leave this workshop reassured by the commitment to step up implementation on the way forward.

I wish us all a successful and productive discussion. 

Thank you