The United Nations in Lebanon

About the United Nations in Lebanon

Lebanon's most important resource is its human element. With a median age of 33.7 and a literacy rate exceeding 95%, Lebanon takes pride in its young and educated capacities.
Photo: © UNV Lebanon 2020

Lebanon is one of the 51 founding members of the United Nations that signed the UN Charter on June 26th, 1945. Since then, the UN engagement in Lebanon has been active and uninterrupted. Today, the UN works with the Government of Lebanon and its people towards the achievement of the country’s national priorities that correspond with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In total, there are 26 UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes (UNAFPs) active on Lebanese soil, with the UN Country Team (UNCT) working on three main priorities: Peace and security; Domestic stability and effective governance; & Reducing poverty and promoting sustainable development.

Milestones

1

Lebanon participated in the United Nations Conference on Environment & Development (Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 5, 1992; and along with the other participants committed to the principles set forth by the Rio Declaration. In that context, it signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The CBD was ratified by the Government of Lebanon (GoL) through Law No. 360/1994.

2

Since the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, Lebanon has shown exceptional solidarity, welcoming around 1.5 million Syrian refugees. To address the economic, social, demographic, environmental, and security effects of the crisis, the UN and international partners with the GoL have developed and continues to implement the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan and other instruments that aim to respond to the challenges through integrated humanitarian and stabilisation interventions.

3

Lebanon endorsed the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015. To this end, The Council of Ministers established a National Committee on the SDGs in November 2017 to coordinate national efforts on the SDGs, raise awareness, integrate the SDGs into national programmes and plans, and contribute to the preparation of a Voluntary National Review.

4

Lebanon signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change at the UN Ceremony in New York in April 2016. It ratified the Paris Agreement on March 29th, 2019 (via Law 115/2019) and deposited its instrument of ratification in February 2020 at the United Nations.

5

Lebanon presented its first Voluntary National Review (VNR) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the ministerial meeting of the Economic and Social Council’s High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development on July 18th, 2018 at the ECOSOC headquarters in New York.

6

In June 2020, Amal Mudallali, Lebanon's permanent representative to the United Nations, became one of the vice presidents of the General Assembly after Lebanon was voted to the position.

1 / 6

The Sustainable Development Goals in Lebanon

The Sustainable Development Goals are a global call to action to end poverty, protect the earth’s environment and climate, and ensure that people everywhere can enjoy peace and prosperity. These are the goals the UN is working on in Lebanon: