Lebanon

For two years now, however, Lebanon has been in a state of extreme socio-economic crisis, and the Lebanese pound has lost 90 per cent of its value. According to the United Nations, nearly 80 per cent of Lebanese are now living in poverty, and about 40 per cent of the population is unemployed. Electricity is available for only a few hours a day, petrol is scarce and hospitals lack even standard medicines.

In August 2020, the country was hit by another stroke of fate – right in the middle of the Corona pandemic. A large explosion occurred in the port of Beirut, destroying the port, and damaging or making uninhabitable the homes and apartments of up to 300,000 people. The explosion also plunged the political system into a new crisis.

No other country has taken in more Syrian refugees in proportion to its population. Around 1.5 million people from Syria have sought refuge from the Syrian civil war in Lebanon. Lebanon itself, which is half the size of Hesse, has a population of just under six million people. Furthermore, there are some 500,000 Palestinian refugees living in the country. The country is increasingly unable to cope with these complex problems. Observers speak of a 'collective trauma', of 'dramatic hardship' and of an 'unimaginably corrupt political class'.

The Lebanese municipalities are also clearly feeling the effects of this crisis, and in many places the municipal infrastructure is collapsing. The influx of Syrian refugees has led to a sharp increase in the number of inhabitants in many Lebanese municipalities – in some municipalities by up to 300 per cent. This has added to the enormous strain on municipal infrastructure, as municipalities must provide services such as electricity, water, and garbage collection to both the local population and the refugees. In this situation, the municipalities' lack of institutional capacities is particularly noticeable, for example in organisational, project and personnel management, financial planning, technical issues and database and knowledge management.

German municipalities possess a great deal of knowledge and experience in precisely those areas of public services in which Lebanese cities and municipalities have long been under pressure, and are now even more so due to the influx of Syrian refugees.

Against this backdrop, Lebanese municipalities have much to gain from project partnerships with German local government entities. Between 2018 and 2021 there were more than 20 such projects, and interest in municipal cooperation remains high.

Topics addressed by the projects include:

• renewable energy
• solid waste management
• sanitation
• social integration of refugees
• inclusion of persons with disabilities
• vocational training
• youth work