Attachments
- KEY FINDINGS
Summary of Priorities
Based on the data review and inputs from the Sector Working Group we can provide the following preliminary conclusions:
The available data does not provide an indication on priority needs. Participants of the MSNA SWG workshop underlined the need to enable vulnerable populations to access the labour market, provide them with sufficient food assistance and make sure they do not move to insecure settlements as a way of maintaining their level of food expenditure.
In terms of target groups, both the data and workshop participants identified unregistered refugees, newcomers and Lebanese returnees as key target groups. Newcomers and unregistered refugees are prone to food insecurity as they are unaware of food assistance programs and whether they can benefit from them. Additionally, lack of data and information on their situation and location means that it is difficult to provide them with the necessary assistance. Workshop participants also mentioned host communities as a key target group due to their fear of being assimilated to refugees and subsequent refusal to attend food distributions.
MSNA analysts were not able to identify specific geographical priorities due to the lack of geographically disaggregated data on most information needs (themes). Workshop participants, however, mentioned that Wadi Khaled in Akkar was particularly prone to food insecurity.
The available data indicated that there is a lack of food assistance to Lebanese returnees with a majority of them reporting that they had not received any assistance from the humanitarian sector or the government since arriving in Lebanon. Moreover, the SWG highlighted the need for different distribution sites for specific targets as well as medium- and long-term orientated planning.
In terms of the future, the participants of the MSNA workshop highlighted that a sudden increase in the number of arrivals, the escalation of internal conflicts, the increase in tensions between refugees and host communities and the occurrence of a drought could affect food security programming.
While most of the MSNA SWG workshop participants‟ perceptions of priority targets and response gaps were similar to those identified by the data, there is a clear need for additional data collection to be able to determine priority needs and geographic priorities.