Situation Overview
Two months after the Beirut port explosions, the second phase of UNHCR’s response is well under way. Technical assessments for minor repairs and rehabilitation of shelters are ongoing, cash assistance for shelter is ready to be disbursed, and tailored support has been provided to the women, men, girls and boys in most urgent need of protection services. The continuous goal is to ensure that the maximum number of people affected are ready to face the approaching winter, both physically and mentally.
UNHCR is focusing its response to the port explosion in the sectors shelter and protection, and we plan to reach over 100,000 affected persons through all our interventions.
COORDINATION
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UNHCR has participated to the emergency humanitarian response to the Beirut port explosion since day one by providing resources, experience and expertise, particularly in the areas of protection and shelter. We have taken on the co-leadership of the Shelter and Protection sectors and worked with the partners to ensure adherence to relevant standards and principles. UNHCR coordination staff have been deployed to Lebanon to support in this regard.
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In the Protection sector, we have worked with the partners to streamline and disseminate technical standards and modalities for the distribution of protection and emergency cash. We have also provided technical support to a 3W mapping of the protection sector’s services, which helps ensure that coverage of the affected areas is as coordinated and comprehensive as possible. The protection services mapped are as follows: emergency protection cash (ECA), child protection, services to respond to genderbased violence (GBV), services for people with specific needs, psychosocial support (PSS), legal assistance, general protection and helplines/helpdesks. The 3W mapping is furthermore being turned into an interactive online tool to facilitate its use.
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In the Shelter sector, we have closely collaborated with the Lebanese Red Cross (LRC) to provide detailed maps of affected areas so that a zoning tool could be developed, which partners are using to ensure complementarity and prevent overlap and duplication. In collaboration with sector co-leads, UNHCR has also ensured linkage with the Government of Lebanon’s Forward Emergency Room (FER). UNHCR continues to put its technical information management capacity to support coordination efforts beyond the zoning tool and produced the first Shelter Sector Dashboard.
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At the same time, UNHCR has been actively engaged in the development of the World Bank, EU and UN Reform, Recovery and Reconstruction Framework – the 3RF – notably in the housing, and social cohesion, inclusion and gender sectors to help ensure a natural transitioning of the activities undertaken within the first 3 months of the response, to the medium-term framework.