Attachments
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon (VASyR) analyses a representative sample of Syrian refugee households in Lebanon to provide a multisectoral update of the situation of this population. Conducted annually, 2022 marks the tenth year of this assessment. The contents of this report, jointly issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), shows a continuous deterioration in the living situation of Syrians in Lebanon amid the deepening economic and financial crisis. With the exponential rise in prices of essential goods and services, 90 per cent of families need support to meet their basic needs. Reliance on negative coping mechanisms remained high, with further deterioration in the food security situation of families, and the majority of families continuing to live in substandard shelter conditions.
Methodology
In June and July 2022, survey teams visited over 5,000 randomly selected Syrian refugee households, covering all districts across Lebanon. The household questionnaire was based on that of the previous year to ensure comparability, and face-to-face interviews took 45–60 minutes to complete. The analysis plan was developed with inputs from the sector working groups and with reference to global indicators.
KEY FINDINGS
Protection
Legal residency rates were at an all-time low, with 17 per cent of Syrian refugees holding legal residency. Rates among women were lower than among men. Positively, birth registration rates increased, reaching 36 per cent. For those who have not completed the registration process, the main barriers included unaffordability (fees and transport) and lack of awareness of the procedures. Concerns about kidnapping were reported significantly higher in 2022 compared to 2021 and 2020 across all age and gender groups. The proportion of households where someone had personally witnessed a physical confrontation involving at least one Syrian refugee increased by 3 percentage points. That said, there was a positive increase in reported intra-community relations, with 61 per cent of Syrian households rating interactions with the Lebanese host communities as positive or very positive. Of those who reported tensions, the primary driver was competition for jobs.
Child Protection: Child labour, early marriage, and violent discipline
The percentage of children between 5 and 17 years old who were engaged in child labour in 2022 is 4 per cent. There was a significant difference in the gender parity of child labour, with boys (7%) and girls (2%). Among adolescent boys and girls aged 15–17, 17 per cent had worked for at least one hour i in return for pay, with boys at a triple rate compared to girls, at 28 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.
Twenty two percent of girls aged 15 to 19 were married at the time of the survey. Among married girls, 68 per cent did not attend school on any day during the scholastic year 2021/2022 and the previous year 2020/2021. The highest rate of child early marriage was found in Beirut at 36 per cent, with the lowest being in Akkar at 16 per cent. More than half children between 1 to 14 (58%) experienced forms of violent discipline, namely physical punishment and/or psychological aggression an increase of 6 percentage points from last year. The highest was in more remote areas such as El Nabatieh (77 per cent) and Baalbek-El Hermel (76 per cent) governorates, with the lowest in Mount Lebanon (47 per cent) and Beirut(51 per cent) and South Lebanon (51 per cent).
Economic vulnerability
Given the inflation of prices and the depreciation of the Lebanese lira, Syrian refugees in Lebanon have become economically highly vulnerable. Over two thirds of Syrian refugees did not have the economic capacity to afford the minimum essential items needed to survive. If the value of assistance and credit had to be deducted from the household budget, then nearly 90 percent of the Syrian refugee households would not have the economic capacity to meet survival needs. Total expenditure has almost quadrupled in 2022 compared to 2021 (LBP 1,575,613 in 2022 versus LBP 316,129 in 2021), and the prices of food items have increased by 332 per cent since June 2021. Almost all refugee households (94 per cent) were taking on debt to cover their essential food and non-food needs, with an average accumulated debt of LBP 11,610,661 per household and LBP 2,764,159 per capita. Food needs continue to be the main reason for borrowing, as reported by 93 per cent of households, followed by rent (46 per cent) and medication costs (35 per cent). This indicates that refugees’ purchasing power has decreased and they are unable to meet their essential needs without taking on debt, which further exacerbates their vulnerability
Food security
In 2022, based on the consolidated approach for reporting indicators (CARI), the rate of food insecurity among Syrian refugees witnessed a sharp increase to reach 67 per cent (61 per cent were moderately food insecure and 6 per cent were severely food insecure), compared to 49 per cent in 2021. The highest increases in rates of food insecurity were reported in the governorates of Akkar and Baalbek-El Hermel (31 percentage-point increases each). a higher proportion of female headed households were food insecure, compared to male headed households and seven out of ten households living below the SMEB were food insecure. The percentage of households with inadequate food consumption also increased in 2022 (57 per cent in 2022 versus 46 per cent in 2021). The governorates with the highest rates of inadequate food intake were North Lebanon (72 per cent), Baalbek-El Hermel (62 per cent), Bekaa (62 per cent) and Akkar (59 per cent). Daily dietary diversity decreased in 2022, as 14 per cent of refugees had rich diversity and consumed over 6.5 food groups per day, compared to 21 per cent of refugees in 2021. Daily consumption of vitamin A-rich foods (24 per cent in 2022 versus 36 per cent in 2021) and protein rich foods (34 per cent versus 44 per cent) also significantly decreased.
Livelihoods
The percentage of working refugees remained stable in 2022 compared to 2021 (both 33 per cent); however, this is an increase since 2020 (26 per cent). Seven out of ten households had at least one working member, and the monthly income from employment for all households in dollars has almost doubled this year, $34 (LBP 517,564) in 2022 versus $60 in 2021 (LBP 1,708,258). Even with this increase, their income only covered 21 per cent of the cost of the SMEB, similar to 2021. This further proves that refugees were unable to cover the costs of their food and non-food essential needs from their employment. Female labour-force participation remained much lower than male labour-force participation (18 per cent and 73 per cent respectively). Most refugees reported humanitarian aid as their main source of income, which indicates the importance of this aid given that refugees were highly dependent on it to survive.
Coping strategies
The overwhelming majority of refugees, 97 per cent, had resorted to coping strategies to meet their food needs. They were consuming less preferred/less expensive foods, reducing meal portion sizes and reducing the number of meals eaten per day.
In 2022, 44 per cent of refugees had reduced Coping Strategy Index (rCSI) values of 19+ points, indicating that they faced high difficulties in accessing food. The highest increases in rCSI value were reported in South Lebanon (25 points in 2022 versus 15 points in 2021) and El Nabatieh (23 points in 2022 versus 19 points in 2021). A total of 69 per cent of the Syrian refugee population were adapting crisis and emergency livelihood coping strategies that affected their medium- and long-term ability to cope with future shocks. Some of the most implemented strategies among refugees were reducing expenditure on food (89 per cent), buying food on credit (81 per cent), and reducing expenditure on health (60 per cent) and education (30 per cent). Additionally, one out of ten refugee households reported withdrawing their children from school to reduce expenditures.