It seems that crises accompany Lebanon's economic collapse. In addition to the currency crisis and the deterioration of conditions, a new problem looms on the horizon.
All eyes are directed in Lebanon to what will be the aid plan that Lebanon will receive as a loan from the World Bank in the amount of 246 million dollars to support the social safety net project and support for the poorest families, which was approved by Parliament last week, especially with the constant fear that it will go Aid is out of place, as is usual in Lebanon, where politics and mediation control such matters.
The project is for a period of three years and aims to provide cash transfers and facilitate access to social services for the poor Lebanese living below the extreme poverty line and the marginalized who have been affected by the economic crisis and the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The project aims to halt the increase in extreme poverty rates and preserve the human capital of children between the ages of 13 and 18 attending public schools, by providing cash transfers and facilitating access to social services.
The National Program to Support the Poor
The Lebanese government owns the Lebanese government's national program to support the poorest families, which is the main social assistance program to target poverty in Lebanon. It was launched in 2011 with financial and technical support from the World Bank. This will be The loan complements the new program, with the expansion of its coverage network to include a larger number of beneficiaries who were classified as among the poorest families as a result of the economic crisis hitting Lebanon, in addition to the repercussions of the Corona crisis and the Beirut port explosion.
According to an official source in the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs, there are 15,000 families benefiting from the poorest families program today, and it will reach 50,000 families at the end of this March, benefiting from a previous loan from the European Union.
The World Bank loan
The World Bank loan will provide cash transfers to 147,000 Lebanese families living under the extreme poverty line, or approximately 800,000 individuals, for a period of one year. Eligible families will receive a monthly assistance of 100,000 Lebanese pounds per person, with a maximum of 800,000 pounds per family, in addition to a fixed amount of 200,000 pounds per family.
The value of the cash assistance for one family will be transferred to a prepaid card issued by a financial services provider, and distributed to beneficiary families who can obtain the amount in cash through automated teller machines or use it electronically to pay for their purchases in a network of food stores.
Moreover, 87,000 children between the ages of 13 and 18 will receive additional transfers to cover direct expenses of education, including school registration fees, parent council fees, textbooks, transportation and uniforms, computer equipment or internet-related expenses to facilitate distance learning. School fees will be paid directly to the schools concerned.
The source confirms to "Al-Ain News" that the total number of applications to benefit from the loan has exceeded 600 thousand, through an electronic platform launched by the Ministry of Social Affairs on the Internet, and therefore the Ministry is facing a huge number of applications that need a lot of time, especially since there are criteria that must be confirmed. And matching them with each family to determine the extent of the need for assistance, as well as field visits to more than 480 social workers and two companies from the private sector, to expedite the decision on the file of families who will benefit from the loan.
A new problem
Depending on the developments of the economic collapse in Lebanon, a new problem arose with regard to the loan, after it had previously agreed with the bank to disburse aid in Lebanese pounds at an exchange rate of 6,100 Lebanese pounds, and the exchange rate on the black market was about 8,500 Lebanese pounds. Before it rose dramatically to about 15,000 pounds, to return and retreat slightly to between 11 and 12 thousand pounds, which prompted the donors to send a letter signed by the World Bank, the European Union and the United Nations to the Ministry of Finance, a copy of which Al Ain News obtained wishing The Ministry will pay money to its owners in dollars or at least, even if things are “difficult” a lot in Lebanese pounds, but according to the parallel market rate, which will change the volume of payments by about twice, given the insistence of the Central Bank of Lebanon to keep foreign currency to support its crumbling reserves, and therefore it will resort to printing money to cover this value, which will increase the percentage The huge inflation that exists in the Lebanese market.
In this context, the former Minister of Social Affairs, Richard Kouyoumjian, told Al-Ain News: The Ministry of Social Affairs has rules for 140,000 families according to the methodology of testing the actual income level and evaluating the family's eligibility to benefit from the project according to the degree of poverty for each family, and based on its resources. And its demographic characteristics that correlate with poverty are ready and donor-approved.”
And he adds, "Until now, more than 103,000 families have applied through the platform launched by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, in addition to about 600,000 names who have also applied through the platform as individuals, noting that the loan targets families only," noting that all these names and families will be reviewed in detail. The verification of each name should be according to clear and internationally approved standards (proximis testing).
However, Kouyoumjian expresses his fear of the way things are managed by the state, especially since the state had previously approved the social solidarity project during the Corona pandemic by distributing 400,000 pounds to families, and it was a failure by all criteria and randomly and did not adopt clear criteria, but in return he is betting on the entry of international organizations And the Food Organization is on the line of setting standards and monitoring implementation will lead to safety.”
An intermediary for distributing transfers
Fearing any waste, the Lebanese state will, according to Koyoumjian, contract with the World Food Program to carry out cash transfers. The funds will be transferred from the World Bank through a treasury account of the Ministry of Finance to the World Food Programme, and then to the financial service provider who will transfer them to electronic cards on a monthly basis. WFP will submit Quarterly Financial Reports no later than 30 days after the end of each quarter in a form and content acceptable to the World Bank.
An independent body will be assigned to follow-up and monitor, according to terms of reference and powers acceptable to the World Bank, to carry out verification tasks, and the state will contract with an independent private auditing company to carry out the annual external audit. It will prepare the consolidated project interim financial reports for presentation to the World Bank within 45 days after the end of each quarter.
Lebanon is experiencing the repercussions of a prolonged economic crisis that began since 2019, depleting its population and their deposits, and exacerbating inflation, poverty and unemployment rates, and causing an unprecedented fall of the Lebanese pound, which lost about 90% of its value, and this led to popular protests in various Lebanese regions in rejection of reality.
As a result of this situation, 55% of the Lebanese live, according to the United Nations, below the poverty line, that is, on less than $3.84 per day, which has increased the percentage of those in need of assistance.