Socio Economic Rehabilitation Programme for South Lebanon
In 2000, UNDP, in partnership with the Government of Lebanon, represented by the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR), established a post conflict development programme in the former occupied areas of the South called “Socio Economic Rehabilitation Programme for South Lebanon”. The programme targeted municipalities, cooperatives, youth, mine victims and ex-detainees with trainings and socio- economic projects. The current project within the UNDP Socio Economic Rehabilitation Programme for South Lebanon (phase 2) is an expansion of the first phase initiated before 2006, with a wider engagement to an array of specialized activities, ranging from local governance, inclusive youth mobilization and reconciliation, capacity development to socio-economic rehabilitation.
Under the Socio- Economic Rehabilitation Programme for South Lebanon phase II project, within the Management Information System component, one of the activities was to identify the capacity and needs assessment of target communities in South Lebanon. Therefore, ADR (Association for the Development of Rural Capacities) and KDC (Knowledge Development Company) were selected by UNDP to complete this task in 36 southern villages representative of cluster of villages from a socio-economic point of view. ADR/ KDC submitted 11 reports at the end of 2010 identifying the capacity and needs assessment of community institutions including municipalities, cooperatives, Youth Gatherings, SMEs, and livelihoods in addition to lessons learned from previous interventions.
In December 2010 the following reports were produced:
- Lessons learned from impact of past and existing capacity building programmes on community institutions
- Lessons learned from impact of past and existing UNDP projects on livelihood conditions
- Capacity assessment of municipalities
- Capacity assessment of cooperatives
- Capacity assessment of Youth Gatherings
- Mapping of the state of agriculture and agro-businesses
- Mapping of, and opportunities for, market linkages between cooperatives and SMEs
- Main constraints, challenges and needs of SMEs
- Socio-economic interventions for special target groups: youths and mine victims
- Villages profiles (36)
- Five Cazas’ profile
Those assessments were instrumental to direct interventions planned by the Programme in 2010 and 2011. Therefore, it was deemed necessary, by the Programme and by the Council for Development and Reconstruction, that a consolidated summary report should be drafted to include all the relevant information available in the various reports that could guide future development interventions in the South. It was agreed that, the summary would not only wrap up the reports but will also include lessons learned, recommendations and justifications. Moreover, the necessity to have the executive summary in both English and Arabic was decided since international donors, NGOs, as well as local institutions and authorities will have access to this study. It is important to note that all other reports submitted by ADR/KDC will also be shared with stakeholders through UNDP Lebanon and other relevant websites for more detailed information.