Lebanon

Lebanon is one of the largest refugee hosting countries in the world, with a population of roughly 870,000 refugees, primarily from Syria. The Empowered Aid team conducted research with Syrian refugee women and girls living in Lebanon’s second largest city, Tripoli, which is home to many Syrian refugees living in urban and peri-urban settings. Syrian refugee women and girl co-researchers in Lebanon identified the following risks:

Sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV) were most frequently associated with shelter and cash assistance (registering for cash assistance and using ATMs), followed by sanitation and hygiene, as well as food.
Transportation to and from distribution sites poses a notable threat to women and girls in Lebanon, as taxi drivers in particular can often sexually exploit women and girls who are traveling
SEA risks increase when interacting with sanitation and hygiene aid workers, particularly when workers visit women's and girls’ homes during water and sanitation repairs
Women and girls are at a higher risk of SEA when humanitarian and non-humanitarian workers make home visits, especially when these workers are male and a woman or girl is home alone

Recommendations from Syrian refugee women and girls for preventing SEA:

Provide financial assistance in the form of cash assistance to reduce known SEA-related vulnerabilities faced by women and girls
Offer aid or assistance to women's and girls' households, with at least two aid workers or contractors present in mixed or all-female teams
Establish predetermined, assigned times for small groups to collect distributions, avoiding overcrowding and disorganization at distribution points
Implement closer supervision of distributors and workers at aid distribution points, including the filing and follow-up of complaints
Offer safe and secure withdrawal sessions at ATMs
More security – especially female security workers – at distribution points, especially ATMs in Lebanon

Resources for Lebanon

Screenshot of Animated video of Phase 2 Pilot Findings to mitigate SEA in Lebanon

Empowered Aid Animated Video of the Phase 2 Pilot Findings to Mitigate SEA in Lebanon

The Empowered Aid Lebanon team in CARE International in Lebanon with the support of the GWI team developed an animated video to summarize the findings of the Phase II aid distribution pilots implemented in partnership with Union of Relief & Development Associations (URDA) in Lebanon. The animated video is an example of how to communicate back findings visually and creatively with women, girls, and affected communities, in which literacy may be a barrier.

Video Citation: Karim Koleilat, Independent animator, and CARE International in Lebanon. Beirut: Lebanon.

Integrating Empowered Aid Findings and Recommendations into Strategy and SOPs

This case study outlines how Empowered Aid our resources have been used in several humanitarian responses to mitigate risks of sexual exploitation and abuse through engaging and sharing power with crisis-affected communities. One such response is Lebanon, where World Vision Lebanon utilized Empowered Aid resources to meaningfully scale up prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse in its programs and to center the voices of women and girls in humanitarian response.

The cover page of the article titled, “RAPPORTS PILOTES DE PHASE 2 AU LIBAN Appliquer les résultats de la recherche participative sur la façon de lutter contre l’exploitation et les abus sexuels durant la distribution de l’aide".

Phase 2 Pilot Reports in Lebanon

This booklet shares the reports from the two pilots conducted in Lebanon – a fuel voucher distribution and a food distribution – to test recommendations made by women and girls that could increase their safety at aid distributions. The booklet contains the summary report for each pilot as well as individual reports for each of the tools used during the distribution. The tools used by the distribution team, and how they planned for the distributions can be found in the Toolkit for Planning and Monitoring Safer Aid Distributions on the “Manuals and Toolkits” tab. This booklet is also available in French.

Localizing knowledge generation during a pandemic to make distributions safer

Co-authored with our Empowered Aid Lebanon partners URDA and CARE, our latest article is published in the Humanitarian Practice Network's Humanitarian Exchange's May issue on Localization and local humanitarian action. It shares reflections from Jihan Kaisi and Rosy Haddad, Executive Director and Public Relations Officer (respectively) with the Union of Relief and Development Associations (URDA), a Lebanese NGO; Loujine Fattal, Empowered Aid Lebanon Research Manager with CARE in Lebanon; and Alina Potts, Empowered Aid Primary Investigator, of GWI. They reflect on localization in humanitarian research and knowledge generation processes during the COVID-19 pandemic, using our Empowered Aid work in Lebanon as a case study. This article was also an opportunity to support local partners in publishing for the first time, as lead authors--an important aspect of centering local knowledge and decolonizing research processes.

Empowered Aid Findings on Cash Assistance Contribute to Grand Bargain Cash Workstream #GenderCash Conversation

On the second day of the Grand Bargain Cash Workstream meetings, GWI Research Scientist Alina Potts joined practitioners, funders, and researchers from CARE, BPRM, the Women’s Refugee Commission, and Oxfam for a conversation on how aid actors can further reduce GBV risks in cash and voucher assistance for women and girls. You can read more about Empowered Aid’s cash findings in Lebanon.

Empowered Aid Findings Presented at the UK Parliament House of Commons Oral Evidence Session on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in the Aid Sector

GWI Research Scientist Alina Potts served as a witness in the UK Parliament International Development Committee’s first oral evidence session on sexual exploitation and abuse in the aid sector. Alina delivered oral evidence to the committee members from her experience as an aid worker across emergency responses from DR Congo to Syria to Bangladesh, and shared the voices of Syrian and South Sudanese women and girls engaged in Empowered Aid's action research in Uganda and Lebanon. Key aspects of the conversation centered on the importance of contextual safeguarding to prevent SEA before it happens, and addressing the unequal power dynamics and lack of participation across the sector that underpin this type of abuse. View the transcript.

Empowered Aid: Participatory Action Research with Refugee Women and Girls to Better Prevent Sexual Exploitation and Abuse | Lebanon COVID-19 Brief

This brief summarizes recommendations to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in the context of COVID-19.

Lebanon Sector-Specific Brief: SEA in relation to cash assistance

Empowered Aid Lebanon Sector Brief: SEA in Relation to Cash Assistance

This brief summarizes key findings around sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in relation to cash assistance and provides targeted recommendations to make cash assistance safer for women and girls. This brief is also available in Arabic.

Lebanon Sector-Specific Brief: SEA in relation to shelter assistance

Empowered Aid Lebanon Sector Brief: SEA in Relation to Shelter Assistance

This brief summarizes key findings around sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in relation to shelter aid and provides targeted recommendations to make shelter-related distributions safer for women and girls. This brief is also available in Arabic.

Lebanon Sector-Specific Brief: SEA in relation to WASH

Empowered Aid Lebanon Sector Brief: SEA in relation to WASH Assistance

This brief summarizes key findings around sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in relation to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). It provides targeted recommendations to make WASH assistance safer for women and girls.