UN allocates $10 million from humanitarian funds to tackle fuel crisis in Lebanon

The United Nations (UN) said on 1 September that its humanitarian funds have allocated $10 million to aid Lebanon in mitigating the country's ongoing economic crisis.

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths informed that the allocated funds would also help the country in averting the deterioration of the humanitarian situation. 

Out of the total, Griffiths said that $ 4 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) will be used to tackle the fuel crisis in Lebanon. The funds would help the 2.3 million people living in Lebanon as it would ensure enough fuel to keep the water stations operational. The CERF allocation would be in addition to a $6 million allocation from the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund to assist 65 hospitals in the country along with the primary healthcare centres, dispensaries and medical cold chain storage.

The ongoing fuel shortage in Lebanon is an offshoot of the socio-economic and political crisis which continues to hamper all aspects of life, including access to basic facilities like healthcare and drinking water, in the country. Griffiths said, “Fuel and electricity shortages are threatening essential health and water services across Lebanon, putting thousands of families at risk of a humanitarian crisis.” Griffith also met senior government officials and representatives of humanitarian and donor communities in Beirut. Griffiths is on a week-long visit to Lebanon, Syria and Turkey.

"Many hospitals in Lebanon have already been forced to reduce their operations because of fuel shortages and electricity outages. The public water supply and wastewater treatment systems, which rely heavily on fuel, have been drastically cut across the country, leaving millions of people without access to water in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic," Griffiths added.

Through CERF funds, WFP will supply fuel

The official release also stated that as part of the CERF allocation, the World Food Programme (WFP) will help in supplying fuel to medical centres, hospitals, dispensaries and water stations. The millions of dollars would also be used to supply water to areas in Beirut tackling its scarcity such as Bekaa, Mt. Lebanon, North and South. These places also serve over two-thirds of Lebanon’s population.

The Lebanese families are being forced to rely on private water trucking which, according to OCHA, is not only unaffordable but also unsafe. It also poses a risk from contaminated water, which some suppliers have been distributing in the country. Meanwhile, the country is also engulfed in chaos due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the crisis in Syria, and the aftermath of the Beirut Port explosions in August 2020.

(Image: unocha.org)