A new 'National Plan to Safeguard Children and Women in Lebanon,' was launched Wednesday, following a memorandum of understanding between Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas and UNICEF Representative in Lebanon Ms. Annamaria Laurini.
According to a statement released by UNICEF, the memorandum of understanding will allow UNICEF “to transfer up to $7 million in cash and $4 million in supplies to the Ministry of Social Affairs, thanks to the contributions already made by the European Union."
These funds will cover significant improvements in the areas of child protection, gender-based violence and health, with the aim of improving livelihoods and mitigating the risk of vulnerability facing those most marginalized in Lebanon, Derbas said.
For her part, Laurini said that “over the past six months, UNICEF and the Ministry of Social Affairs worked together to ensure that the Ministry and all its departments are placed in the best position to deliver most needed services to children and women in Lebanon.”
The 18-month implementation of the National Plan, which is funded by the European Union, aims at providing “high quality protection services to the most vulnerable young girls, boys, women and their caregivers in Lebanon,” the statement said.
The plan will initially cover 57 regions, hosting social development centers affiliated to the Ministry of Social Affairs. The program will provide these centers with “specialized human resources, technical equipment, drugs and vaccinations.”
As a result of implementation an estimated “198,000 children and adolescents will have access to basic and structured psychosocial support and primary health care services.”
The program also offers “information, orientation, counseling and awareness-raising on availability of services” to more than 410,000 individuals.
As such, the program will focus on “strengthening the existing capacities of the Ministry of Social Affairs,” to provide integrated social services.
Implementation will also reinforce the capacities of respective communities and associated civil society organizations.
The signing ceremony was held at the Grand Serail in Beirut and was attended by the EU Ambassador to Lebanon Angelina Eichhorst.
Eichhorst said that the European Union’s support for the Ministry of Social Affairs was characterized by humanitarian assistance and the provision of development funds. “In fact, 74% of the protection component of this plan is already financed by the European Union, through UNICEF, " she added.
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