BEIRUT: The UN and World Bank Group (WBG) concluded on Friday a three-year Compact for Lebanon. Building on a long history of collaboration globally and locally, the 2018-2020 Partnership Compact seeks to leverage the two institutions’ comparative advantages and align their financing instruments to better support Lebanon in its quest for social and political stability and economic revival.
Commenting on this new initiative, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Philippe Lazzarini said: “Through this reinforced partnership, the UN and the World Bank renew their commitment to reduce vulnerabilities and poverty of Lebanese and refugees through multi-year joint initiatives. Lebanon’s stability and sustainable development remains our top priority and we will work together and with the international aid community to help the Government of Lebanon and the Lebanese people by going beyond traditional support and seeking innovative and integrated solutions to Lebanon’s multiple challenges”.
“The Compact for Lebanon builds on the humanitarian-development nexus that underpins the agenda for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. It will better align the two institutions’ interventions to collectively support Lebanon’s quest for economic growth, job creation and poverty reduction,” Saroj Kumar Jha, World Bank Regional Director for the Mashreq, said. “Lebanon is under enormous stress, partly because of inherent structural deficiencies which have been markedly exacerbated by the massive influx of Syrian refugees. Redressing these difficulties is contingent on a collective approach by the international community.”
Within the Partnership Framework, the UN and the World Bank will focus their joint efforts on strengthening the data and evidence base to inform policymaking and planning and align their support to infrastructural and social sectors for short-, medium and long-term outcomes. The two institutions will jointly undertake analytical works as well as risk and needs assessments.
