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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This study examined the problem of providing less water quantities to Syrian refugees following the funding cuts in the first half of 2018 in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector and its association with their livelihood status in terms of employment, expenditures and livelihood coping strategies. To assist them previously in water provision, Syrian refugees in informal tented settlements (ITS) in the Bekaa were supplied with an average of 35 litres per capita per day (l/cap/day). However, this amount decreased gradually from January 2018 following donor funding cuts, and reached half this amount as of March 2018 (approximately 15 l/cap/day). The objective of this study was to assess the association of this water reduction with the employment status of household (HH) members, child labour (CL), HH monthly expenditures, as well as with livelihood coping strategies.
For the purpose of this study, 364 Syrian refugee households benefitting from WASH programming implemented by World Vision Lebanon (WVL) and funded by United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in West and Central Bekaa were surveyed during the month of May 2018 and asked to report on longitudinal data from December 2017 till April 2018. The survey included sections on demographics, occupation and employment, CL, health status, income and expenditures, water access and coping strategies.

Findings have shown that during the first half of 2018, the percentage of working adults in HHs significantly increased by 59.6 per cent (p<0.0001).* Moreover, the average working days per month for an adult significantly increased by 4 days during the same period (p<0.0001).* With regard to CL, the results showed a significant 37 per cent increase in the amount of working children (p<0.0001).* In April 2018, with the beginning of the agriculture season in the Bekaa Valley, 19 per cent of HHs declared that their children (aged 5 to 17 years old) are engaged in economic activities outside the HH.
During the same period of time, from December 2017 to April 2018, 38.6 per cent of the surveyed HHs indicated that they would prioritise spending on water. The monthly average amount spent on water increased by LBP 8,000 for each HH, the equivalent of paying for one additional water truck transportation per month. Fuel, HH assets and clothing related expenditures were deprioritised by Syrian refugees, which might be associated to the warmer weather in springtime.* Moreover, the monthly amount allocated to health expenditures for infectious diseases such as medical services and medications decreased significantly by approximately one third following the water reduction.* To cope with the reduction in water quantities, Syrian refugees reported a variety of coping strategies that they will have to rely on. The identified coping strategies are mostly negative ones affecting livelihoods and the resilience of the surveyed HHs. Forty six per cent declared that they have had to increase their debt status, adding more to the poverty cycle that they are already caught up in. One third declared potentially accepting low paid jobs, therefore creating competition with the Lebanese host community on the labour market. Eight per cent declared accepting illegal jobs that will compromise their resilience capacity and create tensions with the host community, leading to further discrimination against Syrian refugees. Five per cent expressed a willingness to send their children to work and 1.9 per cent stated that they would accept high-risk jobs that can contribute to illnesses and disabilities, despite their lack of any social security or insurance. As a result of this situation, the CL problem will increase among Syrian refugee children. Moreover, Lebanon’s economic situation in the Bekaa will be negatively affected by an increase in the unemployment rate among the Lebanese because of competition on the labour market.

• Due to the cross-sectional design of the research that cannot capture the causal relationship between the exposure (water reduction) and the outcome (employment and child labour), the captured increase could be due to many reasons (agricultural season in April, warmer climate, etc.) and not only as a result of the reduction in water provision.

Based on the findings, WVL recommends to seeking alternative solutions to the water reduction by proposing innovative and sustainable ways to facilitate water provision. WVL also proposes different interventions (such as cash-for-work programming) to help provide Syrian refugees with a more secure, dignified income and therefore prevent them from having to engage in risky and/or illegal work. Concerning child labour, WVL recommends working with children, parents and communities and adopting a holistic educational approach to prevent CL. Moreover, at the advocacy level, WVL will lobby the donor community to maintain its funding to the WASH sector and to increase their funding for stabilisation and infrastructure programmes to address the current shortage, in alignment with the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan (LCRP). WVL will engage with the Ministry of Labor to identify key priorities to address CL and will lobby for the activation of the National Committee on Child Labor. Moreover, WVL seeks the continuous coordination and monitoring between WASH sector working groups and other child protection and basic assistance working groups to mitigate negative coping mechanisms as a result of any reduction in the current service provision.