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Assessing shelter and WASH conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon in relation to cash assistance and services

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This research comes amidst a rapidly declining and volatile economic, social and political situation in Lebanon. A three-fold crisis erupted in 2019, start-ing with the onset of a severe financial and banking crash that has led to a rapid collapse of the econo-my, currency depreciation coupled with subsidy re-movals and exponential inflation. The already critical situation was followed by the COVID-19 pandemic which aggravated strains on a crumbling health sys-tem, and was further exacerbated by the Beirut Port Blast on 4 August 2020. These crises have impact-ed the lives of all Lebanon residents, especially the most vulnerable. Today, Syrian refugee households are more socio-economically insecure than ever be-fore and heavily reliant on assistance.

The increasingly precarious living conditions of refu-gees have had direct consequences across aspects of their lives—shelter, and water, sanitation and hy-giene (WASH) conditions—regarded as critically af-fected, where assistance and provisions of humani-tarian response is imperative. Internationally and in Lebanon, there has been a noticeable increase in directing aid towards both the WASH and shelter sectors in emergencies. Yet, despite the rise in inter-ventions, the literature and assessments evaluating the effectiveness and outcomes of both WASH and shelter services, and cash-based interventions in humanitarian and development settings are limited and require further attention.

The main results of the 2020 study by the Cash Moni-toring Evaluation Accountability and Learning Organ-izational Network (CAMEALEON) and the American University of Beirut (AUB) reveal that Syrian refugee households receiving multi-purpose cash (MPC) assis-tance from UNHCR and the World Food Programme (WFP) have significant and positive well-being out-comes in the long-run.’ The findings show no nota-ble impacts on shelter and WASH outcomes, thus the study concluded that positive shelter and WASH conditions cannot be achieved by solely relying on administering MPC assistance. A more in-depth inves-tigation is needed to look into the different actors and stakeholders affecting shelter and WASH conditions for Syrian refugees, in addition to the effect of different services and assistance they receive beyond MPC.
Against this background, this second study has the twofold objectives of producing a granular map of WASH and shelter conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, as well as investigating the factors that are associated with improved WASH and shelter out-comes for refugees. More concretely, the research aims to examine the ‘cash-plus’ effect-whether mul-ti-purpose cash combined with shelter and WASH in-kind assistance have an impact on shelter, WASH and health outcomes.
The research has allowed for a comprehensive de-scription and analysis of the shelter and WASH con-ditions, and challenges of Syrian refugee households living in different types of residence: informal tented settlements (ITS), residential shelters and non-resi-dential units. The living conditions of refugees resid-ing inITS are widely documented but residential and non-residential shelters have not been the subject of much attention. This is the first time that detailed research on WASH and shelter has been undertak-en covering the Syrian refugee context in Lebanon.
Understanding the different dynamics at play for the types of residence allows for more targeted recom-mendations on programmes and interventions for WASH and shelter assistance. Moreover, gender is-sues were mainstreamed throughout the report and results relevant to persons with disability were high-lighted when statistically significant.