Summary

With generous support from the Government of Japan, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is implementing a project entitled ‘Sustainable Recovery of Lebanon from the Beirut Explosion’. 

One of the main objectives of this project is to consolidate existing assessments related to the Beirut Blast impact, damages and associated needs, to support the Government in setting priorities related to a future comprehensive recovery process to the Beirut Explosion based on the principles of building forward better, incorporating disaster risk reduction in the reconstruction process, and preserving the rights of the population that was affected by the explosion (Activity 1). Additionally, the project aims at empowering national and local stakeholders to further assume their disaster management mandate based on the most recent priorities and needs at the national and international levels.

The other main objective is to assist the management of one of the main disaster wastes, electronic and electric waste (e-waste) (Activity 2). Given the very weak infrastructure/institutional capacity of e-waste in Lebanon, it is very critical to support the national e-waste management. In addition, successful and effective e-waste management has a potential to significantly improve the livelihoods of vulnerable population working in e-waste market while recovering the economic value of e-waste. Thus, the project contributes to both humanitarian response (early recovery) and longer-term sustainable development of Lebanon (job creation, environment, resilience building).

Background

Activity 1: UNDP is at the forefront of national prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery to natural and man-made disasters. UNDP is uniquely positioned within the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, through a dedicated team working on strengthening Lebanon's resilience for the past decade. UNDP has contributed to developing and implementing national disaster risk reduction strategies; preparedness and response plans, multi-hazard assessments and mitigation plans; capacity development for Government counterparts, establishing National Operation Room and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) structures at the national, sectoral, and regional levels in line with the Sendai Framework. 

Activity 2: Even before the crises, Lebanon had very weak infrastructure and a limited institutional capacity to properly manage e-waste and capture the values by reusing (repairing) and recycling. Due to the absence of specific regulation on E-waste in the country, most of these waste ends up in the hand of informal scrap-dealer or, in most cases, mixed up with regular municipal waste. There is no public facility working on e-waste collecting or treatment yet. While a few local NGOs are collecting e-wastes and batteries from households and institutions, most of them do not possess a treatment process. In light of this context, the project addresses the issue from two-angles: 1) Improving the national e-waste management by supporting the active entities working on e-waste, and 2) developing the recommendations/action plan toward sustainable e-waste management by establishing the national statistical database on e-waste. The establishment of national e-waste database and the action plans will be undertaken in collaboration with Sustainable Cycles Program from UNU/UNITAR, a leading program for global e-waste discussion and advances sustainable e-waste management strategies based on life-cycle thinking.