USAID LEBANON --- Community Support Program

USAID's  Community Support Program  (CSP) is a seven-year project (2018-25) designed to provide a broad range of support to underserved and vulnerable communities in Lebanon. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by  Chemonics International , CSP seeks to improve the delivery of essential services and enhance economic opportunities to improve lives and reduce tensions that contribute to conflict and violence, primarily in Lebanon’s North, South, and Beqaa Valley. 

As the country is facing an ongoing deterioration of the socio-economic context which is impacting Lebanese residents’ access to livelihoods and basic services, CSP is continuing to ramp up activity implementation across its four technical components:

1) Direct Community Support

2) Workforce Development

3) Wastewater Management

4) Technical Assistance and Capacity Building

The first quarter of FY2022, spanning from January to March 2022, was characterized by continued exacerbation of the country’s multifaceted socio-economic crisis as residents face an ongoing degradation of living conditions and dwindling public services. The quarter was equally marked by difficult weather conditions experienced throughout the winter months (December – March).

Despite these challenges, CSP’s management and technical teams managed to advance its assistance to underserved communities across Lebanon. While this report focuses on CSP’s progress and achievements during the second quarter of FY2022, the following infographics illustrate cumulative results of CSP’s programming since its inception in August 2018.

Under direct community support, CSP collaborates with local partners, including municipalities, civil society organizations, and other community-based groups, to implement activities which contribute to alleviating sources of rapidly escalating tensions amidst the current nationwide economic crisis and the reduced capacity of local authorities and actors to address communities’ immediate needs.

Short-term interventions include the repair and rehabilitation of light infrastructure and the provision of equipment such as water tanks, generators, and streetlighting. Longer-term interventions are geared toward improving quality of life and achieving sustainable community development, including solid waste management and improving income opportunities. The interactive map to the right provides a breakdown of all CSP community support projects across Lebanon, according to each sector of intervention.

During the second quarter of FY2022, a total of 52 of the 96 approved interventions were under implementation across communities in Lebanon’s North, South, and Beqaa regions. Despite ongoing operational challenges, including difficult weather conditions over the winter months which impacted infrastructure and construction activities, the team continued to demonstrate adaptability as it continued to make progress whenever possible;

Key achievements over this quarter included:

CSP Provides Lebanese Communities with Renewable Solar Energy Solutions to Overcome Severe Electricity Shortages

Increasing power cuts in Lebanon have left much of the population grappling with life without electricity. During this reporting period, state-electricity cuts reached an all-time high, with some localities receiving just two to three hours of supply per day. Meanwhile, the significant rise in the cost of fuel has caused monthly subscription bills for local generators to dramatically increase, forcing many vulnerable households to entirely cut off the service.

With electricity shortages in Lebanon at a peak and diesel for backup generators in short supply, CSP has been designing and implementing a series of solar energy solutions - mainly for the provision of community electricity, water pumping, and streetlighting - across its areas of intervention. These activities are needed now more than ever given the country's worsening financial crisis, and the high likelihood that fuel prices will continue to soar. The graphic to the right illustrates the geographic reach of CSP's solar and renewable energy interventions.

Hybridizing Electricity Systems in Hasabaiya and Aalma ech Chaab

CSP is hybridizing the electricity systems in both towns by supplying and installing on-grid solar farms along with the necessary accessories, including mounting structures, electrical work and cabling, and convertors. Both remote southern localities have been overburdened with large electricity bills, forcing municipalities to rely on expensive municipal backup generators that are no longer sustainable. Despite the successive storms that hit the country during the quarter, covering both towns in snow and forcing site works to be put on hold for several days, CSP was still able to achieve significant progress by finalizing all preconstruction and excavation works and completing the foundation works for the steel structure where the solar panels will be installed. The latter were shipped from abroad and will be installed on site following the completion of the concrete works. By the end of this reporting period, CSP had completed around 28% progress on the total works and expects to complete both activities during the coming quarter.

These hybrid systems will not only provide clean and sustainable household energy to around 10,000 residents, but will also significantly decrease maintenance and fuel costs for municipalities, as well as residents.

Using Solar Solutions to Upgrade Water Pumping Systems

In the Beqaa, CSP kicked off two activities to install solar water pumping systems serving Majdel Aanjar and El Fekehe, two of the most vulnerable communities in the region. Both localities were experiencing severe water shortages due to a combination of the large presence of Syrian refugees, seasonal population increase, and prolonged state-electricity outages which are straining the Beqaa Water Establishment (BWE)’s ability to meet residents’ basic water needs. By the end of this quarter, CSP had initiated the groundwork on both activities, including site preparation and excavation works.

By securing a continuous energy source to operate the water pump, these activities will reduce communal tensions, while ensuring over 30,000 residents have regular access to water. CSP expects complete both activities during the upcoming quarter.

Installation of Solar-Powered LED Streetlights

Amidst Lebanon's multi-faceted socio-economic crisis, many streets and neighborhoods across the country remain unlit after sunset, and residents are left feeling unsafe on poorly lit roads and public spaces. The decreased sense of safety felt after dark is fueling inter-communal tensions in many villages, towns, and cities. Moreover, with the ongoing deterioration of economic conditions, municipalities lack the resources to rehabilitate and maintain the existing streetlighting system and resolve the issue.

In response, CSP has been working in areas with total electric blackouts, providing alternative energy solutions through installation of solar streetlighting systems. During the previous quarter, CSP completed the supply and installation of 48 solar-powered LED streetlights in Old Saida’s main paths and entrances. In parallel, two activities began in Kfar Jarra and Anane that will provide solar-powered streetlights to enhance the safety of more than 7,500 residents. CSP also finalized the tendering process for an activity in Qabb Elias (Beqaa) to install 280 all-in-one solar streetlights in strategic locations within the village.

Tailored Solar Solutions

In addition to providing solar energy solutions for community electricity and streetlighting, CSP has used solar power to support activities in other sectors. For instance, in Ainata el Arz (Beqaa), CSP delivered a solar-powered welding station to the village that continued to be used by around 750 residents and farmers, enabling them to maintain and repair irrigation lines ahead of the harvest season.

Meanwhile, in Ras Baalbek (Beqaa), CSP is expanding Cooperation Without Borders (CWB)’s current seedlings’ nursery operations with the installation of 1,867.5 m² of greenhouses and a germination room. The nursery will be equipped with the latest solar powered technologies through an off-grid solar system to enable a solar-powered controlled environment for the germination room to provide ideal growing conditions.

CSP also continued working to finalize the designs of an array of new similar activities to sustainably improve water provision in Deir el Ahmar, Bechwat, Khribet Rouha (Beqaa), El Meri (South), Mazraat et Teffah, Tikrit, El Borj, and Hasroun (North), while preparing to launch the groundwork in Es Sultan Yaacoub during the upcoming quarter. All in all, CSP’s portfolio of solar energy solutions is underway to counter the collapse of essential services in dozens of vulnerable Lebanese communities amidst the daily struggle to secure and sustain electricity supply in the country.

USAID-funded streetlights improve safety and security and reduce energy consumption at a much-needed time

During the second quarter of FY2022, CSP successfully completed the assembly and installation of new LED streetlights in three vulnerable localities in the Beqaa Valley. This included installing 63 LED streetlights in Hawch Barada, 849 in El Marj, and 550 in El Qaraoun. These communities witnessed a significant influx of Syrian refugees throughout the years - 24,000 Syrian residents in El Marj, 7,000 in El Qaraoun, and 1,200 in Hawch Barada - thereby contributing to the municipalities’ difficulties in providing basic services to residents, including streetlighting. The latter has become a priority issue within these communities as it has been driving communal tensions over perceived lack of safety and security. For instance, in Hawch Barada, women were reportedly afraid to go out after sundown in the absence of lighting, and several incidents of opportunistic burglaries and thefts were reported on unlit streets and neighborhoods.

The existing streetlighting systems consisted of old high-pressure sodium (HPS)-type bulbs which were costly to operate and maintain, resulting in large expenses incurred by the municipalities on electricity bills and streetlight maintenance. In response, CSP replaced old nonfunctional streetlights with new LED-type bulbs at the entrances of targeted towns and at other strategic locations that would have the greatest impact for all residents. The shift to LED streetlights offers a sustainable and cost-efficient solution because they last longer and consume around 60% less energy than traditional lighting technologies. Additionally, LED streetlights are closer to natural light, which helps drivers and pedestrians better identify objects at night and improves traffic safety. Overall, these three completed interventions are reducing tensions between refugees and host communities by making the villages’ public areas safely accessible after dark to thousands of residents while significantly reducing municipal electricity bills by an estimated 70%.

CSP worked in other communities, replacing 176 of old existing light bulbs with LED-type bulbs in the southern locality of Rachaiya el Foukhar, 85 in northern Niha, and 39 in El Khiara in the Beqaa, and replacing 500 LED streetlights damaged by the Beirut Port blast as part of its emergency response.

CSP implements critical infrastructural activities to improve public safety during this harsh winter season

During the second quarter of the year, a prolonged winter season hit the country, covering its mountainous regions with thick layers of snow. As a result, residents in vulnerable rural areas struggled to secure sources of heating to fight the cold in the absence of state-run electricity and amidst the fuel crisis. The successive snowstorms and heavy winds have also compounded the existing weak infrastructure, affected road conditions, and caused flooding. In response, CSP has been intervening in various ways to fulfill basic safety and public service needs. Specifically, it constructed retaining walls in Markebta (North), Ghazze, and Nabi Ayla (Beqaa), as well as rainwater drainage systems in Kfar Hilda and Kfar Yachit (North) and provided snow ploughing equipment to the towns of Niha and Bqarsouna (North).

Retaining Walls

Despite the challenging weather conditions during the quarter, by the end of March 2022, CSP achieved around 85% progress on the construction of a retaining wall and side rails in Nabi Ayla. The town, located in the Zahleh district, is home to around 3,200 Lebanese residents and 1,300 Syrian refugees. Despite an active municipality, the recent deteriorating nationwide economic conditions, the rapid devaluation of the national currency, and the significant presence of Syrian refugees, have all affected the municipality’s capacities to provide basic services, including improving public safety and accessibility to community members. Along the main entrance to the town which links the village to its surroundings, as well as farmers with their plains, the unsupported road was causing repetitive road accidents.

In response, CSP is constructing a retaining wall and side rails to address this important public security concern and limit the occurrence of public safety hazards. CSP expects to complete this activity in April 2022. Similarly, CSP had previously carried out an activity in Ghazze which rebuilt a 70-meter wall which was on the verge of collapse and levelled the sidewalk to ensure pedestrians’ safety, benefiting thousands of underserved and vulnerable residents. In another similar intervention in Markebta, CSP built a 70-meter long, three-meter-high retention wall to prevent soil erosions at the main entrance of the village.

Snow Removal Equipment

CSP had equipped the underserved mountainous town of Bqarsouna with snow removal equipment just in time for this year’s winter season. The town usually experiences heavy snow fall in wintertime, forcing road closures and disrupting local economic activities and service provision. The municipality previously would rent a skid-steer loader specially equipped for snow removal at a cost of LBP 300,00 per day. Currently, with the ongoing devaluation of the national currency and the consequent price inflation, the cost has almost doubled to around LBP 650,000 per day. This has become a serious burden on the municipality given that it is crucial to ensure that residents can commute safely.

In response, CSP assisted the community by equipping the municipality’s skid-steer loader with a snow blower attachment and a salt spreader, that were delivered by mid-December 2021. During the successive storms in January 2022, the CSP-provided equipment was utilized to mitigate heavy snow disruptions. This activity, worth around $20,000 in USAID funding, enhanced the safety of 6,000 residents and minimized road accidents in the area. To note, during the reporting period, the municipality’s skid-steer loader broke down, and they managed to secure a replacement to be able the use of USAID-provided equipment given their impact on the community.

In Niha (North), CSP also verified the continued use of the previously provided skid steer snow blower, which continued to effectively help this community overcome the harsh weather and clear up any roadblocks from snow.

Rainwater Collection Systems

Finally, CSP continued implementing its activity in Kfar Yachit aiming to install a new rainwater collection system. Every winter, Kfar Yachit residents suffer from heavy rainfall resulting in floods throughout the village due to the absence of water channels and leading to severe household and harvest damage. CSP had equally constructed a rainwater drainage system in Kfar Hilda (North) which continues to ensure a proper water flow in the town’s channels.

All in all, CSP’s various infrastructural interventions remain critical amidst the current country context to enhance public safety and ease communal tensions over limited access to services in underserved and vulnerable communities.

CSP’s workforce development (WFD) component is a pilot initiative implemented from 2019-2023, that aims to improve employment outcomes for Lebanese residents by supporting and enhancing access to quality Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET), as well as by building connections to practical training opportunities and jobs within the private sector.

WFD's main objective is to improve the skills for at least 1,000 unemployed or underemployed Lebanese citizens from vulnerable communities. To this end, it is providing 770 Jobs Education and Training (JET) scholarships to individuals seeking a technical and vocational education and 710 internship opportunities to job seekers.

In parallel, WFD is working with private TVET partners to improve their curricula, educational training, and job placement infrastructure and services for three promising sectors for growth and employment in Lebanon:

• Home-based health care (HHC)

• Repair and maintenance of industrial machinery (R&M)

• Information technology (IT)

Under its wastewater management component, CSP is collaborating with the Ministry of Energy and Water, regional water establishments, the Litani River Authority, municipalities, and local communities to design and implement interventions that mitigate pollution resulting from the discharge of untreated domestic and industrial wastewater. CSP is focusing primarily on the construction or rehabilitation of wastewater facilities to ensure that they have the appropriate technology to manage domestic wastewater output.

Despite the difficult operating context, CSP was able to push its program forward this period by starting construction on two of its wastewater infrastructure interventions in Aitanit and Nmairiye, while simultaneously obtaining the approval for the final design of its intervention in Bchaale. Currently, four interventions are undergoing the bidding process.

This quarter, only one industry was able to meet the incentive rebate conditions under the Industrial Wastewater Treatment grant, which provides 50% rebate of up to $15,000 per industry. CSP is therefore in the process of amending the grant conditions to increase the incentive rebate to 80% up to $45,000. The increased incentive rebate would allow four industries to participate in the program once the grant amendment is finalized in April 2022.

Additionally, during this quarter, CSP began a wastewater stewardship campaign on World Water Day in March with a local supermarket chain to promote wastewater awareness through their corporate social responsibility activities.

Having previously completed the design of all but one of the originally selected interventions, CSP finalized the design and construction specifications of the last remaining intervention, Bchaale Wastewater Treatment Plant & Collection System.

The construction contracts for two projects, ‘Aaitanit Wastewater Treatment Plant Rehabilitation and Sludge Management Upgrade’ and Nmairiye ‘Wastewater Pumping Station Rehabilitation and Access Road’, were signed respectively with Parallel Contracting and Yamen Establishment early during this quarter. The bidding process for the remaining three projects is ongoing and is expected to be finalized during the upcoming quarter.

The following slide show provides further information about each activity as well as the progress in their implementation:

The Industrial Wastewater Treatment Project

Through a grant awarded to the Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI), USAID’s CSP aims to support Lebanese industries willing to invest in proper onsite industrial wastewater treatment. Within this intervention, CSP is implementing a rebate program to partially reimburse partner industries for the costs incurred in mitigating their industrial wastewater pollution.

By the end of January 2022 and following receipt of approval for all seven submitted baseline reports, the industries presented their quotations from their selected wastewater treatment equipment suppliers. Accordingly, ALI environmental consultant, ECODIT Liban, reviewed all quotations and found them to be in line with the recommended wastewater treatment processes. Subsequently, each industry submitted its financial commitment to IWT.

In February of this quarter CSP evaluated the financial commitments received from the participating industries and concluded that only one eligible industry was able to meet the conditions of the original grant incentive rebate program. Therefore, CSP proposed raising the IWT rebate from the current 50% up to $15,000 to a proposed 80% up to $45,000 per industry to offset the impact of the worsening economic crisis. Consequently, four committed industries - Cartas, Saifan, Al Gazelle, and Kamel Badawi Bsat Factories - revised their financial commitments to meet the increased incentive.

Wastewater Stewardship

During this quarter, CSP developed a wastewater stewardship concept for collaboration with national supermarket chain ‘Tawfeer Discount Store (TDS)’, which confirmed the adoption of wastewater stewardship under its corporate social responsibility umbrella.

In its efforts to engage private sector entities and local communities in educating and involving citizens to enhance the Regional Water Establishment’s’ abilities to manage wastewater in their areas of operation, CSP, in partnership with TDS, launched a wastewater management awareness campaign. The campaign includes heavy social media messaging and giveaway competitions, as well as in-person wastewater related activities for children and displays of awareness-raising posters and banners across the supermarket’s 22 branches in Lebanon. The campaign will be ongoing throughout April of the upcoming quarter.

CSP’s technical assistance and capacity building component complements the program’s community support, workforce development, and wastewater management activities by ensuring that recipients of assistance possess the know-how, skills, and tools to maximize the impact and sustainability of USAID investments. Technical assistance interventions are mostly implemented through CSP’s specialized service providers and short-term technical experts.

Throughout the second quarter of FY2022, CSP’s TO 3 continued to focus its efforts on designing and implementing technical assistance interventions to municipalities, civil society organizations (CSOs), and community-based organizations (CBOs) across Lebanon. This assistance gives CSP partners the opportunity to improve organizational development, financial management, social media management, and the operation and maintenance of donated equipment.  

CSP Internship Completion Ceremony

On February 22, 2022, CSP celebrated the completion of the internships of 24 USP students from AUB and LAU. The ceremony was held in presence of the U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission, Richard Michaels, USAID Mission Director, Mary Eileen Devitt, USAID Local Development Office Director, Claude Zullo, representatives from AUB and LAU, and included the virtual participation of municipality representatives and students’ families.

During the event, students shared the impact of the program on their career path and skills they had acquired through a video and discussion session with DCM Michaels and USAID representatives.

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