Cash Assistance in Lebanon: Using short-term support to help families survive economic shock

Overview

There are over 1 million Syrian refugees living in Lebanon, forced to leave their neighbouring country due to the ongoing civil war. As the refugees cope with dwindling resources and increasing poverty, the Government of Lebanon, donors and the international community are grappling with how to continue to address the basic needs of the refugees and the communities that host them, over the medium to possibly long term. Working with local partners and the government, Oxfam has piloted a temporary cash assistance programme in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Tripoli to try to prevent households struggling with poverty and coping with a socio-economic shock from resorting to negative coping mechanisms.