Ministry of Foreign Affairs - MENA
File no.: 2015-25992
Internal Grant Committee Meeting 3 November 2015
Agenda Item no.: 1
1.
Title:
Lebanon Syrian Crisis Trust Fund
2.
Partners:
World Bank Multi-Donor Trust Fund Lebanon
3.
Amount:
30.0 million DKK
4.
Duration:
2015 –2017
5.
Previous Grants:
N/A
6.
Strategies and policy
priorities:
N/A
7.
Danish National Budget
account code:
06.32.02.15 – Other initiatives in Asia
8.
Desk officer:
Nille Gry Olesen
9.
Head of Department:
Jens-Otto Horslund
10. Summary:
The focus of the Trust Fund is to contain the spill-over of the Syrian crisis in Lebanon. In this context, the
World Bank is pursuing a two-pronged strategy: addressing the near-term impact of the Syria conflict on
service delivery and social cohesion; while supporting the country’s development agenda and laying the ground
for longer-term growth and job creation. The Fund has approximately 74 million USD in contributions and
has to date approved projects focusing on supporting emergency municipal services, education system
stabilization, emergency primary healthcare restoration as well as support to the Lebanese government’s
national poverty targeting program.
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LEBANON SYRIAN CRISIS TRUST FUND
PROJECT PROPOSALS
A.
BACKGROUND
Given the World Bank’s mandate and authorizing environment, the Bank’s focus is to contain the spillover of
the Syrian crisis on the neighboring countries. In this context, the Bank is pursuing a two-pronged strategy in
Lebanon: addressing the near-term impact of the Syria conflict on service delivery and social cohesion; while
supporting the country’s development agenda and laying the ground for longer-term growth and job creation. As
part of this effort, and following the Bank-led Economic and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) of the Syrian
Conflict and subsequent Roadmap of Priority Interventions, the Bank set up a Multi-Donor Trust Fund to help
mitigate the impact of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon. The Lebanon Syrian Crisis Trust Fund (LSCTF) is
operational, and three projects have been approved for funding to date: (1) Emergency Municipal Services for
US$10 million; (2) Education System Stabilization for US$32 million; and (3) Emergency Primary Healthcare
Restoration for US$15 million. To date, the LSCTF has about US$74 million in contributions from Norway,
France, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK-Department for International Development
(DFID), and the World Bank’s State and Peace Building Fund. To mitigate the impact of the Syrian conflict on
poor Lebanese, the Bank is also supporting scaling up of the Government’s National Poverty Targeting Program
to reach those Lebanese affected by the Syrian crisis and all Lebanese households under the extreme poverty
line. The scale up is a 3-year US$8.2 million grant financed “Emergency National Poverty Targeting Program
Project”.
B.
DESCRIPTIONS OF PROJECTS FINANCED FROM THE LSCTF
Lebanon Emergency Municipal Services Project (Project Amount: US10 million)
The project development objective is to address urgent community priorities in select municipal services,
targeting areas most affected by the influx of Syrian refugees. Municipal services include solid waste
management, water, wastewater and sanitation, roads (and related services), recreational facilities and
community activities. The Project is fully aligned with the Government’s priorities as a result of the Syrian crisis
and is specifically designed to support the Government Roadmap’s key strategic priorities related to restoring
and building resilience in equitable access to and quality of public services and strengthening social cohesion.
In light of the limited financing envelope, the project will initially target eleven unions of municipalities that
have been identified in collaboration with CDR. The targeting is based on a list established by UNHCR,
UNICEF and the Government that identifies municipalities which are particularly impacted by the crisis due to
the ratio of Syrians to Lebanese and the level of poverty among the Lebanese population.
The Project consists of three components: (i) Emergency Response; (ii) Rehabilitation of Critical Infrastructure;
and (iii) Project Implementation Support.
Component 1: Emergency Response (US$3.5 million). This component will finance the provision of high
priority municipal services (Subcomponent 1A) and initiatives that promote social interaction and collaboration
(Subcomponent 1B) in the eleven participating unions of municipalities. Allocation of resources among the
participating unions of municipalities will be related to the number of Syrians hosted, considering the number of
Syrian refugees as a proxy of the additional stress on local communities. Initiatives will be selected in
consultation with municipalities and communities, with a decentralized approach to decision-making. These
initiatives will provide non-exclusionary benefits addressing some of the most immediate service needs in the
unions most affected by the crisis and will be aimed at: (i) improving safety and mobility; (ii) mitigating the
increasing health and environmental risks associated with the deterioration of water, waste, and sanitation
services; and (iii) increasing collaboration and interaction amongst the communities.
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Subcomponent 1A Service Delivery will focus on improving municipal service delivery in areas such as water
supply and wastewater, solid waste management, roads improvement, and recreational facilities and community
centers. Subprojects will be small in scale, and will, depending on the expressed needs of communities and
municipalities, include small works (such as road maintenance), equipment (e.g. well generators, water filters for
schools, etc.) and services (e.g. surge capacity for garbage collection).
Subcomponent 1B Community Activities will finance activities that the communities and municipalities find
conducive to reduce some of the social tensions stemming from cohabitation. In light of the increasing youth
unemployment, communities may demand activities that can inform or engage the youth. Activities could also
be targeting children through after school activities or learning programs, as well as women by facilitating for
example skills exchanges, child care opportunities..
Component 2: Rehabilitation of Critical Infrastructure (US$5.5 million). This component will finance larger
works to rehabilitate and/or develop critical infrastructure in the areas of solid waste management, roads
improvement, water and sanitation, and community infrastructure. Anticipated types of infrastructure include
waste sorting and composting plants, small scale waste water treatment plants and rehabilitation of roads
exceeding the union allocations under Component 1.
Component 3: Project Implementation Support (US$1 million). This component will finance the management
of the Project and any support needed for the implementation of the decentralized, consultative approach. The
component will cover the costs of the Project Management Unit (PMU) housed in CDR, which will be
responsible for implementing the Project. The unit will hire/supplement the required staff to carry out the
responsibilities of the PMU, including coordination, reporting, financial management, procurement, social and
environmental safeguards. The PMU will also plan and implement a public outreach campaign with the purpose
of aligning communities and unions around the Project, as well as showcase the Project results to other
stakeholders, including central level agencies and potential donors. Municipalities and/or unions (depending on
size and capacity) will be in charge of undertaking the consultations with their constituencies, using already
established participatory mechanisms and platforms where they exist. Finally, the component may also fund
other activities deemed conducive to the promotion of decentralized decision-making, such as knowledgesharing events.
Implementation Status
The project was approved by the Bank on June 20, 2014 and by the Council of Ministers on August 28, 2014.
The Grant Agreement was signed between the Bank and the Government on September 12, 2014. The project
was declared effective on February 25, 2015. The CDR is currently awaiting the receipt of the US$1.5 million to
the project Designated Account at BDL (under CDR accounts) from the Ministry of Finance’s Transit Account.
Progress on project components is as follows:
•
•
•
Component 1A (Emergency Response): Over US$2 million has been committed (contracts awarded for
equipment in an amount of US$1.33 million and for works in an amount of US$600,000). An additional
contract for water filters for Tyre Union schools is in the process of being awarded. While awating for
the transfer of US$1.5 million to CDR's designated account, a request for direct payment to fund these
contracts has been sent to the World Bank by CDR.
Component 1B (Community Activities): consultations are progressing according to schedule.
Component 2 (Rehabilitation of Critical Infrastructure): consultations are complete and the list of
priority projects to be implemented is being finalized.
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Lebanon Emergency Education System Stabilization Project (Project Amount: US$32 million)
Syrian refugee children currently represent 20% of the total student population in public schools, and have
required the introduction of a second shift of instruction in the afternoon to accommodate demand. Moreover,
government expenditures in the education sector have increased by approximately 14% from (AY) 2011-2012 to
(AY) 2013-2014. The World Bank, in partnership with DFID (Department for International Development) and
the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE), has prepared the grant-financed Emergency Education
System Stabilization Project (EESSP), to support stabilization of the Lebanese public education sector in the face
of a continued influx of Syrian refugees. The EESSP is in full alignment with the Reaching All Children with
Education Lebanon (RACE) strategy of MEHE and in harmonization with other donors engaged in education in
Lebanon.
The project complements new support to first, second shifts and non-formal education (NFE) managed by the
UN since the start of the Syria refugee inflow in 2011. MEHE and the local education donor group are working
collaboratively in the RACE Executive Committee to align donor support and fully maximize the comparative
advantages of the different partners to support MEHE to optimize the Lebanese education system over the longer
term. The EESSP is a subset of elements of the larger EESS Program. The EESS Program, estimated at US$160
million, is a subset of RACE priorities, focused on those RACE elements that are high need and not covered by
other donors.
The project development objective is to support access to the Lebanese public education system and to improve
the learning environment in response to the continued influx of Syrian refugee children. The Project is designed
to alleviate short-term financial pressure on MEHE and invest in long term access and quality to provide lasting
benefit to the Lebanese public school system.
The project consists of 3 components: (i): Support to Schools; (ii) Learning Environment Quality; and (ii)
Project Management and Support. The three-year project aims to address two central human development and
education system challenges facing Lebanon: maintaining the ability of schools to provide education services
and maintaining the quality of the learning environment.
Component 1: Support to Schools (US$13.5 million). The Project will provide financing for school operating
costs at the level of the school. Two funds currently exist to serve essential school needs, the “Parent Council
Fund” and the “School Fund,” each with its own account for each school. Each fund has its own eligible
expenditures under MEHE regulations. The Parent Council Fund, which is normally financed at the rate of
US$60 per student, can be used to pay for remedial instruction for students, student health expenses, schoolrelated student activities and extracurricular activities sponsored by the school as per Decree No. 2153/M, 2007.
The School Fund, financed at the rate of US$100 per student, can be used to pay for things such as heat,
electricity, paper, pens and other minor classroom supplies as per Decree No. 1845/M, 2006. MEHE currently
provides the majority of the financing for these two funds at these rates, supplemented by other agencies. This
component will support these funds at a student per-capita rate of approximately US$160 for an average of
28,000 of these students for each of the three years of the life of the Project.
Component 2: Learning Environment Quality (US$16.6 million)
Sub-component 2.1: School rehabilitation (US$5.2 million). This component will improve the quality of the
public school learning environment by financing the rehabilitation of school buildings that are in the greatest
need of repair. Activities will include improving structural security, access to water and sanitation with
consideration of girls’ and boys’ needs, as well as the physical appearance of the school. While this project will
only be able to cover a small portion of the total need, successful implementation is expected to pave the way for
other donors to finance additional works either as an expansion to this project or through alternative
mechanisms.
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Sub-component 2.2: Supplemental School Financing (US$5.7 million). This component will provide small
emergency funds to a majority of public primary schools in the country to fulfill frontline school needs with a
focus on helping schools improve the learning environment and foster social cohesion between different student
communities through extra-curricular activities. The funds would be used for purchasing items for classrooms
and/or extracurricular activities that would enhance student and teacher motivation, foster pride in public schools
and promote attendance and retention as well as minor physical improvements.
Sub-component 2.3: National Textbook Program for Public Schools (US$5.1 million). This subcomponent
seeks to provide national textbooks and workbooks to students (grades 1 through 9) enrolled in public schools
for the school years 2015-16 and 2016-17, depending on final student numbers and negotiated textbook prices.
Textbooks were distributed for the school year 2013-14, expanding earlier textbook distribution initiatives by
MEHE in school year 2012-13. DfID spent US$2.52 million to provide textbooks to approximately 80 percent of
all students in grades 1-9 for one year. The Project would spend approximately US$5 million to provide
curricular textbooks and workbooks.
Sub-component 2.4: Direction d’Orientation Pédagogique et Scolaire Strengthening (US$600,000). The
Direction d’Orientation Pédagogique et Scolaire (DOPS) is a department comprising teachers within the
Directorate General of Education who provide instructional, health and psycho-social counselling to other
teachers and students in the national public school system. Strengthening DOPS is a priority for MEHE and the
project would finance essential tools to enable this unit to provide high quality services to schools, teachers and
students. The DOPS has three different types of counsellors: pedagogic, health and psycho-social/child
protection. The DOPS sub-component would include support to continuing professional development for DOPS
staff and the provision of resources and equipment for DOPS staff to efficiently and effectively carry out visits to
schools, report and recommend support activities and provide for teacher centered workshops.
Component 3: Project Management and Support (US$1.9 million). MEHE will implement all of RACE and
EESS project activities, including the activities funded by other donors to RACE. This modality ensures that this
project will strengthen government leadership of the response and contribute to sustainability. The Minister will
be responsible for Project oversight, delegating specific responsibilities to the RACE Executive Committee
(REC), and day-to-day coordination of project activities to the RACE PMU, created within MEHE. The PMU
will coordinate with various department heads in the central and regional offices. Detailed modalities and
arrangements for financial and procurement operational processes, transactions, and decisions will be developed
by the PMU and will be outlined in the Financial and Procurement sections of the Project Operations Manual.
PMU staff members shall be financed under this project and agreements with other donors. Positions financed by
this Project will be procured in accordance with World Bank procurement procedures. This amount will cover
key staff positions as well as operating costs for the PMU.
Implementation Status. The project was approved by the Bank on March 9, 2015. The Grant Agreement was
signed on July 22 and the project declared effective the same day. A World Bank mission to support
implementation visited Lebanon from July 28 to August 7. The mission worked with the Ministry of Education
to begin implementation of a detailed action plan to support rapid flow of funds and implementation prior to the
start of the school year. The team is currently working with the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Education &
Higher Education to get the Designated Account open as soon as possible and a forthcoming mission is planned
from October 14-23.
Lebanon Emergency Primary Health Care Restoration Project (Project Amount: US$15 million)
The emergency situation created by the Syrian conflict further exacerbated the low pre-crisis capacity and poor
infrastructure of primary health care facilities in Lebanon. Only 50 percent of the population is insured leaving
the other half of the population - namely the informal sector, the poor and low income groups - without any
health coverage. For the 1.6 million population, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) serves as a provider of
last resort providing hospital coverage while excluding primary care. Currently, primary health care is provided
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to low income groups through a network of 182 contracted Primary Health Care Centers (PHCCs) which are
predominantly run by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The basic package includes immunization,
reproductive health, maternal and child health (MCH) services, health education, dental care, and the provision
of essential drugs.
The objective of the Project is to provide primary health care coverage to poor Lebanese affected by the Syrian
crisis. Specifically, the project aims to provide 150,000 out of the 253,313 enrollees of the National Poverty
Targeting Program (NPTP) with a newly introduced package of basic health services through the MoPH
Network of Primary Health Care Clinics. It also aims to reduce direct payment of NPTP enrollees on health by
subsidizing the cost of the BBP.
The project is comprised of three components: (i) provision of a subsidized package of essential healthcare
services to eligible poor beneficiaries; (ii) capacity building of contracted service providers; and (iii) project
management and monitoring.
Component 1: Provision of the Essential Healthcare Package (US$9 million financed from LSCTF;
additional US$6 million financed by MoPH). This component subsidizes a package of essential healthcare
services to 150,696 out of the 340,000 poor Lebanese identified by the NPTP as living below the poverty line.
The NPTP is based on a PMT targeting mechanism that ensures that the most vulnerable groups within the
population would be reached. Priority in the selection of beneficiaries is given to those living in areas most
affected by the Syrian crisis. The MoPH provides an in-kind contribution in the amount of US$6 million
providing drugs and vaccines to providers
Six evidence-based packages will be provided under this: (i) three age specific and gender wellness packages
(ages 0-18, females 19 years and above, males 19 years and above); (ii) two care packages for the two common
non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Lebanon; diabetes and hypertension; and (iii) a reproductive health
package focusing on pre and post-natal care. Eligible beneficiaries will be covered for the following:
(i) screening, preventive, and health promotion visits; (ii) essential clinical and diagnostic tests; (iii) prenatal and
post care visits; (iv) consultation visits for the treatment of diabetes and hypertension; and (v) prescription
medications.
Component 2: Readiness and Capacity Building of Primary Health Care Centers (US$3.17 million financed
from LSCTF). This component will finance preparation and scaling-up the capabilities of the contracted PHCCs
for the implementation of the program. This will be based on the results of a rapid facility assessment conducted
by the MoPH to identify gaps in PHCCs’ capacities and resources to respond to contract requirements. It will
also finance technical assistance and training for upgrading the skills of personnel of contracted health centers
through short refresher courses to help them cope with additional load and immediate needs of beneficiaries.
Capacity building will include training in the essential healthcare services guidelines, M&E, reporting and
accounting requirements.
Component 3: Project Outreach, Management and Monitoring (US$1.68 million financed from the LSCTF).
The objective of this component is to: (i) ensure an effective and efficient, administration, regulation, and
implementation of the project; (ii) improve the effectiveness of the MoPH in contracting with PHCCs; (iii)
rigorous monitoring and performance assessment of the project outputs and objectives. To achieve its objectives,
this component will finance technical assistance for the following activities:
a) Support the Program Management Unit (PMU) in the MoPH.
b) Provide technical assistance in the development and management of contracts, especially the verification
and validation of the PHCCs’ financial and technical reports as well as the payment process.
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c) Update and maintain the Health Information System (HIS) (including provision of information
technology hardware and software) at MoPH with links to other related agencies involved in the
management of the Program.
d) Initiate rigorous monitoring and assessment of the program through setting the baseline, collecting the
data and setting the parameters for evaluation.
e) Improving the grievance and redress mechanism for improved efficiency and transparency.
f) Outreach campaign and development of communication activities to inform the beneficiary population
about their health rights and services provided at the PHCCs in their areas.
Implementation Status. The project was approved by the Bank on March 19, 2015. The Grant Agreement was
signed on July 22 and the project declared effective the same day. Consequently, the PM signed the decree for
the health project and the Ministry of Finance is in the process of opening the Designated Account (DA). The
Ministry of Public Health has made considerable advances with the preparatory activities for the project
implementation launch, including: submitting the Project Operations Manual within one month of effectiveness
as per legal agreement, preparing project implementation plans, finalizing the TORs for key PMU staff,
developing the standard contracts with the Primary Health Care Centers (PHCCs), developing the Health
Information System, and training of PHCCs staff in the newly developed HIS as well as medical staff in the
essential healthcare package.
C.
OVERVIEW OF THE LEBANON SYRIAN CRISIS TRUST FUND
The LSCTF serves to align donor support behind the Government-led stabilization strategy, while providing
donors with assurance that reliable fiduciary safeguards are in place so that funds are used for their intended
purposes. The LSCTF represents a monitorable mechanism to help Lebanon meet the increased service demands
brought about by the massive refugee inflows and provides a harmonized and transparent platform for donor
coordination.
Fund Flows for Projects and Program Grants
Funds received from donors are pooled into a single account by the Administrator. Once the Grant Agreement is
signed between the Government and the World Bank and declared effective, funds can be disbursed to the
Ministry of Finance, as per the process illustrated below.
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Governance Structure
The LSCTF has a governance structure consisting of a Steering Board (SB), a Technical Committee (TC), an
Administrator, a Secretariat, Project Teams, and Implementing Partners. The roles of each are outlined below.
Project Approval Process
The LSCTF provides grant funding for projects, programs and related activities in support of the priorities
identified in the Roadmap. Proposals should meet the following criteria:



Alignment with the Government’s priorities;
Consistency with the overall financing priorities endorsed by the LSCTF Steering Board;
Projects or programs should be channeled through government systems (“on-budget”) and government
agencies;
Projects must be coordinated with other relevant activities and must not duplicate with other
interventions; and
Projects must adhere to all relevant World Bank procedures, policies and guidelines, except when
applying the UN-WB FPA.


The World Bank’s Role
The Bank’s fiduciary role in project execution is to:

Ensure that the financial management procedures and guidelines are applied in all Bank financed
projects.
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




Review on a regular basis during the year the financial management system of the project.
Ensure that all funds have been used for their intended purposes with regard to efficiency and
effectiveness.
Review financial reports and financial statements and ascertain their accuracy in comparison to
physical and financial progress.
Verify that the project resources are accounted for, assets are safeguarded and payments are made to
eligible expenditures.
Ensure that the Bank anti-corruption guidelines are adopted.
Reporting
The Bank will provide the Donors with annual reports on the progress of activities financed by the
Contributions, as well as current financial information relating to receipts, disbursements and fund balance in the
Holding Currency with respect to the Contributions via the World Bank's Trust Funds Donor Center secure
website. The Bank will also provide to the donors within six months following the end of each Bank fiscal year,
an annual single audit report.
Risks
The MDTF was established based on the request from the Government in order to ensure that the flow of donor
funds go through government channels. The objective of the LSCTF focuses on mitigating the impact of the
Syrian conflict on the Lebanese people and hosting communities, taking a two-pronged approach: (i) preparing
quick-disbursing emergency projects to address the impact of the crisis on public finances and improving service
delivery; (ii) strengthening national systems, thereby promoting effective policy-making for medium- to longerterm development, and helping the government systems to adapt to shocks such as the current one.
There is a possible risk relating to the decision making process on the Government's side which is influenced by
the political situation in the country. However, this is not only attributable to the LSCTF – it applies to all
projects financed either bilaterally or through the UN. However, the Government has confirmed its strong
commitment and support to the MDTF and its proposed interventions. In addition, grant-financed projects only
require Council of Ministers approval, which has been expedited in the above three approved LSCTF projects,
given the Cabinet's endorsement and ownership of the Roadmap. Parliamentary ratification is not required for
grant-funded projects. Finally, because the World Bank has ongoing relationships with the relevant line
ministries and, in the case of the ongoing projects, also has a functioning platform/system for scale up, additional
resources provided to any of the proposed programs under the LSCTF would contribute to quick impact on the
ground.
With regards to fiduciary risks, these are well mitigated by the application of the Bank's regular procedures that
are used for all IBRD and IDA financed projects. The World Bank as the Administrator of the MDTF oversees
the administration of the MDTF by ensuring that funds are disbursed in accordance with the grant and
administration agreements, as well as monitoring and reporting on all preparation and implementation aspects of
fund-financed activities. For example, the Bank will apply its financial management, procurement,
environmental/social safeguards, information disclosure, as well as reporting and evaluation, and other
procedures to all projects for which the Bank is the Implementation Support Agent, in exactly the same way as it
does for IBRD and IDA financed projects. An up-front capacity assessment of each recipient organization will
be conducted, and submissions of regular interim financial reports as well as annual audited financial reports will
be required, as per the Bank’s grant agreement and disbursement process. As with all Bank-financed projects,
each project under the LSCTF will have its own monitoring and evaluation arrangements, including a results
matrix that will describe the project impact and outputs through indicators that can be monitored over the project
life. In addition, standard World Bank monitoring and reporting processes will be used (Implementation Status
Reports and Implementation Completion Reports). The results matrix of each of the projects are attached as
Annex 1.
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