Lebanon: The “political vacuum” hinders the flow of international aid

Ahmed Murad (Beirut, Cairo)

Lebanon is witnessing a severe humanitarian crisis, coinciding with economic deterioration and political instability, in light of the vacancy in the presidential position, and the presence of a caretaker government with incomplete powers, which has prompted many countries, donors and organizations to provide aid to Lebanese state institutions.
Countries and donors are working to help Lebanon meet the needs of basic service sectors, including the health system, social care, education, and security, but this aid faces many challenges that threaten its continuity.
The analyst and professor at the Lebanese University, Salma Al-Hajj, explained that Lebanon is facing one of the worst and most violent humanitarian crises in the world, as international estimates indicate that about 4 million people need food and other assistance.
The Lebanese analyst stated, in a statement to Al-Ittihad, that the volume of aid provided by international organizations to Lebanon is much less than the minimum level of survival, especially since about 3.9 million people are in need of humanitarian aid, including 2.1 million Lebanese, and 1.5 million Syrians, 180,000 Palestinian refugees, more than 31,000 Palestinians from Syria, and 81,500 immigrants, according to United Nations estimates. According to a report issued by the Crisis Observatory of the American University of Beirut, Lebanon ranks third in the world in terms of receiving international humanitarian funding and aid, after Syria and Yemen, and there is an international trend to direct most of the aid towards humanitarian programs.
Al-Hajj said that over the past four years, Lebanon has faced a group of complex crises that the World Bank classifies as one of the ten worst financial and economic crises the world has witnessed since the mid-nineteenth century, in addition to the Corona pandemic crisis and its repercussions, and the Beirut port explosion.
The professor at the Lebanese University indicated that the political class in Lebanon bears full responsibility since the beginning of the financial collapse in October 2019 until this moment due to corruption and mismanagement, pointing out that it is unfortunate that this class is still resisting the economic and financial reforms demanded by the international community, and its status. A condition for providing aid.
In 2020, Lebanon began talks with the International Monetary Fund in an effort to secure a rescue plan, and a preliminary agreement was reached in 2023, but the country’s leaders show reluctance to implement the required changes and reforms.
The presidential vacuum that Lebanon has been experiencing since the beginning of November 2022 has constituted an obstacle to attempts to obtain a loan from the International Monetary Fund worth $3 billion, which is contingent on the implementation of a set of political, economic and monetary reforms, the most important of which is the election of a president of the republic and the formation of a government with full powers.
For her part, the Lebanese political analyst, Maysaa Abdel Khaleq, explained that international aid is of great importance to millions of Lebanese, after the poverty rate exceeded 80%, but the aid is not sufficient to secure all basic needs, in addition to that it has witnessed a decline in the recent period with the preoccupation of the countries of the world. The war in Gaza has become a regional and global priority.
In a statement to Al-Ittihad, Abdel Khaleq stressed the necessity of accelerating the election of a new president of the republic and forming a rescue government with full powers so that it has the ability to negotiate with international donor institutions that require the implementation of many reforms in order to provide aid and loans to Lebanon.