Local governments in Lebanon are facing compounded crises, including the Syrian displacement crisis, Lebanon’s economic and financial crises, and the global and local impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which impose unprecedented challenges on their capacity to deliver basic services to their communities. In response to these crises, UN-Habitat jointly with UNDP are implementing a new approach delivered by the Municipal Empowerment and Resilience project (MERP) to strengthen local authorities’ capacity to identify basic service and local economic development (BS\LED) projects that are responsive to the needs of local communities, including refugee populations. This project is funded by the European Union through the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis, ‘Madad Fund’.
First, MERP launched a call for concept notes for projects up to USD 330,000, this included a detailed selection criterion emphasizing the need to stress on projects that are responsive to the community, are inclusive and sustainable. In total 33 concept notes for BS\LED projects were submitted. To ensure that also municipalities with limited capacity can benefit, short-listed municipalities received training and coaching to develop their concept notes into full proposals.
Following a training session on proposal writing, Khalil El Husseini, a municipal staff, said ‘The practical approach adopted in the coaching sessions helped me to identify the nature of activities, as well as the competencies and timeframe, which are considered an important part of the proposal development process, in addition to the estimated cost of each detail.’
Submitted projects cover key municipal services such as firefighting services, sports and youth centers, health care centers, public gardens, energy efficiency projects, sewage systems, and drinking water services. Considering the current context, several municipalities submitted concept notes for projects with a strong local economic develop focus, including initiatives supporting the local agriculture sector such agricultural markets, a natural soap factory and cow/agri-food production farms. Other municipalities proposed projects with an entrepreneurship focus such as business incubators and training centers.
MERP shortlisted 18 municipalities and provided further support in the development of a full proposal through training and hands-on coaching. This resulted in the development of solid projects, it also strengthened much needed municipal capacity to identify projects and develop project ideas that respond to local needs. Furthermore, the training and coaching process will be documented and made available to external municipalities as well so that MERPs impact extends beyond the municipalities that entered the call.
Additionally, MERP developed a functional assessment for two of the 14 existing Regional Technical Offices (RTOs), RTOs aim to strengthen local governance, enhance service delivery, and mainstream planned interventions, in Lebanon. Purpose of the assessment is to propose recommendations to strengthen RTOs and to support the replication and sustainability of the model on the longer term. This will further enable RTOs to provide technical and social assistance to municipalities and union of municipalities (UoMs) in the design and implementation of municipal projects.
As a next step, a municipal fair will be organized for municipalities and UoMs to present their final proposals to key stakeholders, including a review committee and other national, regional, and local actors and development partners. MERP will support municipalities in marketing their ideas during the fair, thereby paving the way for potential implementation through other local or international funding opportunities.
In parallel, selected municipalities and UoMs will be part of a municipal finance assessment. Based on the assessment, MERP will implement select municipal finance solutions to strengthen revenue collection/budget efficiency. This in turn will support the longer-term sustainability of implemented projects.
As the economic and financial crises progress, and municipal resources are rapidly dwindling, municipalities are increasingly looking towards external donors to be able to deliver much needed services to their communities. Through this activity, MERP hopes to not only address the immediate needs of local communities in terms of basic services and local economic development projects, but to invest in municipal and UoMs capacity to successfully attract external resources in the future.
