Lebanon

ACCORDING TO a report on Lebanon commissioned by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia, 28 percent of the population live below the set poverty line of $2.20 per capita per day. Between 1993 and 2003, the average real growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was only 3.8 percent per year. A review of various studies that have been conducted on the economic conditions in Lebanon has identified some general characteristics of the poor in Lebanon.

First, poverty tends to be more prevalent in rural areas and there are significant discrepancies between different regions, with areas of south Lebanon more impoverished than Mount Lebanon. Second, unemployment has proven to be highly correlated with poverty, with the proportion of the unemployed among the poor being much higher than among the general public. It has been established that low wages and type of employment have been contributing factors in the spread of poverty. The scarcity of employment opportunities and widespread unemployment constitute a striking trend in recent years. Third, the size of a poor family in Lebanon is estimated to be larger than the national average of 4.7 members. Another correlation that stands out is the one between the level of education and poverty. The poor tend to be illiterate or have obtained low educational status.

Three groups are disproportionately represented among the poor. Palestinian refugees residing in various refugee camps have been extremely affected by the poor economic conditions. The status allocated to Palestinians by the Lebanese government prohibits them from taking official employment in skilled professions. The dire situation of Palestinians in Lebanon is exacerbated by the fact that even unskilled Palestinian laborers have to compete with large numbers of Syrian and Asian workers who are not required to obtain work permits, and thus work for considerably lower wages. Many Palestinian refugees who work illegally receive only a [Page 630]fraction of the salaries and benefits that Lebanese employees enjoy. A second group, namely Lebanese Shiites, has also been subject to economic deprivation. The lack of educational, health, commercial, and industrial facilities in the Shiite strongholds, further aggravated by Israeli raids in southern Lebanon, provides a strong impetus for migration to urban centers. However, even upon migration to Beirut's suburbs, the basic social services and economic and educational opportunities remain absent. Poverty belts, composed principally of Shiites, encircle the greater Beirut area. A third group of people commonly called internally displaced people (IDP), estimated at 500,000, lives in poor conditions, often in crowded areas, lacking essential health and social services.

Between 1975 and 1990, Lebanon was the venue of a costly and protracted civil war that is commonly cited as the predominant cause of poverty in the country in the last 25 years. The war caused significant damage to Lebanon's means of production and its infrastructure, with material losses calculated at over $25 billion. Moreover the war resulted in the deaths of more than 65,000 people and the displacement of some 500,000 others.

...