Attachment J.d_Lebanon CSP IDIQ FY2020 Annual Report_ 2020 December 14 (Final).pdf

DISCLAIMER The authors’ views expressed in this deliverable do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States government.

FY2020 ANNUAL REPORT

LEBANON COMMUNITY SUPPORT PROGRAM

LEBANON COMMUNITY SUPPORT PROGRAM

FY2020 ANNUAL REPORT

USAID/LEBANON COMMUNITY SUPPORT PROGRAM

OCTOBER 30, 2020

REVISED: DECEMBER 14, 2020

IDIQ Contract No. 72026818D00005

Task Order No. 1 72026818F00002

Task Order No. 2 72026818F00003

Task Order No. 3 72026819F00001

Task Order No. 5 72026819F00003

USAID/Lebanon Community Support Program (CSP)

Chemonics International Inc.

Fattal-Dolphin Building, 4th Floor, Sin el Fil

Beirut, Lebanon

FRONT COVER PHOTO Workers undergo a training from the community support director ahead of their first day of clean-up work as part of CSP’s response to the August 4, 2020, explosions in

Beirut. The workers received USD 20 per workday to remove rubble and debris through a mix of manual labor and heavy machinery. By the end of Fiscal Year 2020, more than 300 CSP-contracted workers had removed a total of 3,929 tons of debris and rubble from blast-affected neighborhoods.

BACK COVER PHOTO Members of the Women’s COOP for Agricultural Products in Jdaidet el

Qaitaa (Akkar) package products during a CSP-provided training in July 2020 focused on improving production methods and standardizing recipes. The training is complementing CSP’s activities to finish building a new center for the women’s operations, helping to generate much-needed income for women from one of Lebanon’s most underserved regions.

CONTENTS

ACRONYMS 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

COUNTRY CONTEXT 6

COMMUNITY SUPPORT 9

COMMUNITY IDENTIFICATION AND SELECTION 9

SITUATION MONITORING: PRESELECTION 9

COMMUNITY PROFILES: FINAL SELECTION 10

ACTIVITY DESIGN 11

SUMMARY OF COMMUNITY STABILIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS 12

IMPLEMENTATION STATUS AND RESULTS 13

ACTIVITY HIGHLIGHTS 19

USAID THROUGH CSP INTEVERNES TO ASSIST NEEDY RESIDENTS AFTER BEIRUT PORT

EXPLOSIONS 19

CSP PIONEERS FIRST BATCH OF LABOR INTENSIVE WORKS ACTIVITIES 21

CSP RAMPS UP MEDIUM-SCALE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS AHEAD OF RAINY SEASON 22

IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES, LESSONS LEARNED, AND NEXT STEPS 23

BRIEFING PAGE: WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT 25

WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT 26

WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE 27

WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT 27

IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES, MITIGATION MEASURES, AND NEXT STEPS 29

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY BUILDING 30

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO MUNICIPALITIES, CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS, AND

COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS 30

FIELD VISITS AND DESIGN OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE INTERVENTIONS 30

IMPLEMENTATION OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 32

COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM 35

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE HIGHLIGHT: SUPPORT TO THE AKROUM OLIVE FARMERS

COOPERATIVE 36

MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS 39

MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS 39

HUMAN RESOURCES 39

ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE 40

GRANTS, SUBCONTRACTS, AND PROCUREMENT 41

VETTING 42

CROSS-CUTTING TECHNICAL SUPPORT 42

ENGINEERING AND ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE 42

MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING 43

COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH 44

GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT 46

LESSONS LEARNED AND NEXT STEPS 47

MANAGEMENT ADAPTATIONS 47

PROGRAMMATIC ADAPTATIONS 48

NEXT STEPS 49

ANNEXES 51

ANNEX A: FY2020 COMMUNITY PROFILES 51

ANNEX B: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT GRANT TRACKER 55

ANNEX C: TO 2 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT GRANT PROGRESS TRACKER 56

ANNEX D: CSP TO 2 CONCEPT AND ACTIVITY TRACKER 59

ANNEX E: CSP ACTIVITIES BY SECTOR AND IMPLEMENTATION STATUS 88

ANNEX F: CSP ACTIVITIES BY FUNDING LEVEL 89

ANNEX G: MAP OF STREETS CLEANED UNDER CSP’S EMERGENCY RESPONSE 90

ANNEX H: CSP TO 3 TAAR TRACKER 91

ANNEX I: CSP ORGANIZATIONAL CHART (AS OF SEPTEMBER 2020) 92

ANNEX J: CSP FINANCIAL REPORT, FY2020 93

ANNEX K: VETTING TRACKER (JULY – SEPTEMBER 2020) 94

ANNEX L: ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE SUMMARY REPORT (FY20, Q4) 100

ANNEX M: CSP TO 2 PROGRESS MADE AGAINST TARGET SET (FY2020) 106

ANNEX N: INDICATORS PERFORMANCE TRACKING TABLE 113

ANNEX O: CSP TO 3 PROGRESS MADE AGAINST TARGET SET (FY2020) 114

ANNEX P: CSP-USP REPORT 117

ANNEX Q: CSP TRANSFORMS LIVES IN NIHA (NORTH) 118

ACRONYMS

AAP Activity Approval Package

A&E MSP Architect and Engineering Mission

Program

AFDC Association for Forests, Development, and Conservation

AND Akkar Network for Development

ALI Association of Lebanese Industrialists

AUB American University of Beirut

BTD Bureau Technique pour le

Développement

CAC Center for Active Citizenship

CBA Cost-Benefit Analysis

CBAF Capacity Building Activity Fund

CCIAZ Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and

Agriculture in Zahle

CDC Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention

CEG Community Engagement Grant

COOP Cooperative

COR Contract Officer’s Representative

CSO Civil Society Organization

CSP Community Support Program

DGA Director General of Antiquities

ELARD Earth Link & Advanced Resources

Development

ERAC Environmental Review and

Assessment Checklist

FAA Fixed Amount Grant

FGD Focus Group Discussion

GESI Gender and Social Inclusion

IDIQ Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity

IEE Initial Environmental Examination

IIF Investment Incentives Fund

JET Jobs, Education, and Training

KII Key Informant Interview

LAU Lebanese American University

LINQ Lebanon Investment in Quality

LIW Labor-Intensive Works

LRA Litany River Authority

LRC Lebanese Red Cross

LRI Lebanon Reforestation Initiative

LSA Local Systems Approach

LWP Lebanon Water Project

MEFOSA MENA Food Safety Associates

MEL Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

MoEW Ministry of Energy and Water

MoE Ministry of Energy

MoI Ministry of Industry

MOU Memorandum of Understanding

PPE Personal Protective Equipment

PMPL II Performance Management Plan for

Lebanon II

QCP Quality Control Plan

RAD Rapid Analysis and Design

RFA Request for Application

RFP Request for Proposals

RMF Rene Moawad Foundation

RWE Regional Water Establishment

SI Social Impact

STTA Short-Term Technical Assistance

TAAR Technical Assistance Assessment

Report

TO Task Order

TVET Technical and Vocational Education and Training

USG U.S. Government

USJ University of Saint Joseph

USP University Scholarship Program

WAH Work at Home

WHO World Health Organization

WFP World Food Program

1 | LEBANON CSP FY2020 ANNUAL REPORT USAID.GOV

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Community Support Program (CSP) in Lebanon is an $80 million; seven-year; single-holder;

indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract designed to provide a range of support to underserved and vulnerable communities. Funded by the United States Agency for International

Development (USAID) and implemented by Chemonics International, CSP seeks to improve the delivery of essential services and enhance economic opportunities in order to improve lives and reduce tensions that contribute to conflict and violence, primarily in Lebanon’s

North, South, and Beqaa Valley.

Through the IDIQ mechanism, USAID issues task orders (TOs) according to the following components: 1) community stabilization; 2) community development; and 3) technical assistance and capacity building. CSP uses a fast, flexible, and participatory approach to address a broad range of needs in

Lebanon’s most underserved and vulnerable communities in response to evolving political, security, and economic conditions.

To achieve its objectives, CSP is partnering with municipalities, regional water establishments (RWEs), civil society organizations

(CSOs), technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, and the private sector to implement four technical task orders: community support, workforce development, wastewater management, and technical assistance and capacity building (see the text box).

Fiscal Year 2020 (hereon referred to as FY2020), which spanned from October 2019 to September

2020, was a period of rapid expansion for CSP, as three new technical task orders (TOs) kicked off their first full year of implementation. The workforce development and wastewater management teams laid the groundwork for implementation in the coming years, while the technical assistance team began providing capacity building support to local partners of the three other technical TOs to enhance the impact of their work. Meanwhile, CSP’s TO 2 ramped up its delivery of assistance to needy communities during its second year. (See the graphic on the next page for an overview of CSP’s structure.) But even as the technical teams moved through their start-up phases and early stages of implementation, they were forced to adapt amid an increasingly unstable and volatile operating context.

FY2020 marked one of the most difficult years for Lebanon in decades. The year was bookended by the wildfires that devastated the country in October 2019 and the August 2020 explosions that devastated the capital of Beirut. It also witnessed mass anti-establishment protests that triggered the government’s resignation, hyperinflation (the local currency lost about 85 percent of its value), and staggering unemployment levels (by year end, more than 50 percent of the population was impoverished), all of which was further aggravated by the growing COVID-19 pandemic. The developments throughout the year lent an added importance to CSP’s commitment to improving the delivery of essential services and enhancing economic opportunities in Lebanon’s most vulnerable and underserved communities.

Throughout the year, CSP adapted to continue designing and implementing a variety of stabilization, development, technical assistance, and emergency response activities.

CURRENT CSP TASK ORDERS

TO 1: Management

• $19.7 million – 5 years

TO 2: Community Support

• $19.5 million – 3.5 years

TO 3: Technical Assistance

• $10.3 million – 5 years

TO 4: Workforce Development

• $7.4 million – 3 years

TO 5: Wastewater Management

• $22.2 million – 4.5 years

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Under the community support component (TO 2), the team expanded and diversified its portfolio of activities, designing and proposing 50 new projects while receiving approval on 28 of them in FY2020.

This raises the total number of approved activities under the TO to 55 These activities are spread across eight sectors — most prominently, activities that bolster livelihoods opportunities, activities in the water sector, and emergency response activities. Following a participatory design process, the team also began implementing activities tailored to meeting the basic needs of communities worst affected by the October 2019 wildfires and the Beirut explosions. CSP also continued designing activities in its focus regions, submitting 72 activity concepts throughout the fiscal year, of which 35 were yellow lit for further development.

CSP’s workforce development component (TO 4) falls under USAID’s economic growth office and operates according to a different development objective and set of results. Although the team prepares an annual progress report that is separate from the rest of the IDIQ’s, it is worth noting a number of key highlights on TO 4’s progress during the fiscal year. Following a comprehensive labor market assessment conducted from October – December 2019, the team began contracting local experts to perform upgrades of TVET schools and local small businesses in the home-based health care, information technology, and industrial repair and maintenance sectors. Additionally, the team fast-tracked scholarship awards to 81 students from partner TVET schools who were deemed at risk of dropping out or transferring due to acute financial hardship. Finally, the TO 4 team designed and carried out an activity, including two training workshops and a personal protective equipment (PPE) procurement activity, to enable its home-based health care partners to safely and effectively respond to increased demand stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the wastewater management component (TO 5), CSP carried out a meticulous process to identify and select 6 medium-to-large-scale infrastructure interventions that will mitigate 42,000 m3 of wastewater per day, benefiting some 390,000 underserved residents. By the end of the year, the team had nearly finished all its preparatory work and moved into the official design phase for four of the interventions, with the design phase of the remaining two set to begin in early FY2021.

By the end of FY2020, CSP’s technical assistance component (TO 3) had designed 42 technical assistance packages (37 approved, 17 initiated, and 3 completed) to enhance assistance previously provided by CSP under TO 2 and implemented 582.5 training days reaching a total of 419 trainees. The team also brought on 11 interns from USAID’s University Scholarship Program (USP) to enhance CSP’s field capacities while offering the scholars with valuable practical experience. Meanwhile, the team laid the groundwork for ramping up collaboration with the workforce development and wastewater management components in FY2021.

CSP’s technical teams are supported by a robust management and operations team (TO 1) that spearheaded the program’s adaptive response to the evolving operating context. Notably, the team provided guidance to the technical teams as they were forced to work at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, oversaw staffing and procurement support for emergency response activities, and ensured staff’s access to their salaries amid the deteriorating economic situation. Meanwhile, the monitoring, evaluation, and learning department continued helping the technical teams to assess their activities’ impact by adopting new data collection methods that could be carried out remotely. The communications and outreach department increased its social media efforts and developed a robust portfolio of outreach materials, including videos, multimedia presentations, a monthly newsletter, and a

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new factsheet and brochure, to promote the visibility of USAID’s assistance to needy Lebanese residents through CSP.

The rest of this report details the progress made by each TO under the CSP IDIQ during FY2020 (see the Infographic on the next page for achievement highlights from the final quarter of the fiscal year). It is organized according to component and follows the operational structure of the program, as laid out in the graphic on Page 2. Following a chapter delving into greater detail about the country context that impacted CSP throughout the fiscal year, it includes a section each on the progress achieved under the community support and wastewater management components, as well as a briefing page with more detail about CSP’s successes under TO 4 during FY2020. It then looks in detail at how the technical assistance team began providing capacity building support to the other three technical TOs. Finally, the report takes a deep-dive into the processes carried out during FY2020 to help the team maintain programmatic momentum despite the challenges arising from the operating context, including operations and management successes, cross-cutting technical support, and lessons learned throughout the fiscal year. The report also includes a series of annexes such as charts, maps, and other supplementary material to augment the narrative of CSP’s progress.

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II. COUNTRY CONTEXT

Fiscal Year 2020, which spanned October 2019 – September 2020, was marked by a series of overlapping and cascading events that had a profound effect on Lebanon’s sociopolitical and economic trajectory. At the beginning of the year, in October 2019, about 100 wildfires broke out across the country and quickly spread to become some of the worst fires in Lebanon in decades. In particularly hard-hit regions, such as the Chouf area in the Mount Lebanon Governorate, the fires razed up to 60 percent of the land in certain villages. Moreover, the Lebanese government’s incapacity to respond to the fires ignited fury among residents nationwide.

Amid mounting tensions, reports surfaced on October 17 that the government was considering introducing a new tax on phone calls made through the smartphone app WhatsApp, which most

Lebanese use for domestic and international phone calls and messaging due to the high telecommunications costs in the country. The measure was said to be a step toward remedying the country’s deepening economic crisis. The same night, protesters took to the streets to express their anger and frustration.

The protests rapidly grew to include millions of residents in what has become known as the October

Revolution. Although the most immediate catalysts were the wildfires and proposed WhatsApp tax, the demonstrators more generally targeted the country’s sectarian rule, a stagnant economy, high unemployment, and endemic corruption among the country’s political elite. They denounced the government’s failure to provide basic services such as 24-hour electricity, clean water, and health care.

The protesters blocked roads; forced the closure of educational institutions, including technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutes, and public institutions; caused banks to shutter for more than a week; and eventually caused the resignation of then–Prime Minister Saad Hariri. The protests persisted with varying degrees of intensity throughout the remainder of 2019 and into the new year.

As the protests waned by mid-February, the COVID-19 pandemic reached Lebanon. It is worth noting that compared with many other countries, the Lebanese government — headed by Hariri’s replacement, then–Prime Minister Hassan Diab — acted early on to contain the virus. On March 15, Diab declared a state of medical emergency and called for a general mobilization to combat the virus. All nonessential public institutions and private sector businesses were ordered to close, except grocery stores, pharmacies, and food delivery services. The country’s only civilian airport stopped all commercial flights.

The government imposed a nighttime curfew and banned public gatherings. Although initially intended to last for two weeks, the lockdown continued for months, and the general mobilization against the virus was extended through the end of 2020.

At the same time, the government never put in place a concrete plan to assist the municipalities and residents that were hit hardest by the virus and subsequent lockdown. Municipalities in the North, South, and Beqaa Governorates reported struggling to secure equipment to help curb the spread of

COVID-19, such as personal protective equipment like masks and gloves and disinfectant that could be sprayed throughout towns and cities. The home-based health care industry reported experiencing an added strain as residents avoided seeking treatment at crowded and expensive hospitals. Meanwhile, hospital services were stretched to capacity, and program staff reported an insufficient number of beds.

Day laborers who were forced to stay home said they were unable to earn wages to make ends meet.

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Fears also surrounded the spread of COVID-19 among informal refugee settlements, which were at heightened risk due to a lack of essential services. Meanwhile, the government’s response was limited to food vouchers, primarily in urban areas such as Tripoli and Saida. In late summer, as the COVID-19 crisis seemed to abate, the government opened the country, but Lebanon almost immediately began experiencing a surge in cases.

On August 4, 2020, amid a two-week partial lockdown enacted by the government to curb the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country, some 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded at the

Beirut Port. The blast emitted a mushroom cloud of pink and yellow smoke whose material impact was felt upwards of 10 kilometers away. The explosion killed at least 190 people and injured some 6,000 more; apartment buildings, offices, and other structures were decimated, scattering glass, concrete, and rubble throughout the eastern neighborhoods of the capital. Although domestic and international relief efforts kicked off immediately, including projects funded by the United States government, large swathes of the Port and the surrounding areas still lay in ruin by the end of the reporting period, with rebuilding costs estimated in the billions of dollars. The explosion renewed anti-government protests throughout the country, prompting Prime Minister Diab’s resignation. Mostapha Adib was appointed as his successor, but resigned less than a month after his appointment as Lebanon’s political parties failed to agree on a new Cabinet. By the end of the fiscal year, Lebanon was still without a replacement.

In addition to their sociopolitical impacts, the above events significantly impacted the country’s economy, which was already struggling at the fiscal year’s outset with a debt-to-GDP ratio of about 150 percent. The mass protests that broke out in October undermined investors’ confidence in the country’s solvency, and the rate of exchange from the Lebanese lira to the U.S. dollar — officially fixed at the Central Bank’s midrate of LBP 1,507.5 to USD 1 — increased by as much as 50 percent on an alternative market amid fears of a USD shortage in the country. Meanwhile, banks introduced informal austerity measures that limited that amount of dollars customers could withdraw or transfer each week.

The COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown only worsened the crisis. Although official figures are difficult to come by, the head of the Beirut Traders Association said in June that as many as half of

Lebanese private businesses could close by the end of 2020. A United Nations report released after the explosion estimated the nationwide poverty rate as of May 2020 at about 55 percent. Meanwhile, the local currency lost about 85 percent of its value, with USD 1 routinely trading for nearly LBP 8,000 on the alternative market.

Throughout all these developments, CSP capitalized on its built-in adaptability to design and implement responses to the crises that fell under each technical TO’s scope of work (see the timeline on the next page). But beyond its adaptive responses, the events throughout FY2020 provided a greater opportunity for USAID through CSP to support underserved residents throughout Lebanon as they faced more and more challenges to securing basic needs and services. CSP’s primary vehicle for delivering this assistance throughout the fiscal year continued to be the community support component — the only technical TO in its second full year of implementation.

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III. COMMUNITY SUPPORT

The community support component — CSP Task Order No. 2 — is working with local partners to mitigate sources of tension through a mix of short- and medium-term assistance interventions that improve livelihoods and address gaps in service delivery in underserved communities. After identifying and profiling communities, the TO 2 team used its participatory design methodology during FY2020 to expand and diversify the range of community stabilization and community development activities in its portfolio across multiple sectors. Its interventions spanned providing infrastructure that enhanced the supply and quality of water, to carrying out awareness campaigns on sorting at source, to supporting agricultural cooperatives (COOPs) to improve their sales and farming techniques. Additionally, CSP began providing short-term work opportunities that helped communities respond to urgent needs following the Beirut blast and the October 2019 wildfires in Lebanon’s Chouf District, even though both areas fall outside CSP’s priority regions.

Some key highlights of reportable achievements from FY2020 are as follows:

Importantly, during the fiscal year USAID issued a modification to TO 2’s contract, extending its period of performance by a year — from its original end date of January 13, 2021, to a new end date of January

13, 2022 — and increasing its budget by $3,118,161.18. With these changes, CSP is expecting to deliver

USAID-supported assistance to a target of 645,580 people through 110 activity interventions in some of the most underprivileged and vulnerable communities in Lebanon.

This chapter details CSP’s achievements in delivering assistance to vulnerable communities throughout

Lebanon during the past year under TO 2.

COMMUNITY IDENTIFICATION AND SELECTION

SITUATION MONITORING: PRESELECTION

Throughout FY2020, CSP continued using the initial preselection data of 851 assessed communities across the North, South, and Beqaa to determine which towns should undergo an in-depth profiling exercise. The datasets encompass the number of voters and registered refugees in communities, the number of reported security incidents, the number of applicants to the Ministry of Social Affairs’

“poorest families” program, the status of local governance in the area, and other information. CSP used the following formula to determine which villages should undergo a full profiling exercise and be considered for assistance:

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While CSP did not amend its official preselection scoring matrix from FY2019 to FY2020 due to a lack of officially updated reports and studies, it is important to note that CSP took anecdotal information received by its field teams into consideration when selecting communities for assistance. This included reports of soaring poverty and unemployment as a result of the developments of the past year, including the effects of the mass protests that broke out in October 2019, the devaluation of the Lebanese pound, and the COVID-19 outbreak. In response, CSP designed and began implementing several short-term labor-intensive cash generation interventions activities that promote community development and stabilization, as detailed later in this chapter.

COMMUNITY PROFILES: FINAL SELECTION

To determine which communities should receive CSP assistance in FY2020 and beyond, the team carried out 78 in-depth community profiles over the course of the fiscal year — almost double its target of 35 – 40 profiles. (For a full list of the profiles conducted in FY2020, see annex A.) The team engaged community members and key local stakeholders to collect information about the status of local infrastructure, tensions and relationships, livelihoods, municipal engagement, and the status of public services such as solid waste and wastewater management, electricity, clean water, and healthcare. CSP carried out a community profile for all preselected villages.

To maintain progress on its profiling activities despite the operating context, CSP conducted more than

30 community profiles remotely, replacing in-person meetings with virtual meetings and phone calls. The virtual format enabled CSP to maintain safe social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic and adapt to road closures. The rest of the profiles were conducted in person.

When combined with the 144 community profiles carried out during FY2019, the 78 profiles from

FY2020 add up to a total of 222 profiles during TO 2’s first two years of implementation — or 26 percent of the total number of villages in the North, South, and Beqaa.

Although each village was found to experience its own unique challenges leading to tensions among residents, several trends emerged during the profiling exercises. For example, communities across the different regions noted the lack of economic and livelihoods issues as key tension drivers. Local stakeholders corroborated the anecdotal evidence that worsening poverty levels stemming from

Lebanon’s economic and health crises were driving tensions, inhibiting underserved residents’ access to essential goods and services.

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ACTIVITY DESIGN

Of the 78 communities profiled during FY2020, CSP selected 62 villages for the activity design process — 39 of which underwent a program-led design, or a design developed by CSP’s field teams, while 23 were part of the portfolio assessed by CSP’s community engagement grant (CEG) partners.

The CSP team and its CEG partners managed to carry out the design process despite — and, in some cases, in response to — the operating context. While the team adapted to mitigate setbacks as much as possible, some delays were unavoidable. For instance, the

COVID-19 lockdown delayed the design of an activity in Bechwat (Beqaa) to install a solar-powered pump that will enhance water provision for residents, as the team was initially not able to conduct technical site visits to carry out the preliminary assessment needed to develop the design. Limitations on traveling due to the COVID-19 pandemic also delayed the design, development, and outfitting of a cultural trail being established by CSP in Ain Ebel.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT GRANTS During the past year, TO 2 partnered with five local organizations to augment CSP’s capacity to design interventions in a greater number of villages. CSP awarded each organization a CEG totaling USD 805,295.49 to identify and design activities that address tensions throughout targeted communities in CSP’s focus regions (see Annex B). The grantees were as follows: Caritas and Nahnoo in the South, Peace Labs in the Beqaa, the Akkar Network for

Development (AND) in the North, and the Rene Mouawad Foundation (RMF) in both the Beqaa and the

North. An updated summary of the status of the CEG process in each village can be found in Annex C.

After training the partners on conflict-sensitive community engagement methodologies during the first half of the year, CSP provided them with oversight and guidance throughout the COVID-19 pandemic so that they could complete their engagement activities by the end of the fiscal year. As a result, the partners were able to successfully complete their activities and finalize reports on tension drivers in 50 communities — 18 in the Beqaa, 18 in the North, and 14 in South Lebanon — engaging a total of 901 local community members in the CSP activity cycle.

Of the 50 communities engaged, 42 underwent the rapid analysis and design (RAD) methodology to pinpoint recent, nonsystemic tension drivers. In general, the partners found that the country’s economic crisis was the main source of tension throughout the country. Other triggers included competition over water resources and a lack of basic public services, especially solid waste management.

The other 8 communities underwent the local systems approach (LSA) for CSP to understand more deep-seated tensions in communities by taking a more holistic view of community dynamics.

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As noted earlier, CSP is currently moving forward with the design of assistance interventions in 23 of the 50 CEG communities and had developed a total of eight potential concepts and proposals by the end of the fiscal year. Due to the more in-depth nature of the LSA, the current designs all emerged from the

RAD process; activities resulting from the LSA will begin to materialize in FY2021. The following graphic depicts CSP’s design progress in the 62 aforementioned communities.

SUMMARY OF COMMUNITY STABILIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS

By the end of FY2020, the team had submitted 72 concepts notes, including 37 submitted in the fourth quarter of the year alone. These include the 30 activities noted in the graphic above as well as activities whose design had commenced in FY2019. USAID had yellow-lit 35 of the concept notes for further development by the end of the fiscal year, while 25 were still pending USAID feedback and approval, and

12 had been rejected.

During FY2020, CSP’s regional teams concentrated primarily on submitting activities aimed at bolstering livelihoods and income generating opportunities for underserved residents, based on the feedback that the economic situation was driving tensions in communities. Additionally, factoring in the remaining time under TO 2’s contract, the team pushed forward with development interventions that entailed a construction element so that the team can complete them before its mandate expires. Examples include the installation of water tanks in Talia (Baalbek-Hermel) and Jinsnaya (South), enhancement of the water networks in Bechwat, Chebaa (Nabatieh), Loussiya (Sultan Yaacoub), and the completion of the wastewater network in Batroun (North).

The rejected concepts include a list of potential activities that were aimed at helping vulnerable communities respond directly to the COVID-19 outbreak, such as interventions to provide communities with sanitizing materials, food, and other nonfood items. However, USAID opted not to move forward

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with these activities, instead coordinating with CSP to continue focusing on livelihood, income generation, and development interventions that would be needed after the COVID-19 situation begins improving. USAID also red lit activities to support the production of animal feed, provide vaccinations for livestock, and support fishermen from Burj Hammoud in the wake of the Beirut explosions due to the complexity and risk associated with those interventions. The concepts also included several energy-and cost-efficient interventions aimed at improving security by replacing streetlights in villages across the

Baalbek-Hermel and Beqaa governorates, but here, too, there was deemed to be a high risk in implementing the activities and sustaining the assistance in the communities in question.

IMPLEMENTATION STATUS AND RESULTS

During FY2020, CSP developed and submitted 50 activity packages — officially called activity approval packages, or AAPs. By the end of the fiscal year, USAID had approved 27 of them, bringing the total approved interventions under TO 2 to 55 (28 in FY2019 and 28 in FY2020). Fifteen activities were still pending approval as of the end of the year. Of the 55, CSP had closed out, completed, or neared completion on 17 activities, while 38 were still under implementation. Finally, seven activities had been rejected or retracted for various reasons, including USAID’s preference to pursue assistance in public schools under other programs (four activities) or complications or risks associated with the interventions that were deemed too high (three activities). Please refer to Annex D for the full activity concept and implementation tracker, inclusive of details about all approved, pending, and rejected activities. The following graph exemplifies the sector-by-sector breakdown of CSP interventions approved under TO 2 by the end of FY2020.

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As noted earlier in this section, at least 75,644 people were benefiting from U.S. government assistance thanks to USAID support that was provided under CSP during FY2020, 57 percent of whom were women. Additionally, 14,276 people reported having adequate levels of essential services as a result of

CSP interventions.

The table below shows the details of approved activities by their development objective as well as the geographic areas and sectors of ongoing and completed interventions:

APPROVED ACTIVITIES (AS OF SEPT. 2020)

DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE FY2019 FY2020 TOTAL VALUE TOTAL BENEFICIARIES

Component 1: Stabilization 26 17 $2,315,912 330,686

Component 2: Development 2 11 $1,971,749 128,512

Totals 28 28 (Total: 56) $4,287,661 459,198

ONGOING ACTIVITIES IN FY2020

CODE VILLAGE DISTRICT REGION NAME SECTOR

STH008 Ain Ebel Bent Jbeil Nabatieh

Upgrade of the municipal festival grounds and development and outfitting of the cultural trail and historical sites

Livelihoods

STH010 Jinjlaya Saida South Enhancing the provision of water in Jinjlaya

Water

STH014 Ed Damour Shouf Mount Lebanon

Emergency response to Damour wildfires by replacing damaged electrical cables and water networks

Emergency Response

STH015 Ed Damour Shouf Mount Lebanon

Providing equipment to Arc-en-ciel in response to the latest wildfires

Emergency Response

STH016

Rachaiya el Foukhar Hasbaiya Nabatieh

Enhancing Security and Service Delivery through Efficient Street Lighting in Rachaiya El Foukhar

Electricity

STH017 El Qariyeh Saida South

Improving Economic Opportunities in El Qariye by Supporting Community Investments

Livelihoods

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STH018 Jinsnaya Jezzine South Constructing an elevated water tank in Jinsnaya

Water

STH020

East Saida (El Bramieh, Hlaliye, Aabra, Majdelyoun, Es Salhiye and Ain ed Delb) Saida South

Supporting the Sorting from Source Initiative in East Saida by providing bins and expanding the awareness-raising campaign

Solid Waste Management

STH021

Damour, Mechref, Kfarmatta Shouf

Mount Lebanon

LRI Labor Intensive Forest Management Activities in Chouf Aaley Area

Livelihoods

STH022 Al Hasbani Hasbaiya Nabatieh

Labor-intensive works in Forest Management Activities and Cleaning of Irrigation Canals in Al Hasbani area

Livelihoods

NTH007 El Mahmra Akkar Akkar

Supporting the waste water management system in El Mahmra

Wastewater Management

NTH019 Niha Batroun North

Enhancing services in Niha through the provision of streetlights, a skid snow blower, and garbage bin lids

Infrastructure

NTH020

Aachach, Meriata, Arde Zgharta North

Improving and Rehabilitating the Irrigation distribution Network in Aachach, Meriata, and Arde villages to supporting Livelihoods and Ease Water Resource Tensions amongst the three villages.

Water

NTH024 Berqayel Akkar Akkar

Supporting Solid Waste Management in Berqayel Village by Waste Bins, Broom, and Two Recycling Points

Solid Waste Management

NTH025 Bechmizzine Koura North

Addressing the Solid Waste Management Crisis in Koura by improving the collection, capacity and operations of the Bechmizzine Material Recovery Facility in Koura through equipment provision and technical assistance

Solid Waste Management

NTH027 Khirbet el Jendi Akkar Akkar Supporting Khirbet ej Jendi Electrical Backup System

Electricity

NTH028 Ras Nhach Batroun North

Supporting the Solid Waste Sorting System in Ras Nhach through Distributing Bins and Awareness Campaign

Solid Waste Management

NTH029 Khirbet Daoud Akkar Akkar

Quelling tensions over electricity shortage in Khirbet Daoud through provision of a needed

Electricity

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electricity transmission stations

NTH030

Qalmoun / Dedde Koura North

Labor Intensive intervention to create a hiking trail between the two communities

Livelihoods

NTH031 Haret el Fouwar Zgharta North

Completing the Sewage Network Lines in Haret el Fouwar Village

Wastewater Management

BQA017 Ras Baalbek Baalbek Baalbek- Hermel

Rehabilitating the main irrigation channel in Ras Baalbek to preserve water and improve livelihoods

Water

BEI001

Marfaa, Rmeil, Medawar Beirut Beirut

Emergency Response Community Clean-up in Marfaa, Rmeil, and Medawar Neighborhoods in Response to Beirut Blast

Emergency Response

BEI002

Marfaa, Rmeil, Saifi, Medawar Beirut Beirut

Installing up to 500 LED Streetlights to Promote Safety and Security in Eastern Beirut Neighborhoods Affected by Explosion

Emergency Response

BEI003 Marfaa Beirut Beirut

Improving hygiene and sanitary conditions for workers at the Port of Beirut

Emergency Response

COMPLETED AND CLOSED ACTIVITIES IN FY2019 AND FY2020

CODE VILLAGE DISTRICT REGION NAME SECTOR YEAR

STH009 Tanbourit Saida South Supporting the Cooperative of Olive Farmers in Tanbourit by Providing Mechanical Harvesters

Livelihoods FY2020

NTH001 Tripoli Tripoli North Improving sorted solid waste collection capacity of the Union of Al Fayha’ Municipalities

Solid Waste Management FY2019

NTH002 Qabaait Akkar Akkar Supporting Qabaait Public Middle School Public Education

FY2019

NTH003 Jabal Akroum Akkar Akkar Enhance Strained Water Services in Jabal Akroum Water FY2020

NTH015 En Noura Akkar Akkar Providing support for farmers in Noura affected by the Syrian conflict

Livelihoods FY2019

NTH017 Bebnine Akkar Akkar Supporting Salam Public Mixed School in Bebnine

Public Education

FY2020

NTH026

Barghoun and Badbhoun El Koura North

Supporting farmers from Barghoun and Badbhoun through providing mechanical harvesters

Livelihoods FY2020

BQA001 Britel Baalbek Baalbek- Hermel

Providing Essential Equipment to the Britel Public School

Public Education

FY2019

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The graphic below shows a sector-by-sector breakdown of committed budget and beneficiaries under

TO 2.

For maps showing the geographical distribution and funding levels of CSP activities, please see annexes E and F, respectively.

BQA002 Ali en Nahri Zahleh Beqaa Providing Essential Equipment to Ali Nahri Public High School

Public Education

FY2019

BQA003 Aarsal Baalbek Baalbek- Hermel

Provision of Fuel Vouchers in Response to Local Grievances

Emergency Response

FY2019

BQA004 Tannoura Rachaya Beqaa

Providing the municipality with 250 KVA generator and replacing storm affected accessories

Electricity FY2019

BQA005 Joub Jannine West Beqaa Beqaa

Re-equipping SADA NGO center in Joub Jannine after Norma storm damages

Emergency Response

FY2019

BQA008 Aarsal Baalbek Baalbek- Hermel

Provision of Fuel Vouchers in Response to Local Grievances II

Emergency Response

FY2019

BQA009 El Qaa Baalbek Baalbek- Hermel Equipping El Qaa Municipality for Storm Response

Emergency Response

FY2019

BQA014

Hawch er Rafqa Baalbek

Baalbek- Hermel

Reducing Tensions through Equipping the Intermediate Public School of Hawch El Arab

Public Education

FY2020

BQA015 El Khiara West Beqaa Beqaa

Enhancing Safety and Security through Solar Lighting in El Khiara

Electricity FY2020

BQA016 Saadnayel Zahleh Beqaa

Reducing Tensions through Installation of Water Filtration System at Intermediate Public School of Saadnayel

Water FY2020

CSP Committed Budget and Beneficiaries by Sector (End of September 2020)

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It is worth nothing that in addition to ramping up its implementation of interventions, CSP continued to focus on developing a range of innovative and complex assistance packages tailored to the needs of individual communities as identified during the profiling phase. Doing so required a significant time investment from CSP’s field teams and sometimes prompted them to shift their focus from implementing activities to designing them.

One example is a series of labor intensive works (LIW) interventions, whereby CSP is partnering with local organizations to generate temporary daily income for needy local residents (identified based on their responses to a CSP-designed socioeconomic survey) to carry out short-term, low-risk public works activities and other projects. In doing so, CSP is providing communities with targeted development assistance while also stimulating the local economy by providing vulnerable residents with much-needed income. Another example are CSP’s emergency response portfolios, including its three-part response (including one LIW activity) to the damage caused by the October 2019 wildfires in towns in the Mount Lebanon Governorate (including one LIW activity), especially Damour, as well as its package of assistance designed after the August 4 explosions in Beirut. Both areas lie outside CSP’s focus areas and therefore required the field teams to shift their focus from their regular programming to the area in question.

While these interventions’ time-intensive design process to a degree contributed to the deviation between CSP’s achieved results and its targets set for the fiscal year, CSP had begun receiving anecdotal reports of their positive impact in vulnerable communities in their early weeks of implementation. The community support team plans to report out on their impact more comprehensively in its updates during FY2021, as the first batch of LIW activities wraps up and the emergency responses close out and the program can properly assess their results.

Additionally, the difficult operating context throughout FY2020 rendered activity-specific delays as described below. CSP plans to work through these delays and accelerate implementation to make up lost ground through FY2021.

• BQA011 (Deir el Ahmar): Enhancing the Efficiency of Water Provision to Reduce Tensions in Deir el

Ahmar. The intervention faced implementation delays related to legal documentation as a result of the closure of the Real Estate Registry Secretariat and the Land Registry Trust Department following the increase in the number of positive COVID-19 cases among employees. However, as of the end of the fiscal year the field team confirmed that the intervention is moving forward because it received the legal documentation from the Ministry of Finance in Beirut.

• STH017 (El Qariye): Improving Livelihoods of El Qariye Residents by Supporting a Community Market

Place. Implementation on this activity was delayed, first, because of a renewed lockdown mandated by the government, and then due to a recent request from the municipality to modify the CSP-provided water tanks for the latrines by replacing the initial three 1,000-liter water tanks with only one 3,500-liter tank to save on connection costs. CSP is currently waiting for the variation order from the vendor. Once agreed, implementation is expected to resume.

• STH022: Labor-Intensive Works in Forest Management Activities and Cleaning of Irrigation Canals in Al

Hasbani Area. Local subcontractor the Association for Forests, Development, and Conservation

(AFDC) experienced difficulties implementing this activity, reporting challenges in obtaining insurance for the workers due to the current financial situation in the country, which was

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required for them to kick of field implementation. However, AFDC finally managed to purchase an insurance policy that is active throughout the end of the project, and field implementation kicked off on Friday, October 9.

• NTH007: Connecting Households in El Mahmra to the Main Wastewater Network and Tripoli

Wastewater Treatment Plant. This intervention experienced delays stemming from the final layout of the sewage network connecting the households to the main line. Despite the municipality’s assurance that the project would receive stakeholders’ support, some landowners refused to allow the planned sewage line to pass through their land. Therefore, CSP’s engineering team and the Bureau Technique pour le Developpement (BTD) are identifying another route and will obtain the necessary approval before finalizing the detailed design and proceeding with the construction quality control process.

• STH001: Supply and Installation of LED Lighting System for Old Saida. The intervention has faced several issues associated with the need for the Ministry of Culture’s approval on the activity’s design given that the LED lights will be installed inside a cultural heritage site, the COVID-19 pandemic and related procurement delays, and, most recently, the location of the solar farm on top of the Audi Soap Museum. BTD and CSP engineers are finalizing the load calculations to ensure that the weight of the solar farm will not affect the integrity of the building housing the museum.

• STH010: Providing Electricity Supply for Water Provision to Reduce Tensions in Jinjlaya. This intervention has faced a major challenge after the newly installed VFD panel was damaged due to a variety of factors including the quality of the facility and commissioning of the equipment. The

SLWE managed to replace the damaged VFD, and the system went back into operation shortly after the incident. To avoid a recurrence of similar incidents, CSP has suggested a list of rehabilitation items for USAID’s review and consideration in order to enhance the overall environment of the pumping station.

ACTIVITY HIGHLIGHTS

USAID THROUGH CSP INTEVERNES TO ASSIST NEEDY RESIDENTS AFTER BEIRUT PORT EXPLOSIONS

The August 4 explosions at the Port of Beirut killed more than 200 residents; wounded more than 6,000 others; and displaced upwards of 300,000 people from their homes. The blast also increased security concerns and worsened public services such as street lighting and solid waste removal. In the days after the blast, USAID identified an urgent need to provide coordinated assistance in the cleanup effort in the capital while offering temporary employment for area residents. As of the end of the fiscal year, CSP was working with five established local organizations — the René Moawad Foundation, Caritas Liban, the

Lebanon Reforestation Initiative, Nahnoo, and the Association for Forests, Development, and

Conservation — to select, train, and supervise workers to safely remove, sort, and properly dispose of debris and recyclables from the worst-affected neighborhoods. The activity launch took place less than a week after the blast and was attended by U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea and USAID Acting

Administrator John Barsa. By the end of September, more than 300 CSP workers had removed a total of 3,929 tons of debris and rubbles from blast-affected neighborhoods. (Please refer to Annex G-1 for a

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map of the streets cleared by CSP workers.) CSP expects this number to grow significantly as the workers round out their final weeks of rubble removal work in October 2020.

After kicking off the LIW clean-up activity, CSP also began installing 500 light bulbs with galvanized arms to replace lighting units in east Beirut damaged in the blast. Following this second activity’s kick-off in

September, CSP’s work in the areas was toured by David Schenker, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs.

Finally, CSP was preparing to install portable toilets at the Beirut Port that could be used by 39 workers and 150 drivers to keep the Port up and running and mitigate the risk of tensions that could arise as residents grew more desperate to obtain imported materials needed to fix their homes ahead of the rainy winter season.

Looking ahead to FY2021, CSP will continue implementing emergency response activities in Beirut and will expand its portfolio to include the repair and restoration of essential services like electrical transformers, traffic lights, and water infrastructure.

Photos from Beirut’s emergency clean-up response in Beirut

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CSP PIONEERS…