-- Fearing a repeat of this summer's violence, humanitarian agency calls for a renewed commitment to immediate and long-term recovery efforts

-- Upcoming Paris donor conference offers opportunity to provide substantial reconstruction assistance to build peace and stability in the country and region

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As tension escalates in Lebanon, Mercy Corps recommends stepping up international aid efforts for short- and long-term recovery - especially in the marginalized and hardest-hit areas of Lebanon, where unemployment rates reached as high as 75 percent. The global humanitarian agency, which has worked in Lebanon for 13 years, today issued a policy brief stating that inadequate recovery efforts are also hampering progress toward future peace and stability.

With the economy faltering and political instability growing, an upcoming donor conference in Paris in January 2007 offers another ideal opportunity to refine international focus and expand donor commitments to rebuilding the country.

In the brief, Mercy Corps makes several recommendations for how the international community can best support Lebanese recovery efforts. Rapid and focused reconstruction assistance is important to keeping the battered country from slipping into chaos - but long-term reconstruction efforts are also underfunded by billions of dollars.

"Despite the ceasefire, Lebanon is again on the verge of crisis, chaos and perhaps even war," said report author Brian Grzelkowski (G-zhel-KOV-ski), Mercy Corps' senior policy advisor, who spent several weeks in Lebanon assessing the state of recovery efforts. "Lebanon and its international partners have to act with vision, speed and commitment if a peaceful, prosperous and stable Lebanon is to emerge."

Divisive internal politics, a battered economy, continuing tension with Israel, and concerns about the stability of Lebanon's central government all conspire against prospects for successful reconstruction and long-term development. The agency recommends pursuing a recovery strategy that both builds the capacity and credibility of the Lebanese government and promotes greater participation by local governments and communities at all levels of the reconstruction process.

"In post-disaster environments, our years of experience have taught us that building links between government and communities is key to successful recovery," Grzelkowski stated. "Local participation in planning, decision-making and implementation is absolutely essential."

Since the start of this summer's conflict, Mercy Corps has reached more than 370,000 people in Lebanon with food, water, hygiene kits and educational material, diapers, blankets, and tents. The agency is currently working in three hard-hit Lebanese districts: Marjayoun, Nabatiye and Baalbek. For over a decade, Mercy Corps has invested in programs in Lebanon to improve agricultural practices, expand access to information technology, bolster tourism and manage natural resources.

The policy brief includes several recommendations based on Mercy Corps' work with Lebanese communities and its experience operating in other post-conflict environments around the world. Key recommendations include: 

* Fulfill existing financial commitments and offer new, broad-based, flexible and predictable assistance to address residual humanitarian challenges and support general economic recovery;

* Pursue a multi-pronged recovery strategy that balances the imperatives of building state capacity and delivering rapid, effective assistance by:

1. supporting the Lebanese government's central role in funding, coordinating and managing post-conflict reconstruction, and

2. promoting greater participation by local governments and communities in the planning, decision-making and implementation processes;

* Focus assistance upon the most war-damaged and marginalized areas of the country, especially Shiite communities of the South, Beirut suburbs and Bekaa Valley;

* Hold the Lebanese government accountable for good governance and provide measured support for gradual political reform;

* Ensure that the United Nations peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) has both the will and the means to fulfill its mission and promote Israeli-Lebanese negotiations on outstanding sovereignty and security concerns.

In addition to its work in Lebanon, Mercy Corps has an ongoing peace building project in Israel and relief and development programs throughout the region. The agency is committed to helping ease conflict in the Middle East and the human suffering it causes on all sides.

The entire policy brief is available for download here:

http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/lebanon/1545

Mercy Corps works amid disasters, conflicts, chronic poverty and instability to unleash the potential of people who can win against nearly impossible odds. Since 1979, Mercy Corps has provided $1 billion in assistance to people in 82 nations. Supported by headquarters offices in North America, Europe, and Asia, the agency's unified global programs employ 3,200 staff worldwide and reach nearly 10 million people in more than 40 countries. Over the last five years, more than 90 percent of the agency's resources have been allocated directly to programs that help people in need. For more information, visit www.mercycorps.org.

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