
The Italian
Development Cooperation in Lebanon
supports the efforts for a gradual stabilization of the socio-economic and
political situation in the country. The Italian Development Cooperation, active
in implementing emergency initiatives, not only represents one of the lead
partners of the Lebanese Government regarding activities of bilateral
development cooperation, but has also become a preferential interlocutor in
several sectors also thanks to the strategy it has adopted to respond to the
Syrian Crisis.
The evolution of the
aforementioned strategy, starting from the establishment of the Local Technical
Unit (UTL) at the Italian Embassy of Beirut in 2007, responded to the needs of
the country through the funding: firstly, of emergency programmes following the
2006 post-conflict period, and secondly, over the years through further
initiatives aiming to achieve a longer term development. In addition to the commitment
in favour of Palestinian refugees, various projects were funded through the
bilateral channel supporting social development policies (support to children,
women and gender issues, improvement of health services), environmental conservation
(enhancing environmental conditions, development of renewable energies,
sustainable use of natural resources), infrastructure policies, especially those
related to the water supply network (water purification plants, wastewater
treatment, installation of irrigation canals) and policies for waste disposal,
agriculture and rural development, the protection and enhancement of the
cultural heritage (preservation of archeological sites, requalification of the
historic urban areas, training). The Italian Cooperation in Lebanon has always worked
placing particular attention on maintaining the territorial and religious
balance in the distribution of aid and development projects.
Through the signature
of an agreement for the supply of soft-loans - the Protocol of 1997-1998 - for
an amount of over 132 million euro, Italy has contributed to the stabilization
of the country, since the 2006 conflict, by rehabilitating and reconstructing
primary infrastructure and basic services. Between 2006 and 2009, three
agreements were made in compliance with the commitments of the Paris III Conference
(2007) and the Vienna Donor Conference (June 2008) in favour of interventions
in the infrastructure sector.
With the escalation
of the conflict in Siria in 2011, the main strategy adopted by the Italian
cooperation shifted towards the humanitarian aid, based on the need to support
those sectors directly affected by the current situation. After more than three
years of hostilities, it is appropriate to speak about a real "Crisis”, to be
tackled through interventions with a development character based on the already
undertaken path following 2006, in addition to the other projects targeting
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.