Refugees in Lebanon 

Overall objectives

Complementing other data sources on refugees in Lebanon, the MICS will provide rich and detailed data on Syrian refugees not found elsewhere, including water quality testing, anthropometry and foundational learning. The survey will be owned and implemented by the national statistical office, making it important for advocacy and discussions about the country’s refugee situation with government stakeholders. 

Activity description

Lebanon’s Central Administration of Statistics (CAS), with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund and other partners, will conduct a MICS to assess the well-being of children and women in Lebanon, and to capture the unequal access to services and protection among the country’s various sub-populations. With support from the JDC, the survey sample will be designed to allow for disaggregated results on the Syrian households residing in Lebanon, both those living in informal settlements and those living among the general population. 

Engagement with partners

The MICS team is engaging a wide range of government stakeholders including the prime minister’s office, ministry of social affairs, ministry of education, ministry of health, ministry of energy and water, ministry of interior and municipalities. Other than government counterparts, through the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan (LCRP), CAS and UNICEF are constantly updating relevant partners.

Background and Context

Lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees per capita and per square kilometer in the world. The Government estimates that there are 1.5 million Syrian refugees and some 13,715 refugees of other nationalities residing in the country. Facing its worst socio-economic crisis in decades, with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic still felt, vulnerable populations in Lebanon are deeply affected by poverty, supply chain gaps and limits on access to food, healthcare, education and other basic services. UNHCR estimates that nine out of ten Syrian refugees live in extreme poverty. 

Other surveys of Syrians in Lebanon have delivered rich datasets in recent years, including the World Bank, UNHCR, and WFP’s longitudinal Lebanon Vulnerability Assessment Panel (LVAP) which is also supported by JDC. However, this survey is not directly comparable to the government’s official statistics, hence the value in integrating Syrians fully into routine nationwide CAS surveys.