Edited News | UNICEF , OCHA , UNDP
Beirut blast exposed widespread corruption and accountability deficit in Lebanon, says UNDP
The explosion at the port of Beirut on the 4th of August has resulted in deep human suffering and massive destruction to the Lebanese capital, but it has also revealed a deeper and more devastating problem the country, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): widespread and systemic corruption.
“The Beirut Port explosion is not only a humanitarian crisis, but it’s also a symptom of a much deeper and more complex governance crisis that requires dialogue and collective action. And that this crisis will not be resolved without adequate attention and direct attention to the promotion of transparency, accountability and anti-corruption”, Arkan El Seblani, chief of UNDP’s Anti-Corruption & Integrity unit for Arab States, said today (Friday) at a news briefing in Geneva.
“The cost of corruption in Lebanon is equal to 5 billion dollar a year. So, putting that number in perspective, it is about 9 percent of the country’s GDP,” El Seblani said.These findings are based in a special report on anti-corruption in Lebanon published one day ago by the magazine “Executive,” published in partnership with UNDP experts.
The 2019 Corruption Perception Index ranked Lebanon 137th out of 180 countries.
“The combination of several major governance gaps are behind the improper presence of the highly explosive materials at the warehouse of the port. Who exactly is to blame for what happened? Unfortunately, we may never know,” El Seblani said. “And this, on its own, is another example of the deep accountability deficit that I referred to earlier”.
According to El-Sablani, this deficit is also likely to have an impact on response and recovery efforts, including related international assistance. “So, leakage and embezzlement of money and goods, bribes and kickbacks in reconstruction projects, as well as political co-optation of related efforts are all real and present in the context of Lebanon”, he said.
Despite these obstacles to bringing aid to the country, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that more than 180,000 people are being reached with critical, life-saving humanitarian assistance.
Some of this aid is delivered by funding non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that can reach people in need with health supplies, food assistance, and protection projects. “OCHA has begun the disbursement of US$8.5 million from the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund to provide rapid support to families that were affected by the disaster,” spokesperson Jens Laerke.
The Lebanon Humanitarian Fund (LHF), for example, supports support five international and three local NGOs already working in Lebanon to deliver on eight projects. These include assistance to damaged primary health care centers, so that they can continue to provide essential health care, mental health support and manage the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with the provision of hot meals.
In an update on their ongoing assessments and response work in Beirut, UNICEF reported that the needs are “immense”, as many children will require urgent and sustained psychosocial support to address the trauma of the explosions.
“Half of respondents reported that children in their households were showing changes in behavior or signs of trauma or extreme stress following the explosions”,UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado said. UNICEF’s needs assessment in the aftermath of the Beirut blast concluded that “these behaviours and symptoms include severe anxiety, quietness or withdrawing from parents and family, nightmares and trouble sleeping, and aggressive behaviour”, highlighting the urgent need for psychosocial support services.
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Edited News | WFP
The very real risk of famine continues to stalk Sudan’s communities impacted by war, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday, in an appeal for more funding to support immediate needs and boost longer-term recovery across the country.
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Edited News | UNOG
What can each one of us do to save the planet, asks Yann Arthus-Bertrand on World Environment Day
The last documentary film of legendary nature photographer, documentary director and environmental activist “Nature: The Call for Reconciliation” looks for an answer.
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Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza, are unconscionable. For a third day running, people were killed around an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. This morning, we have received information that dozens more people were killed and injured,” Jeremy Laurence UN Human Rights spokesperson said at the biweekly press briefing in Geneva.
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Edited News | OCHA
Gaza ‘hungriest place on earth’ with aid stymied – UN humanitarians
Starving Gazans continue to be deprived of aid as international relief efforts are being severely constrained by the Israeli authorities, the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA said on Friday.
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Edited News | OCHA , UNRWA
As a controversial United States and Israel-backed aid distribution plan gets underway in Gaza, the UN called on Tuesday for an “immediate surge” of its own pre-positioned supplies to help prevent starvation.
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Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani today urged Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to reject a bill that was recently endorsed by parliament allowing trials of civilians in military courts. The Uganda People’s Defence Forces Amendment Bill 2025, which was passed on 20 May and now awaits presidential signature to become law, among others broadens the jurisdiction of military courts, authorising them to try a wide range of offences against civilians.
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Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today warned of a further deterioration in the human rights situation in South Sudan at the bi-weekly briefing in Geneva.
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Edited News | OCHA , WHO
Syria: ‘Staggering’ needs amid insecurity, health care crisis - UN humanitarians
Millions of people in Syria continue to face mortal danger from unexploded munitions, disease and malnutrition and urgent support is required, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
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Edited News | UNRWA , OCHA , WHO
UN life-saving aid allowed to trickle into Gaza as civilian needs mount
Amid calls for more humanitarian trucks to enter the food and medicine-deprived Palestinian enclave of Gaza, UN humanitarians have received permission from Israel for “around 100” more aid trucks to cross into the Strip after only five were let in yesterday, But the scale of relief efforts allowed remains entirely insufficient to meet the urgent needs of people there, humanitarian workers say.
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Edited News
A war reporter from Lebanon who lost a limb in the line of duty is calling for an end to impunity for attacks against journalists.
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Edited News | ITU
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) commemorated 160 years dedicated to connecting the world on Saturday, 17 May in Geneva, Switzerland, during the annual World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.
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Edited News | WHO , OCHA
Gazans ‘in terror’ after another night of deadly strikes and siege
Amid reports that Israeli strikes across Gaza into Friday killed at least 64 people, aid teams once again pushed back strongly at allegations that aid is being diverted to Hamas and pleaded for the blockade to end.