Lebanese Communities Hosting Syrian Refugees - Akkar Governorate, Lebanon

With the support of UNHCR, the Community Support Projects Working Group and other sector working groups in Akkar, REACH undertook an assessment of host community needs in Akkar Governorate, one of Lebanon’s most underdeveloped regions and where 63% of the population currently lives below the poverty line.1 During the course of the assessment, the population of refugees in Lebanon passed the one million mark, with the number of refugees in Akkar surpassing 100,000 around the same time.2 With approximately one-third of the population of Akkar consisting of refugees, there has been a need to understand the pressures caused by large concentrations of displaced persons in one of Lebanon’s poorest regions. Accordingly, integrating findings from secondary research, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions, its goal was to provide a baseline of information about host communities, the challenges they face, and potential interventions that might support them.