Lebanon

The Stockholm Conference for Lebanon’s Early Recovery (30 August -1 September 2006) called together all relevant parties to help with the recovery of Lebanon

UNIDO’s attendance was well received and several bilateral meetings with delegates took place, such as with the Lebanese Environment and Industry Ministers who had requested UNIDO to assist in the early and the longterm recovery of Lebanon. Norway and FAO also showed interest in working with UNIDO. The Lebanese Government in partnership with UNIDO is currently implementing a project covering support for livelihoods and economic recovery in war-affected areas of Lebanon. This project with a value of $3 million is funded by the Lebanese Recovery Fund (LRF) and is aimed at rehabilitating damaged agro-processing facilities. Emphasis is on rural and urban small and medium enterprises, supporting economic recovery and restoring livelihoods in war-affected areas, thereby generating employment and alleviating poverty in the country.

The UNIDO Programme enhances the competitiveness of Lebanese industry and its integration into the global market (including emergency assistance for developing productive activities in southern Lebanon). The objective is to increase access of Lebanese products to domestic, regional and international markets by

• building human and institutional capacities of government and support institutions and
• addressing the needs and priorities of entrepreneurs to improve their production and business performance.

Along these lines, attention is placed on projects for: rehabilitating agro-industries; market access for Lebanese products; food and safety; and cleaner production centres.