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CAUTION: The following links and
accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation
in Lebanon in the early years of the 21st Century. Some of these links
may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated,
misleading or even false. No attempt has been made to validate
their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of poverty are of particular
interest to you. You might be
interested in exploring the relationship between distribution of labor and
per-capita GDP, for example. Perhaps
your paper could focus on life expectancy or infant mortality. Other factors of interest might be
unemployment, literacy, access to basic services, etc. On the other hand, you might choose to
include some of the possible outgrowths of poverty such as Human Trafficking,
Street Children,
or even Prostitution. There is a lot to the subject of
Poverty. Scan other countries as well
as this one. Draw comparisons between
activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. *** Extreme Weather *** In the
early weeks of 2024, Lebanon faced a series of extreme weather conditions,
including heavy rain, snow, and strong winds. These adverse weather events
wreaked havoc on the nation’s infrastructure, particularly affecting
vulnerable regions such as the North and Akkar. The
repercussions were severe, with flash floods, overflowing rivers all over
Lebanon, and landslides that damaged homes, businesses, and agricultural
lands. The Beirut-Damascus road, a critical link between the Bekaa Valley and Beirut, bore the brunt of soil erosion,
leading to cracks and collapses. Widespread flooding and damage to shelters
were reported, especially in informal settlements and vast agricultural
areas, with casualties resulting from a tragic landslide. – adapted from Microsoft BING Copilot *** ARCHIVES *** The World Factbook - Lebanon U.S. Central Intelligence Agency CIA www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/le.html [accessed 1 January
2021] World Factbook
website has moved to ---> www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/lebanon/ [accessed 6 January 2021] Lebanon
has a free-market economy and a strong laissez-faire commercial tradition.
The government does not restrict foreign investment; however, the investment
climate suffers from red tape, corruption, arbitrary licensing decisions,
complex customs procedures, high taxes, tariffs, and fees, archaic
legislation, and inadequate intellectual property rights protection. The
Lebanese economy is service-oriented; main growth sectors include banking and
tourism. The
Syria conflict cut off one of Lebanon's major markets and a transport
corridor through the Levant. The influx of nearly one million registered and
an estimated 300,000 unregistered Syrian refugees has increased social
tensions and heightened competition for low-skill jobs and public services. Weak
economic growth limits tax revenues, while the largest government
expenditures remain debt servicing, salaries for government workers, and
transfers to the electricity sector. These limitations constrain other
government spending, limiting its ability to invest in necessary
infrastructure improvements, such as water, electricity, and transportation. GDP -
per capita (PPP): $19,600 (2017
est.) GDP – composition
by sector of origin agriculture: 3.9% (2017 est.) industry: 13.1% (2017 est.) services: 83% (2017 est.) Unemployment
rate: 9.7% (2017
est.) Population
below poverty line: 28.6% (2017
est.) Maternal
mortality rate: 29 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.) Infant
mortality rate: total: 6.8 deaths/1,000 live births Life
expectancy at birth: total population: 78.3 years Drinking
water source: improved: total: 100% of population Physicians
density: 2.03 physicians/1,000 population (2017) Sanitation
facility access: improved: total: 99% of population Electricity
access: electrification - total population: 100% (2016) The
Borgen Project - Lebanon borgenproject.org/category/lebanon/ [accessed 14
February 2021] The Borgen Project works with U.S. leaders to utilize the
United States’ platform behind efforts toward improving living conditions for
the world’s poor. It is an innovative,
national campaign that is working to make poverty a focus of U.S. foreign
policy. It believes that leaders of
the most powerful nation on earth should be doing more to address global
poverty. From ending segregation to providing women with the right to vote,
nearly every wrong ever righted in history was achieved through advocacy. The
Borgen Project addresses the big picture, operating
at the political level advancing policies and programs that improve living
conditions for those living on less than $1 per day. ~
The Process Of Fixing The Crisis In Lebanon borgenproject.org/crisis-in-lebanon/ ~
5 Facts About Child Poverty In Lebanon borgenproject.org/child-poverty-in-lebanon/ ~
Why Humanitarian Aid Is Critical In Lebanon Today borgenproject.org/why-humanitarian-aid-is-critical-in-lebanon/ ~
3 Crises Affecting Hunger In Lebanon borgenproject.org/hunger-in-lebanon/ ~
The Beirut Explosion’s Effect On Education Systems borgenproject.org/effect-on-education-systems/ Lebanon on Brink of Economic Collapse as People Face Hunger, Poverty and Political Uncertainty Democracy Now, 7 July 2021 [LONG
URL] [accessed 7 July 2021] The
U.N. is warning over three-quarters of households in Lebanon do not have
enough food or money to buy food, as the social, political and economic
crises continue to spiral. The devastating recession and inflation have led
the currency to plunge by 90%, forcing over half the population into poverty
and facing major food and fuel shortages. The World Bank is calling the
situation in Lebanon one of the worst economic depressions of modern history.
Prime
Minister Hassan Diab: “I call on the United Nations,
all international agencies, the international community and worldwide public
opinion to help save the Lebanese people from dying and prevent the demise of
Lebanon. Lebanon is a few days away from the social explosion. The Lebanese
are facing this dark fate alone.” Lebanon's
recent crisis worse than civil war, survivors say Agence France-Presse AFP, 11 April 2021 www.dailysabah.com/world/mid-east/lebanons-recent-crisis-worse-than-civil-war-survivors-say [accessed 11 April 2021] Customers
have come to blows in supermarkets to secure fast-selling subsidized
products, while shortages in pharmacies have made buying medicines akin to hunting
for treasure. During
the war, people could go back to work when bombardment slowed, he said. But with current unemployment rates
approaching 40%, many don't have jobs to return to. "Who can earn money at all
today?" the father of three asked. "Economically, we are
finished." Action
Against Hunger - Lebanon www.actionagainsthunger.org/countries/middle-east/lebanon [accessed 21 March 2021] Lebanon,
a historically rich eastern Mediterranean country, is a sharply divided
nation whose fragile peace is routinely threatened by conflicts taking place
across the Middle East. Beyond the tensions that endure between its various
religious and political factions, Lebanon also faces a number of humanitarian
hurdles like an underdeveloped agricultural south, a growing refugee burden,
and spillover from the war in neighboring Syria. Southern
Lebanon’s economy, in particular, has been weakened by debt, a lack of investment,
and ongoing conflicts that have prevented a resurgence of the agricultural
sector. The
World Bank in Lebanon www.worldbank.org/en/country/lebanon/overview [accessed 21 April 2021] For
nearly 18 months now, Lebanon has been assailed by compounded
crises—specifically, an economic and financial crisis, followed by COVID-19
and, lastly, the explosion at the Port of Beirut on August 4, 2020. Looking
back a few years … Advameg, Inc., Encyclopedia of the Nations www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Lebanon-ECONOMY.html [accessed 1 January 2021] Lebanon
is traditionally a trading country, with a relatively large agricultural
sector and small but well-developed industry. Until the civil war, it had
always figured prominently as a center of tourist trade. The 1975–76 war
caused an estimated $5 billion in property damage and reduced economic
activities to about 50% of the prewar level. Lebanon
has been able to survive economically because of remittances from abroad by
Lebanese workers and companies, external aid by the United States, France,
Germany, and Arab countries, and foreign subsidies to various political
groups. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT
COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Prof. Martin
Patt, "Poverty - Lebanon", http://gvnet.com/poverty/Lebanon.htm,
[accessed <date>] |
