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We are pleased to announce the publication of IPC Country Study #13, “Poverty, Growth and Income Distribution in Lebanon”. The authors, Heba El Laithy, Khalid Abu-Ismail and Kamal Hamdan, have written a full national report for the Government of Lebanon and UNDP on these topics. This Country Study is a modified Executive Summary of the full report, which is the first to draw a comprehensive profile of poverty in Lebanon based on money-metric measurements of household expenditures. Its data source is a 2004/05 national Living Conditions and Household Budget Survey.



Drawing on the full report, this Country Study reports that over one fifth of the Lebanese population is poor but only eight per cent are extremely poor. Moreover, extreme poverty is shallow. So it is certainly feasible for Lebanon to attain the MDG target of halving extreme poverty. However, the Study also finds that regional disparities have worsened in recent years, with the North governorate falling significantly behind and suffering from high rates of poverty. Drawing on the new poverty profile, the Study focuses on targeting strategies. This includes channeling resources to poor areas of the country—such as four subregions where two-thirds of the poor are concentrated. At the same time, the Study recognizes that macroeconomic policies—and fiscal policies in particular—need to be redesigned to generate a broad-based, inclusive pattern of economic growth and create the fiscal space for financing more extensive social services and a more effective social safety net.



Available online at: http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/pub/IPCCountryStudy13.pdf


Please see a related IPC publication, Country Study #4 on “Strengthening the Employment Impact of an MDG-Based Development Strategy for Yemen”.



Other IPC publications at: http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/ipcpublications.htm