Executive Summary
This report offers an in-depth analysis on cash coordination in Lebanon, focusing on recent structural reforms, persistent coordination challenges, and opportunities for improved alignment with global standards. Drawing on 42 key informant interviews (KIIs), three workshops, and an extensive document review, the study critically assesses the evolution of Lebanon’s cash architecture, with particular attention to the new Cash Working Group (CWG), the implications of funding constraints, the role of local actors, and the relationship between humanitarian cash and national social protection systems.
Lebanon has pioneered cash assistance to displaced and crisis-affected populations since 2012. Cash coordination in Lebanon has evolved over the past decade through fragmented and overlapping arrangements, marked by multiple coordination bodies and mandate-specific silos. The reactivation of the CWG in late 2024 and its elevation under the Inter-Sector Coordination Group (ISCG), represents an attempt to consolidate these arrangements into a more coherent system. However, gaps in mandate clarity, participation rules, and coordination with sectoral actors persist. Interviewees unanimously described the pre-merger coordination system as inadequate, fragmented, and overly complex, particularly during the 2024–2025 escalation, when misaligned and low transfer values, contradictory sectoral guidance, and duplication impeded effective response.
The analysis identifies a number of strategic priorities for the renewed CWG: adopting a lean and task-based structure; re-establishing Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) as the central modality for addressing basic needs; strengthening technical coordination of sectoral cash and harmonisation of transfer values; institutionalising preparedness functions; and establishing more structured engagement with the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) to bridge humanitarian assistance and social protection. Despite MoSA’s growing role in national assistance, the systems supporting Lebanese social protection during large shocks are incipient, requiring continued humanitarian engagement in crisis responses.
The report also highlights significant underrepresentation of national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in cash coordination forums. While some funding has recently shifted toward local actors, participation in decision making remains limited. To remedy this, the report recommends the creation of a short-term task team focused on operational entry points for local actors and establishing structured pathways toward co-leadership.
International guidance, particularly the Inter-Agency Standing Committee’s (IASC) 2022 cash coordination model, serves as a critical benchmark for reform. Lebanon’s revised CWG is well-positioned to align with this model, but success will require strong senior-level backing, reliable decision-making processes, and sustained donor engagement. Drawing on global examples, the report underscores that lean, technically-grounded, and inclusive coordination is achievable through adaptive task teams, clear mandates, and proactive stewardship.
The report concludes with targeted recommendations for each stakeholder group—CWG members, operational agencies, the ISCG and Humanitarian Country Team, MoSA, national organisations, and donors, emphasising the importance of institutional clarity, cross-population preparedness, and pragmatic alignment with global standards. Ultimately, a coherent, inclusive, and needs-based cash coordination system is essential to navigate Lebanon’s protracted crisis and emerging shocks.
