Lebanon

Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

Targets

1- Reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day
2- Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

Lebanon suffers from a lack of significant date relating to poverty. In 1995, a relatively low percentage of the population, 6.3%, lived in extreme poverty, measured against US$1.3 per person per day. (The 2015 target is 3.1%) About 18 percent  lived below the suggested upper poverty line of US$2.2 per day. Based on a more recent study, there has been no progress in poverty reduction as 7.1 percent of Lebanese households lived in extreme poverty in 1999. The severity of poverty is significant; it is estimated that the share of the poorest 17 percent of the population was only 4 percent of national consumption in 1996. The Gini coefficient was 0.435 in 1996. The UN will be issuing MDG Report in 2008 with the latest poverty data, providing further analysis of progress towards this goal.

Achieve Universal Primary Education

Targets

3- Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling

Lebanon is very likely to achieve his goal, and its achievement in educational attainment is significant. Net enrolment in primary education reached 98.3 percent in 2000, up from 97.6 percent in 1996. The percentage of students completing primary education increased from 91.1 percent in 1997, to 95.3 percent in 2000; and recent studies indicate that the literacy rate for those aged 15-24 reached 97.5 percent in 2000.

Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

Targets

4- Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015

Lebanon is also very likely to achieve MDG 3, and significant progress has been made in recent years. The female illiteracy rate (as % of population 15 and Over) dropped from 27% in 1990 to 17.8% in 2003. The same rate (as % of population 15 to 24) dropped from 11% in 1990 to 5% in 2003. Primary School Enrolment for females (As Gross % of School Age Population) rose from 76.2% in 1990 to 89.4% in 2001, and Secondary School Enrolment for females (as Gross % of School Age Population) rose to 79% in 2002. Seats in parliament held by women rose from three in 2000 to six in 2005. Though still few (only 6 out of 128 MPs are women), it denotes some progress, and in 2004 for the first time women have held Ministerial positions, a total of two.

Reduce Child Mortality

Targets

5- Reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five

Lebanon may achieve this goal if a number of changes are undertaken. Lebanon has witnessed significant improvement in reproductive health outcomes and indicators as clearly demonstrated in the results and findings of the Pan Arab Survey for Family Health (PAPFAM) conducted in 2004. The infant mortality rate has dropped from 28/1000 in 1996 to 26/1000 in 2000 to 19/1000 in 2004 despite the fact that there still exist regional disparities.

Improve Maternal Health

Targets

6- Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio

Lebanon is likely to achieve this goal given the significant progress that has been made. Maternal mortality rate dropped from 104 to 80 per 100,000 live births over the past 10-15 years. The 2004 Pan Arab Survey for Family Health (PAPFAM) indicates that 92% of all births take place in hospitals (private and public) and only 2.4% of births are still taking place at home.

Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other Diseases

Targets

7- Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
8- Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases

While data collection on HIV/AIDS continues to remain a challenge, the number of reported HIV/AIDS cases in Lebanon remains limited. 983 cases were reported in 1995, dropping to 516 in 2001 by virtue of the implementation of a number of programmes by the National HIV/AIDS programme which has mobilized a number of actors to combat the disease. The UN will be issuing MDG Report in 2008 with the latest poverty data, providing further analysis of progress towards this goal.

Ensure Environmental Sustainability

Targets

9- Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources
10- Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water
11- Achieve significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, by 2020

It remains unknown as to whether Lebanon will achieve this target, but a new MDG Report in 2008 will provide more specific progress over time based on further data analysis. Overall, progress was made towards environmental sustainability until early 2006, at which time Lebanon was ranked 36 out of 133 countries and came in first within the Arab region on the Environmental Performance Index (EPI). However, the July/August 2006 War with Israel caused significant environmental damage and imposed a significant economic burden.  Water availability remains a critical issue of national importance in Lebanon due to the high demand for water, the large losses in the public water distribution networks and the high level of water pollution. In 1996, 79.3% of dwellings had sustainable access to water, with the target set at 90% in 2015. Access to wastewater networks continues to grow steadily, with 67.4% of total dwellings having access in 2004. 

Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Targets

12- Develop further an open trading and financial system that is rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory. Includes a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction-nationally and internationally
13- Address the least developed countries' special needs. This includes tariff- and quota-free access for their exports; enhanced debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries; cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous official development assistance for countries committed to poverty reduction
14- Address the special needs of landlocked and small island developing States
15- Deal comprehensively with developing countries' debt problems through national and international measures to make debt sustainable in the long term
16- In cooperation with the developing countries, develop decent and productive work for youth
17- In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries
18- In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies-especially information and communications technologies

Data is still being collected so as to determine the progress on this MDG. Lebanon is one of the world's most heavily indebted countries and the economy has gained little from recent violent acts and the general political struggle that persists. Regardless, since the mid-1990s, Lebanon has engaged different development initiatives through trade liberalization, and has implemented a gradual decrease in customs duties. Lebanon and the European Union signed the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership Agreement, and legislation related to trade and the private sector has been modernized with a view to attracting investment and reactivating growth, improving transparency and productivity of the public sector, and facilitating the work of the private sector. Public finance has improved through modernization of the tax system and rationalization and decrease of expenditures. The government has also implemented a value-added tax (VAT) and strengthened procedures in tax management, including customs administration, real estate registries, and income tax department. Lebanon will continue to struggle to address its long-term structural fiscal deficit which is mainly driven by the costs of servicing its extraordinarily large public debt burden (external debt of $33bn in 2007, over 200% of GDP) , and its limited real growth rate of 1.7% in 2007, and expected rate of 1.3% in 2008.