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This
study is a result of a joint effort by the Ministry of Social Affairs
and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It falls within the
framework of the Ministry's efforts to enhance its welfare and
development role through a better identification of social and regional
needs and priorities, and the effectiveness of its programs and projects
that target the vulnerable categories and those in need. It also falls
within the framework of the United Nations Development Programme
assistance to the Government of Lebanon to implement national plans to
improve living conditions
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The study also comes
in the context of a regional UNDP assistance to Arab countries to
develop Poverty Strategy Initiatives (PSI). The UNDP Regional Bureau for
Arab States (RBAS) provided the necessary support for the implementation
of Lebanon's Initiative. It is worth noting that the Unsatisfied Basic
Needs (UBN) Approach used in the study is a pioneer effort in the region
and has been recommended for adoption by other Arab Countries
undertaking poverty assessments.
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The mapping of living
conditions which this study arrived at is an analysis of data of the
population and Housing Survey. Hence, the study does not claim to cover
all indicators that enter into appraising living conditions for
households and individuals. Attention is drawn to the absence of
indicators relating to health care and direct indicators of household
incomes and expenditure, as these aspects are not covered in the
Population and Housing Survey. Moreover, the classification of
households according to the degree of satisfaction of Bsic Needs adopted
in the study has a general indicative value with respect to describing
the social structure, though it does not correspond fully to the
social-class classification in the country. This highlights to need to
undertake additional specialized studies, to study living conditions or
poverty.
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