| The Setting | |
| The
long war (1975-1990) which Lebanon went through constitutes the most
important factor responsible for the deterioration in living conditions
and the spread of poverty. Rampant inflation, from the mid-1980s and
until 1992, has been the most prominent impoverishment mechanism,
leading to the deterioration in the real incomes of the Lebanese. The
war inflicted huge losses in terms of human lives and material damage.
It also led to the forced displacement of very large numbers of Lebanese
citizens who suffered acute impoverishment in the process as a result of
loosing their productive resources and being obliged to leave their
place of residence or work. The deterioration in living conditions and impoverishment, however, have structural causes and determinants which existed before the war and contributed to undermine social stability and threaten national unity, and to the outbreak of the war and its prolongation. Hence, improving the living conditions of the Lebanese must necessarily go through rebuilding what the war has destroyed, and confronting the deep-rooted causes of poverty. The period since the war ended has witnessed the launching of a massive reconstruction and economic recovery process in an earnest effort to compensate for the earlier losses. However, efforts to deal with the social issues and the distortions and disparities that existed before the war need to be intensified. The formulation of an effective plan to deal with the consequences of the war, and the other structural factors, requires a scientific and accurate data base and knowledge of the prevailing living conditions of the Lebanese. The study on Mapping of Living Conditions in Lebanon is an attempt in this direction. |
