Paper details

Paper authors	Rita Aazan
In panel on	Humanitarian innovation, technology and cash assistance in Lebanon
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

After the blast of Beirut on the 4th of August 2020, various organizations came up together to support the reconstruction of the city and strengthening the capacity of Lebanese households. Lebanon is a heavily indebted country and suffers from a financial deficit from which it is no longer possible for the government to subsidize elementary products to their citizens. The emergence of non-governmental organizations plays an essential role in supporting society to meet their basic needs, restore their homes, and provide some cash assistance for victims that they can no longer pay their living expenses. Lebanese people from various regions rushed to help victims affected by the explosion. Our study focuses on the challenges and the opportunities in the field while supporting this vulnerable community. This presentation's objective is to reflect in a crystal way how handing cash assistance to the beneficiary works on the grounds. The psychological and material consequences on this major crisis show the difficulties of this situation and how volunteer needs to adapt to support traumatized and injured victims and illiterate people. The study will present all the scenarios that happened during the distribution of cash for rent on the ground, from the moment we - as volunteers - received the names of the beneficiary to the moment, we deliver the cards and encountering the vulnerable people. It aims to describe a volunteering perspective at the time of crises and how the logistic on the ground is different from the logistic of a management level.

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