Lessons Learned from the Beirut Port Explosion

dagher, leila and Nassar, fadi nicolas (2023): Lessons Learned from the Beirut Port Explosion. Published in: Manara Magazine (24 November 2023)

Abstract

On August 4, 2020, a massive explosion at the Port of Beirut (PoB) triggered a devastating humanitarian disaster in Lebanon at a time when the country was already coping with one of the largest economic and financial meltdowns in modern history. Information collected from 50 Key Informant Interviews and 900 surveys of beneficiaries reflects the existing wide consensus that there was a total lack of coordination between the key stakeholders involved. Interviewees emphasized several challenges including, among others, competition among aid providers, and duplication of aid. To avoid this chaotic environment in the future, there is an urgent need to establish both an effective national crisis management unit and an online aid tracker. An aid tracker which allows all stakeholders and the general public to monitor aid flows, will foster trust in a more transparent aid process, while providing a flexible and easily-accessible platform for aid providers to collaborate.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Lebanon; Beirut; donor coordination; foreign aid; crisis management
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F3 - International Finance > F35 - Foreign Aid; H - Public Economics > H1 - Structure and Scope of Government > H12 - Crisis Management

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