The United Nations in Lebanon has launched the "Women, Peace, and Humanitarian Action Fund" to support women's participation in the response and recovery efforts following the Beirut Port explosion.
According to a statement from the United Nations Information Center in Lebanon, the UN launched this fund window, with UN Women acting as the technical secretary, and issued a call for proposals to identify partners in supporting women's participation in the response and recovery process from the Beirut Port explosion and to address issues of exclusion faced by both women and men from relief and recovery efforts due to the lack of official documentation.
The statement noted that the Beirut Port explosion on August 4 resulted in urgent and significant humanitarian needs and had severe long-term consequences. The assessment recommended an increased active participation of women and marginalized groups in decision-making concerning national and international planning efforts for response, recovery, implementation, management, and evaluation, evaluated through a gender equality lens.
The objective of this fund window is to finance small and emerging organizations led by women and women’s rights organizations across various regions of Lebanon. It aims to complement the humanitarian fund for Lebanon and is funded by the Government of Germany, with participation from the Government of Canada and the European Union.
Germany's Ambassador to Lebanon, Andreas Kindl, stated that Germany decided to help establish the "Women, Peace, and Humanitarian Action Fund" in Lebanon after the impressive role played by women-led organizations during the response to the port explosion. He added that activists often express that they continue to struggle as demands increase relentlessly due to rising poverty and rampant inflation, hoping that more donors would join soon.
UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon, Najat Rushdi, highlighted the essential role played by women in Lebanon in responding to the devastating Beirut Port explosions. She noted that women exerted every possible effort to support those in need, clear rubble from streets and homes, and become part of broader relief efforts. They have proven to be "change leaders" and "messengers of hope."
Rushdi emphasized the aim is to support these women and empower them further to foster a society characterized by peace and gender equality, where no one is overlooked, pointing to the generous funding from the German government and the valuable support from the Canadian government and the European Union, aiming for equitable recovery through pioneering women's projects and people-centered initiatives.
The statement also clarified that this call for proposals encourages joint applications and will pay special attention to submissions from small women-led organizations and women’s rights organizations and proposals targeting women and girls facing multiple intersecting forms of discrimination, such as marginalized and excluded women due to poverty, ethnic origin, disability, age, geographic location, sexual orientation, statelessness, or migration status.
It announced that an information session for interested organizations will be held on February 11, 2021, at 11:00 AM local Beirut time. Registration can be done via this link: (https://ee.humanitarianresponse.info/x/yaSkxWV2) or by emailing: cfp.lebanon@unwomen.org. Proposals should be submitted no later than March 8, 2021, via email to: cfp.lebanon@unwomen.org. For inquiries related to this call for proposals, please contact via email: cfp.lebanon@unwomen.org.
