One Health Approach to Drive Resilience and Recovery in Lebanon

pipeline

The project financed by the Pandemic Fund (PF) will be implemented over a three-year period by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) in partnership with the World Bank (WB), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Lebanese Red Cross (LRC) . The objectives of the PF grant for Lebanon are to (i) strengthen the national surveillance and early warning systems and resilience under preparedness and resilience for emerging threats; (ii) improve the workforce capacity involved in pandemic prevention and response; and (iii) develop a resource-mapped, accredited national and sub-national laboratory network. The WB will serve as an implementing entity, with an allocation of US$3 million and co-financing with an amount of US$5 million, contributing to objective 1 “Strengthening Disease Surveillance and Response” and objective 2 “Strengthening Health Information Systems”.Within this scope, the WB role will be support in activities related to enhancing surveillance and early warning and improving response through expanding the DHIS2. This includes procuring information and communications technology (ICT) such as servers, laptops, and barcode readers for the national OneHealth Information Platform, which will improve coordination among stakeholders involved in disease surveillance and control. This will also support the scaling up of the use of existing District Health Information System 2 (DHIS2) for improved reporting in human and animal health. The WB will also co-finance in the needed activity of performing three key annual assessments, including the State Parties Self-Assessment Annual Reporting (SPAR), and the Performance of Veterinary Services (PVS), to evaluate health security, public health preparedness, and veterinary services in Lebanon. In addition, the WB will co-finance a Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) campaign to promote community participation in epidemiological surveillance efforts, with a focus on inclusive messaging and accessible reporting. The WB’s role includes supporting procurement, infrastructure development, and financial management to ensure timely acquisition of ICT resources, facilitate license agreements, and oversee budget allocations for the project components.