The UNDP and the reconstruction of Beirut southern suburbs following the July 2006 war. (c2011)

Abstract

Throughout its existence as an independent state, Lebanon has had its share of domestic strife and foreign interventions including Israeli invasion with devastating consequences. In 2005, and after the murder of the ex-premier Rafic Hariri, Lebanon entered a new era of heightened political instability. A year later, Israel launched a devastating war against Hezbollah and Lebanon which led to many civilian casualties and unprecedented damage to the country‘s infrastructure. The thesis addresses the participation of the United Nations Program in the rehabilitation of Beirut Southern Suburbs in the aftermath of the devastation caused by the July 2006 war. While the thesis sheds lights on all significant regional and international efforts to deal with the socio-economic consequences of the July war, its principal focus is on the UNDP interventions that were carried out to rehabilitate, recover and restore the lives and livelihoods in the Beirut Southern Suburbs (BSS). The thesis thus examines the accomplished and ongoing UNDP programs in the BSS in order to highlight the important albeit controversial role of international organizations (specifically the UNDP) in the long-term alteration of social and behavioral interactions with the aim of fostering peace-building and community-building. The thesis argues that such international-donor programs do not only aim to physically rebuild and rehabilitate infrastructure but have the loftier goal of laying the foundations for sustainable development and peace-building, as envisioned by the UNDP, other international organizations and Western governments.