The Haddi Programme
Paving the way for a National Child Grant in Lebanon
Highlights
According to the sector plan for social protection , the UN position paper on social protection , and the forthcoming National Social Protection Strategy, an urgent priority for Lebanon is the rapid expansion of social assistance both through poverty-targeted programmes as well as through Social Grants for households in specific vulnerable groups. While the National Poverty Targeting Programme begins to be gradually scaled up to reach households living in extreme poverty, vulnerable households such as those raising children or people living with a disability have no access to social assistance.
To help fill this gap in the system, Haddi, meaning “next to me”, is a new national social assistance programme for children, launched by UNICEF in June 2021. It provides a child grant in the form of a monthly USD cash transfer, linked to necessary services, to help households in raising their children.
As the country’s worst economic and social crisis in decades continues to unfold, vulnerable households are hardest hit. Children are particularly vulnerable given the additional needs and risks they face throughout the different stages of their lives with direct consequences on their future. Child grants are one of the most effective interventions to improve child wellbeing, reduce inequality and invest in a country as a whole .
