Ramzi Naaman

In Ramzi Naaman’s first nine months as head coordinator of Lebanon’s Syria response plan, Lebanon’s government collapsed, the number of refugees grew exponentially and violence escalated in many parts of the country. In these circumstances, designing a response plan is becoming a challenge.    Should the response to the refugee crisis be treated urgently and separately or under a general poverty relief plan for both Lebanese and Syrians? When you talk about an ‘urgent’ relief plan, you are talking about a period of two to three months. In 2006, Lebanese sought refuge in Syria for 33 days. When the war was over they came back. But now we’re talking about people who have been here for two years, and might stay here for another two years or more; especially when you know that you have 1.8 million completely destroyed housing units in Syria — that’s 1.8 million families that have