Beirut, Lebanon
In her tiny apartment in Ain-Remeneh, a popular suburb of Beirut, Rita lives along with her three cats who keep her company throughout the day. Rita, a 54-year-old Lebanese woman works as a school bus supervisor for two and a half million Lebanese pounds per month; a salary that she witnessed diminishing gravely since the socio-economic crisis broke in Lebanon in 2019; causing severe inflation and putting basic living costs out of reach for thousands of people. Like Rita, many people in Lebanon are struggling, reaching almost 4 million persons with humanitarian needs. According to the World Bank estimations, more than half of the Lebanese population is living under the poverty line.
Paying rent and electricity bills are not Rita’s sole worry. She has been suffering from several chronic illnesses for years and has not been able to save-up enough money to afford her medications and run her regular medical tests. She visits the nearby Chiyah primary healthcare centre regularly to seek affordable medical care and buy her medications at a subsidized cost.
The centre provides healthcare and social services to around 950 Lebanese beneficiaries per month. However, due to the power outages, caused by the increase in fuel prices as a result of inflation, the center’s daily work was considerably interrupted, and the delivery of critical medical services directly affected.
“We can feel the impact of electricity cuts, which forced us to rely on primitive methods, such as consulting the doctor without proper files or results,” Rita explains. “I couldn’t run my blood tests as regularly as needed, and I started worrying again because I was not able to carry on with my health condition.”
Doctor Charlotte Abou Elias, a general practitioner at the primary healthcare centre explains the need of such a medical facility for electricity: “We only had generator power for one or two hours per day, which is not enough. Doctors working here, like dentists and ophthalmologists, were in need of electricity to perform their diagnosis and operations. We also needed internet connectivity to send and receive blood test results and other important communications.”
While Lebanon is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, living conditions for both Lebanese citizens and refugees have severely exacerbated. UNHCR and partners stepped-up their humanitarian delivery to reach more Lebanese through community interventions that facilitate access to essential services.
UNHCR through its partner INTERSOS, provided the Chiyah primary healthcare center with a 48-solar panel system which enhances access to essential services for the hundreds of patients, like Rita.
“Now, we are relying on the solar energy to continue providing needed medical care to our patients”, said Dr. Abou Elias. “Now that this power issue is resolved, we can better focus again on the people whose health depend on us.”
As part of its support to Lebanese communities, over the past years, UNHCR and partners, have innovated solutions to the energy crisis through increasing access to sustainable solar-powered energy, providing electricity to primary health care centers, public hospitals and water establishment stations benefiting over a million persons in Lebanon, and supporting the operationality of already existing services in more than 100 towns and villages across the country.
“Now, the center is up and running again, I feel more reassured. I can go on with my life with less worry, knowing that I can do my medical tests, get my medications every month,” Rita concluded.
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