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MENA CHILD PROTECTION INITIATIVE Report on: Situation analysis of Vulnerable and Disadvantaged urban children: The Case of Beirut September 11, 2004 Submitted By: Mary E. Deeb, Ph.D Bernard Gerbaka, M.D. In collaboration with Lina Hammaoui, M.P.H. RECEIVED: FINAL DRAFT 20.09.2004 (Monday) 1 / 87 Table of Contents Acknowledgements List of tables List of figures Introductory note I. Review of the Status of Urban Children A. Background 1. Demographic characteristics 2. Economic characteristics B. The Convention on the rights of the child 1. Definition of the Child, the Lebanese Context C. Child Health 1. Infant and Child Mortality 2. Maternal mortality 3. Indicators and prevalence of child morbidity 4. Indicators and prevalence of accidents and injuries 5. Nutrition 5.1 Prevalence of malnutrition 5.2 Breastfeeding and infant feeding patterns 5.3 Iodine deficiency D. Formal Education 1. Prevalence of illiteracy 2. Early Childhood Education 3. Primary education 4. School drop-out prevalence E. Social Status of children 1. Child Culture 2. Leisure time F. Vulnerable and Disadvantaged Children 1. Child Labor 1.1 Prevalence and characteristics of child labor in Lebanon 1.2 Domestic work 1.3 Paid or unpaid work within the family 1.4 Paid work as part of the labor force a. age b. regional distribution c. nationality 2 / 87 d. age of entry into labor force e. education f. nature of work g. occupation type h. economic sector i. relationship with employer j. income and other benefits 2. Children in conflict with the law 2.1 Prevalence and characteristics 2.2 Sexual abuse 2.3 Drug-related arrests 3. Institutionalized Children/ Orphans 4. Street Children 5. Displaced/ Refugee Children 6. Disabled Children II. Outline of the Institutions A. Key Institutions 1. The Higher Council for Childhood 2. The Ministry of Social Affairs 3. Municipalities 4. Non-Governmental Organizations B. Examples of “ Successful Programs “ targeting disadvantaged urban children 1. Project for the Prevention and Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labor( IPEC ) 2. The Drop-out of School Project 3. Road Safety Initiative for prevention of Injuries from road accidents. 4. Prevention and monitoring home intoxication initiative by the Anti–Poison Center 5. Upgrading skills of youth working as car mechanics 6. School Integration for Autistic Children III. Assessment of the Capacity of Institutions A. Beirut Municipalities B. Non Governmental Organizations (NGO’s ) C. Proposal for capacity building 1. The Higher Council for Childhood 2. The Lebanese Autism Society Concluding Remarks 3 / 87 list of tables Table 1: Urbanization trend in some MENA countries, % of urban population in 1970, 1996 and 2030 Table 2: Distribution of the Lebanese population by governorates Table 3: Distribution (%) of Beirut residents by selected demographic characteristics Table 4: Distribution (%) of Beirut residents (10 years+) by educational level Table 5: Distribution of selected economic indicators among Beirut residents Table 6: Distribution (%) of families by ownership of electrical appliances Table 7: Estimates of infant and child mortality rate by governorate Table 8: Distribution (%) of injuries by place of injury and age Table 9: Distribution (%) of children (0 to 5 years old) by type of injury Table 10: Distribution (%) of children by cause of injury Table 11: Proportion of last births and births in last 5 years who ever breastfed by background variables Table 12: Distribution (%) of households who had iodized salt and where the salt was tested for iodine content by governorate Table 13: Classification of the child’s age in the Lebanese educational system Table 14: Distribution of children (%) enrolled in educational institutions for age group 3 to 6 years old by gender and governorate Table 15: Distribution (%) of children in elementary schools by gender and governorate Table 16: Net enrolment in primary school (%) by age and gender Table 17: Distribution of pupils (%) reaching grade five by gender and governorate Table 18: History of schooling among Lebanese children (%) by age and sex Table 19: Children’s involvement (%) in domestic work by age and sex Table 20: Boys and girls’ involvement (%) in family work by age Table 21: Boys and girls’ involvement in the labor force by age Table 22: Regional distribution (%) of working boys and girls by age Table 23: Age of entry into labor force (%) of working boys and girls by age Table 24: Highest level of education (%) of working boys and girls by age Table 25: Nature of work (%) of working boys and girls by age Table 26: Occupation (%) of working boys and girls by age Table 27: Economic sector (%) of working boys and girls by age Table 28: Relationship to employer (%) and satisfaction with work among working boys and girls by age Table 29: Monthly salary (%) and enrollment in NSSF among working boys and girls by age Table 30: Distribution of children in conflict with the law by gender and juvenile court for the year 2000 Table 31: Distribution of children in conflict with the law by age for the year 2000 Table 32: Distribution (%) of children in conflict with the law by educational level for the year 2000 Table 33: Frequency distribution of juvenile reported cases of sexual abuse in Lebanon Table 34: Frequency distribution of drug arrests related to crime among children below 18 years of age Table 35: Frequency distribution of children in social welfare institutions Table 36: Number of disabled children benefiting from a disability card by year Table 37: Percent distribution of disabled children benefiting from a disability card by educational level and year 4 / 87 List of figures Graph1: Map of Lebanon 5 / 87 Introductory note Cities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have been witnessing a remarkable and an unprecedented demographic growth. Nearly 60% of the MENA population lives in urban areas and is below 25 years old (World Bank, 2002). Table 1 shows the accelerated trend in urbanized areas for selected MENA cities. Migration from rural to urban areas has a negative effect on children as a vulnerable group, in a disadvantaged environment. The problem of children living and growing up in large cities is common to both developing and developed countries. Table1: Urbanization trend in some MENA countries, % of urban population in 1970, 1996 and 2030. Year Egypt Jordan Lebanon Yemen 1970 42.0 78.0 59.8 13.0 1996 44.8 97.1 88.0 34.4 2030 61.8 98.4 93.0 58.1 Source: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects, 2001. Projection analysis shows that in year 2025, 6 out of 10 children in developing countries will be living in urban areas. In comparison about 8 out of 10 children in the developed world are presently living in densely populated cities. Thus the future of the world is unavoidably urban, and the well being of children will depend on where they live. About half of the children in developing countries will be living in poor conditions and underserved areas. This group will have the highest demands on urban resources and facilities, and constitute the potential consumers and suppliers in the near future. Unfortunately, there is a lack in the current planning strategies in most of the MENA region’ municipalities, to address the needs of children and young people in urban areas (Benna, 2002). The theme of youth in Lebanon is particularly relevant as they constitute close to one third of the Lebanese population. These young people will ultimately bear a good deal of the burden of reconstruction after fifteen years of civil war. This is compounded by high rates of unemployment and migration, and a relatively low participation in public and political life. Moreover, young people are exposed to risk behaviours that may affect their 6 / 87 immediate or future life, such as : violence, smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, and sexually transmitted diseases. The MENA Child Protection Initiative (CPI ) launched a program supported by the World Bank to improve the well-being of vulnerable and disadvantaged (V and D) children (0-18 years ) in the MENA countries. The first activity of the CPI was to commission specific country case- studies in ten MENA cities in order to provide background papers to review and assess the current situation of V and D urban children. These countries specific papers will be used by stakeholders for policy and intervention oriented-action. This study presents a situation analysis of the V and D urban children in the city of Beirut, Lebanon. The first part is a review of the status of urban children to identify major problems faced by these V and D children. The second part presents an outline of key institutions responsible for tackling social issues in urban areas, along with concrete examples of “successful programs” targeting V and D children. Finally specific recommendations for capacity building among selected institutions is discussed. The Methodology used for this report include the following : A secondary data analysis of published documents and literature review on the situation analysis of urban children in Beirut. Interviews with key people on the council of the Beirut municipality. Interviews with coordinators of “successful programs“ targeting V and D children. A self-administered questionnaire to assess the needs for NGO’s and municipality’s capacity building. 7 / 87 I. REVIEW OF THE STATUS OF URBAN CHILDREN A. Background Lebanon is a republic with a democratic parliamentary system and is administratively divided into five Mohafazat or governorates. Recently a new mohafazat Nabatieh was established in the South of Lebanon. The “ State of the Children in Lebanon “ provides the most recent data on the population of Lebanon. Data was collected based on a national multi- phase random sampling of 7748 households all over Lebanon. Of these, 7231 households were occupied and 6843 families were interviewed.

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