This research paper examines the UN-led system intended to coordinate the humanitarian and development response to the Syrian refugee influx into Lebanon. It examines the inclusion and representation of Syrian individuals and organizations in the UN coordination structure, the challenges to and opportunities for meaningful and well intended engagement with Syrian actors and the extent to which the UN is able to respond to and influence government policy – in this case, Lebanese government policy.
The paper is based on more than 40 interviews conducted between March and June 2015 in Beirut, London and over Skype with members of various UN agencies and international humanitarian and development organizations, academics and Syrian aid workers and representatives of Syrian aid organizations in Lebanon. It is worth noting that at the time the fieldwork was being conducted in Lebanon, in April 2015, UN coordination of the humanitarian response was an extremely sensitive issue, not least among the UN agencies themselves.
