Support to Public Administration Reform in Lebanon

Lebanon has been struggling with one of the most severe economic crises globally since the mid-nineteenth century, which was exacerbated by the Beirut port explosion and the COVID-19 pandemic, and most recently by the fierce Israeli war on the country.

These tensions have impacted all sectors, in particular the core of public services and the functioning of public administrations due to the reduction of available funds. Public recruitment is halted, leaving administration severely understaffed and unable to fulfil their mandates.

Reforming these systems is crucial for improving integrity, transparency, equality, and accountability, in alignment with international assistance frameworks.

The support project to public administration reform in Lebanon has been created in this context to enhance good governance, integrity, transparency, equality, and accountability.

It is based on three main reform areas.

1. Safeguarding the integrity of public administration in public human resource management

Activities in this area include:

• Clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of public officials,
• Updating the organigrams and mandates of administrations in pilot institutions,
• Applying standards of transparency and merit in appointment, promotion and non-discriminatory recruitment of public officials,
• Recognizing the independence and effectiveness of the Civil Service Board.

2. Enhancing transparency of public procurement

The project will contribute to:

• Guarantee the presence and operation of an independent authority in charge of regulating the public procurement system committed to the principles of transparency, fair treatment and equal opportunities of all bidders,
• Reinforce the transparency of centralised and decentralised public procurement systems by setting up the e-procurement platform,
• Strengthen the skills of procurement officers and stakeholders,
• Enhance the role of civil society organisations in supervising and monitoring public procurement.

3. Strengthening accountability of the administration and the role of oversight bodies in implementing reforms and anti-corruption measures

The Central Inspection Board (CIB), the Court of Accounts (CoA) and the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) will benefit from capacity building activities to fight and prevent corruption.

The project will also contribute to enhance and institutionalize the coordination and cooperation between oversight bodies and with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).

During the inception phase, activities were refined, methodologies were established, and some timelines were adjusted. This phase involved the development of detailed implementation plans for each activity, the methodology for overall project planning, and the Monitoring and Evaluation plan.

Additionally, the recruitment of the project team was finalized and pilot administrations were selected to converge the efforts of the project and align the activities of the three areas of operation.

Five administrations from Lebanon will benefit from the actions of the project.

The Civil Service Board will receive support on improving recruitment, human resource management, qualifications, and accountability. It is responsible for managing public sector human resources and plays a key role in revitalizing public administrations.

Efforts will also focus on the operationalization of the Public Procurement Authority through building the capacity of its staff and the capacity of civil servants working on public procurement, the implementation of a state-of-the-art e-procurement platform, and the empowerment of procuring entities.

Finally, efforts will also be made on reforms for Lebanon’s oversight bodies, namely the Central Inspection, the Court of Accounts, and the National Anti-Corruption Commission. These key administrations are tasked with large mandates and extended jurisdictional powers, but have become severely under-resourced, struggling with outdated laws, insufficient financing, and a lack of coordination.