Inter-Agency Coordination Lebanon: Guidelines for Fire Prevention, Preparedness and Response in Informal Settlements, Residential and Non-Residential Buildings

Lebanon is hosting at least one million Syrian refugees officially registered with the UN, many of them living in informal tented settlements and residential and non-residential buildings scattered around the country. Unfortunately, tented settlements and substandard buildings, due to their informality and spontaneity as they are built in an ad hoc manner, are at high risk of fire.

Persons with disabilities, elderly, woman and children are the most vulnerable to burn injuries especially when living in overcrowded structures, using unsafe cooking and heating appliances or open fires. Therefore, fire prevention and control initiatives are important and necessary in all shelter types (informal settlements, residential and non- residential buildings) where some or all of these conditions are found. Therefore, comprehensive, cost-effective and evidenced-based practices are needed to support and promote the safety, health and well-being of vulnerable populations.

Presently, there is no national regulation in Lebanon for site planning that incorporate appropriate fire mitigation. Ad-hoc fire prevention programs had been provided through Collective Site Management and Coordination (CSMC), UNHCR funded shelter programs and other shelter partners, providing fire safety trainings to a limited number of informal settlements. The Shelter Sector has taken an initiative to include fire safety indicators within the logical framework in the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan LCRP 2017 and LCRP 2018, when there was no sector in charge with the responsibility and authority around fire prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, salvage and investigation.