The World Bank, and in cooperation with the United Nations and the European Union, recently launched an online survey titled “Beirut Residents’ Perspectives on August 4 Blast: Findings from a needs and perception survey” with residents of Beirut and surrounding areas within a seven mile radius in order to better understand the impact of the Beirut port explosion on community members. The survey was advertised on Facebook and reached around 2 million users. It was available online from August 13 to August 20, 2020 and attempted to capture the perspective of thousands of citizens on the explosion’s impact, their emerging needs, as well as their expectations for assistance and reconstruction. The survey comprised 29 non-mandatory questions that offered the participants the option to skip any and all questions in addition to giving them the ability to quit the survey at any time. It collected information from 3,416 participants from Beirut and Mount Lebanon related to five main themes (socio-economic status, damage assessment, trust in institutions, future outlook, and needs & concerns).

In details, the survey’s results showed that a significant amount of participants demanded assistance, noting that the areas closest to the blast area reported sizeable material & structural damage and physical injuries, with more than two thirds of the respondents forcefully leaving their homes. With regards to the most urgent needs of participants, the survey revealed that respondents from all the concerned geographical zones and wealth categories stressed on mental health services, while the majority of individuals reported the need for food access as a priority, especially among the poor population. Furthermore, the large households living at proximity to the explosion area were concerned about housing, while households with low monthly incomes were more inclined to ask for financial assistance. From a gender perspective, the survey found that women were more concerned with medical, mental health & safety needs, while men focused on food, income, and legal services. The survey added that other concerns included the COVID-19 pandemic, air quality, security (personal security and security of personal belongings) and food prices, among others. Moreover, the survey found that over one third of the respondents did not request assistance and when asked for the reason, 38% responded that they didn’t believe they would receive assistance, 34% did not know how to apply for help and the rest answered with low level of trust, lack of information, only to name a few. Some participants (particularly from Mount Lebanon and Achrafieh) opted to leave any assistance offered to them to others who are more in need.

From another perspective, the World Bank created a trust rating between 1 (no trust at all) and 5 (complete trust). In details, the survey revealed that on average, residents saw that the international community was more trustworthy than national organizations, citing an absolute distrust in the political parties (trust rating: 1.2) and a minimal trust level in each of the council for development and reconstruction (trust rating: 1.5), municipalities (trust rating: 1.7) and religious groups (trust rating: 1.9), while it showed some confidence in the Lebanese armed forces (trust rating: 2.4) and in the local charities (trust rating: 2.6), and a high trust level in the World Bank (trust rating: 3.4) and the United Nations (trust rating: 3.6), noting that the highest level of trust was placed with the Lebanese Red Cross (trust rating: 4.1). In this respect, the survey added that the lack of confidence in institutions triggers a lack of confidence in how the resources will be spent. In brief, the majority of respondents expressed that the money allocated for recovery would not be spent in a transparent, equal, and fair manner, while fewer than 10% were highly confident that the money will be properly spent. This coincides with a shared attitude towards a highly pessimistic future across geographic areas, genders and income levels, with the bulk of respondents revealing that they believe their quality of living will deteriorate five years from now.

From another angle, the World Bank revealed that after the Beirut port explosion, many Lebanese started volunteering by distributing food, cleaning debris, providing medical & mental health services, giving donations, among other things. The survey unveiled that 44% of the individuals aged 18-24 volunteering were young and that both men and women answered similarly with regards to the assistance they offered, with the difference lying in that over 76% of food donations and more than 71% of cash donations were offered by women.

Finally, the World Bank highlighted that support must be provided in a way to aid the individuals who suffered large losses from the explosion and also to people who were already suffering from deprivation. In this vein, and in order to achieve such a goal, the authorities must coordinate aid, service provision, and reconstruction projects. In addition, the low levels of trust in local and state institutions should incite them to conduct policy responses to target higher degrees of transparency, inclusivity, monitoring, and opportunities for residents’ participation.