$200 Million: Ministry of Social Affairs Welcomes Approval of 'Aman 2.0' to Increase Coverage to 150,000 Families

The Ministry of Social Affairs welcomed, in a statement, "the approval by the House of Representatives of the draft law concerning the loan agreement with the World Bank worth $200 million USD, which ensures the continuity and expansion of the 'Aman' program, and opens the door to a new phase of the program under the title 'Aman 2.0', noting that the implementation of the new project will begin during 2027 after completing the necessary administrative and executive procedures."

It added: "The new phase will allow increasing coverage from approximately 106,000 to 150,000 families, in parallel with updating targeting criteria and periodic re-verification, making the program more capable of keeping pace with new poverty resulting from war and economic crisis and loss of income sources, and reaching better the most needy families in various Lebanese regions, including peripheral villages, pockets of poverty, and the most affected areas.

96% of the loan value goes to supporting families, services, and programs that reach them directly, including cash assistance, economic integration and job creation, social services, and support for development service centers."

Social Affairs Minister Haneen El-Sayed said: "The approval of the loan is not the end of the work, but its beginning. Our goal is to make Aman 2.0 a leading national program with better standards, more precise targeting, and greater ability to monitor those who have become poor today and reach them wherever they are in Lebanon. We want to link social protection with a clear path towards economic integration and independence for those who can work, within the vision of 'From Social Affairs to Social Development'."

El-Sayed stressed the importance of "the shift that began in funding the 'Aman' program, as the state allocated direct funding for the program from the public budget for the first time in 2026, while the ministry proposed raising its contribution to $70 million in the 2027 draft budget."

She affirmed that "this step constitutes a fundamental shift towards consolidating the state's responsibility for funding the social protection network and ensuring its sustainability, within a gradual path to increase national funding and reduce reliance on external funding in the medium term."

The Ministry indicated that "with the approval of the loan, work begins on building 'Aman 2.0' as a more fair, transparent, and dynamic pillar in the social protection system in Lebanon."