The Aman 2.0 programme is taking a step forward after the adoption on 12 November of the $200 million social protection loan. The Ministry of Social Affairs is planning implementation in 2027. It targets 150,000 families, compared with about 106,000 currently, with updated criteria for better integration of households impoverished by war and the economic crisis.
The parliamentary vote concerns the agreement with the World Bank, transmitted by Decree 3228. He intervenes after several months of waiting. On September 4, the department warned that this additional funding had not yet come into effect. The resources then available were sufficient to maintain transfers until the end of 2026.
The new agreement must therefore support both the continuity of aid and its enlargement. It is not an immediate payment announcement to new recipients. The Ministry plans to first complete administrative procedures and enforcement provisions.
Aman 2.0 needs to review family targeting
Minister Hanine Sayed intends to adapt the program to situations of poverty that have arisen since the war and the loss of income. His department announced an update of the criteria, accompanied by periodic audits. Outlying villages, pockets of poverty and the most affected areas are targeted.
This approach extends the World Bank’s design in January. The project must strengthen Daem, the platform that supports the management of Aman transfers. The aim is to make it a more comprehensive social register, which can also be used by other public programmes. The updating of registrations and situations must make aid more responsive to changes in living conditions.
The announced change to 150,000 families represents an additional 44,000 households compared to the number cited by the Ministry. This is a cover objective, not a list of new admissions already validated.
$160 million for transfers
During the session, Hanine Sayed presented the distribution of the loan, according to the report of the Lebanese economic press. Money transfers are the first item, with $160 million. The other areas are economic inclusion, social services and social development centres.
| Assigned | Amount |
|---|---|
| Monetary transfers | $160 million |
| Economic inclusion | $20 million |
| Social services for vulnerable persons | $5 million |
| Services of social development centres | $7 million |
These four items represent $192 million, or 96 per cent of the loan. The Ministry uses this proportion to designate all family supports, services and programs. It therefore does not mean that 96% of the envelope will be paid directly in cash. Money transfers alone account for 80% of the total.
The balance should include monitoring, administration, audit and funding costs. The distinction between monetary aid and services explains why the total envelope cannot be divided by the number of families to calculate an individual allowance.
A national budget contribution still to be examined
Hanine Sayed also recalled the proposal to increase the State’s contribution to the programme to $70 million in draft budget 2027. This amounts to a budgetary decision separate from the loan adopted on 12 November.
The Minister advocates a gradual increase in national funding to reduce dependence on external resources in the medium term. For beneficiaries, the loan and the budget contribution pursue the same objective of continuity. However, they have neither the same origin nor the same legal timetable.
Link financial support to access to services
The World Bank approved this social project in January, including a separate funding package of $150 million for digital transformation. Only the social envelope of 200 million is concerned here.
Its design combines transfers with opportunities for economic integration and social services, with particular attention to women, young people and vulnerable people. Aman 2.0 therefore does not limit itself to increasing the number of contractors: it must also organize their access to these different devices.
The ministry placed the start of the new project in 2027, after the necessary preparations. The precise procedures for registration, selection and payment must accompany this implementation.
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