COOPI started working in Lebanon in 2013 to support Syrian refugees AND host communities, mainly women and children.

The influx of refugees in recent years due to the Syrian crisis, added to the historical presence of refugees from Palestine, has put the local authorities in serious difficulty on managing the basic services. Today, around 1.5 million Syrian refugees live in Lebanon, which represents an increase of 20% of the Lebanese population prior to the start of the crisis.

In the first emeregency phase, COOPI focused on responding to basic needs, by distributing clothes and sheets, creating  mobile units, implemeting vaccination programmes and monitoring actions for diseases. 

In Lebanon, COOPI was among the first organisations that intervened, together with lebanese NGOs and local communities, assisting the victims of the terrible blast that occured in the Beirut Port in August 2020 and that pushed the residents on their knees.

Subsequently, the organisation has focused on child protection and WASH interventions. As a consequence of the severe ecoomic crisis that has been hitting Lebanon for the past two years, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the explosion that shattered Beirut, the socioeconomic situazione of the population has further worsened. Currently, COOPI is implementing two Cash-for-Work projects in Tripoli Municipality and Akkar district, in northern Lebanon, to supporto 1.000 men and women in vulnerable conditions, half of whichare Syrian refugees.

COOPI maintains its commitment in the Akkar district carrying on a program in support of the solid waste collection and management systems in the Union of Municipalities of Jurd al-Kaytee, which includes 15 villages in the Akkar region, in northern Lebanon.