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Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon, 2018

Lebanon, 2018
Middle East and North Africa
UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF
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Identification

Survey ID Number
UNHCR_LBN_VASYR_2018_v2.1
Title
Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon, 2018
Country
Name Country code
Lebanon LBN
Abstract
The Vulnerability Assessment for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon (VASyR-2018) was conducted jointly by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP, dataviz.vam.wfp.org). Now in its sixth year, the Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon (VASyR) assesses a representative sample of Syrian refugee families to identify changes and trends in their situation. The Government of Lebanon estimates that the country hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees who have fled their country’s conflict since 2011 (including nearly one million registered with UNHCR as of end of September 2018). The Syrian refugee population in Lebanon remains the largest concentration of refugees per capita and the fourth largest refugee population in the world. VASyR includes a sample of 4,446 Syrian refugee households from 26 districts across Lebanon. The assessment demonstrates that despite the large scale assistance and the efforts of Lebanon and its partners that have resulted in improvements in economic vulnerability and stabilization in education, food security and some improvements in the situation for women, girls and female-headed households, Syrian refugees still remain very vulnerable. The economic context remains precarious and the protection needs to persist.
Kind of Data
Sample survey data [ssd]
Unit of Analysis
Household and individual

Version

Version Description
v2.1: Edited, cleaned and anonymised data.
Version Date
2019-12-09

Scope

Notes
The scope includes:
- key indicators on household demographics
- safety and security
- accomodation
- health
- food security
- livelihoods
- expenditures
- food consumption
- debt
- coping strategies and assistance
- intention to return
- education
Topics
Topic
Food security
Livelihood & Social cohesion
Basic Needs

Coverage

Geographic Coverage
National coverage
Universe
The sampling frame used for VASyR 2018 was the total number of Syrian refugees known to UNHCR as of February 2018. A total of 855 cases were not considered part of the sampling frame due to missing addresses.

Producers and sponsors

Primary investigators
Name
UNHCR
WFP
UNICEF

Sampling

Sampling Procedure
The sample includes 4446 Syrian refugee households, and aims to be representative of the Syrian refugee families in Lebanon. A two-stage cluster approach was adpoted using the sampling frame of the total number of Syrian refugees known to UNHCR of February 2018. A total of 855 cases were not considered part of the sampling frame due to missing addresses. Using the "30x7" two stage cluster scheme, originally developed by the World Health Organization, 30 clusters per geographical area and seven households per cluster are used to provide a precision of +/- 10 percentage points. The sampling strategy accounted for the need to generate results that are representative on a district, governorate and national level. As such, districts were considered as the geographical level within which 30 clusters were selected. There are 26 districts in Lebanon, where Beirut and Akkar each represent a district and a governorate. As such, to ensure representativeness of these two districts as governorates, an additional two cluster samples were considered for each.
The primary sampling unit was defined as the village level (i.e. cluster) and UNHCR cases served as the secondary sampling unit. A case was defined as a group of people who are identified together as one unit (usually immediate family) under UNHCR databases. Villages were selected using 'probability proportionate to size,' and 30 clusters/villages were selected with four replacement clusters per district.
Weighting
Data collected through this assessment was weighted at the district level based on the population of refugees in each district. Weighting was necessary to ensure that the geographical distribution of the population was reflected in the analysis and to compensate for the unequal probabilities of a household being included in the sample. The normalized weight was calculated for each district using the following formula:

Normalised weight= (sample frame district/ total sample frame) / (number of houses visited in the district / total number of households visited)

Data Collection

Dates of Data Collection
Start End
2018-04-16 2018-05-04
Data Collection Mode
Face-to-face [f2f]
Data Collection Notes
Enumerators were trained on the data collection tool, contextual background, methodology and ethical considerations. Trainings were carried out in each operational region (Bekaa, Mount Lebanon, North and South) over the course of seven days, including two field test days. The first day of training covered findings from the previous year's VASyR, importance and usage of VASyR, ethical considerations, informed consent, defining a household and collecting demographic data. The following four days were dedicated to specific modules of the questionnaire for which sector experts provided trainings. During the last two days, each team completed at least two field tests per day. During these field tests, teams conducted the interviews with selected households. After each day's field tests were completed, the teams gathered and provided feedback to the agency focal points. Data was collected and entered on electronic tablets by the enumerators during the interviews using Open Data Kit (ODK) software.Enumerators were trained on the data collection tool, contextual background, methodology and ethical considerations. Trainings were carried out in each operational region (Bekaa, Mount Lebanon, North and South) over the course of seven days, including two field test days. The first day of training covered findings from the previous year's VASyR, importance and usage of VASyR, ethical considerations, informed consent, defining a household and collecting demographic data. The following four days were dedicated to specific modules of the questionnaire for which sector experts provided trainings. During the last two days, each team completed at least two field tests per day. During these field tests, teams conducted the interviews with selected households. After each day's field tests were completed, the teams gathered and provided feedback to the agency focal points. Data was collected and entered on electronic tablets by the enumerators during the interviews using Open Data Kit (ODK) software.
Data Collectors
Name
Caritas
World Vision International
Makhzoumi
SHIELD
Intersos

Questionnaires

Questionnaires
The questionnaire included key information on household demographics, arrival profile, registration, protection, shelter, WASH, assets, health, education, security, livelihoods, expenditures, food consumption, coping strategies, debts and assistance, as well as infant and young feeding practices.

Access policy

Contacts
Name Affiliation Email
Curation team UNHCR microdata@unhcr.org
Citation requirements
Cite as follows:

UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF (2018) Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon, UNHCR microdata library, https://microdata.unhcr.org