A/HRC/2/7
page 23
(d)
While Israel indicated that it had a policy not intentionally targeting water
and power installations, such objects were nevertheless damaged by Israeli attacks. Given
the extremely damaging effects on the civilian population of such attacks, the mission urges
the Government, as a matter of priority, to formalize its policy in this respect;
(e)
A key gap in post-conflict reconstruction activities in the housing, health and
other sectors is consultation with those affected. Mechanisms should be devised to remedy
this situation and ensure appropriate consultation and participation;
(f)
The mission welcomes the establishment of the Governmental Investigative
Committee to investigate the management of the campaign. The mission recommends that
the mandate of the Committee be interpreted to include the issue of whether violations of
human rights and humanitarian law, as well as war crimes, were committed.
104.
The mission makes the following recommendations to the Government of Lebanon:
(a)
In carrying out the reconstruction process, the Government should establish
a Ministry of Housing with overall responsibility for housing-related issues, given the
critical importance of the right to adequate housing to the Lebanese population in the
post-conflict and recovery phases. There is an urgent need to tackle the issues of safety due
to the existence of a large number of damaged homes, the affordability and availability of
housing, and speculation in land and property that is making it difficult for low-income
families - the majority of the affected - to find a place to live;
(b)
The Government should carefully reconsider its policy of providing large
numbers of prefabricated housing units for those affected by the conflict. International
experience, including the extensive experience of UNHCR, has shown that relying solely on
prefabricated housing can have deleterious effects on sustainable housing solutions for the
affected;
(c)
In an effort to remedy the shortcomings experienced so far, all key domestic
and international actors involved in assessing needs and providing housing solutions to
people and communities affected by the conflict should seek to coordinate their efforts
more effectively. A Ministry of Housing could play an important role in this regard;
(d)
The conflict highlighted serious flaws in Lebanon’s health system, such as the
absence of an adequate health information system, as well as striking inequalities in access
to a uniform package of health care. Because these deficiencies impede the population’s
ability to recover from the conflict, the Government is urged to work vigorously towards
establishing an effective, integrated, responsive health system accessible to all, especially
children, women, the elderly, people with disabilities and those living in poverty. The
immediate challenge is to meet the health needs of those who are displaced, as well as those
who have lost their homes and livelihoods. In the medium term, the priority is to
re-establish and improve the medical, water, sanitation and electrical facilities in the areas
most affected by the conflict;
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