UN Refugee Cash Card Scheme Boosts Lebanese Grocers

BEIRUT, , (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Jun, 2017 ) - In three years, Lebanese grocer Ali Khiami hired six staff, invested in property and funded his children's university education.

Business is booming -- thanks to Syrian refugees using UN debit cards. Displaced Syrian families in Lebanon are using electronic cards, topped up each month by the United Nations' World food Programme with $27 (24 Euros) per person, for their grocery shopping.

The WFP scheme has both helped refugees and delivered a windfall to cash-strapped Lebanese shop owners. "This programme changed my life. I bought an apartment in Beirut and I paid for my three children's college degrees," said Khiami.

Since registering with the WFP, he has seen his personal income skyrocket from $2,000 per month to $10,000, allowing him to pay off a long-standing debt.

"I used to sell goods worth about 50 million Lebanese Pounds (around $33,000) per year.

Today, my turnover reaches 300 million pounds," said Khiami. A small blue sticker in the window of his cosy store in southern Beirut identifies it as one of the 500 shops taking part in the WFP scheme.

Lebanon, a country of just four million people, hosts more than one million refugees who fled the conflict that has ravaged neighbouring Syria since 2011. The influx has put added strain on Lebanon's already frail water, electricity, and school networks.

The World Bank says the Syrian crisis has pushed an estimated 200,000 Lebanese into poverty, adding to the nation's one million poor.