Aman (formerly Emergency Social Safety Net Program / ESSN)
Aman is Lebanon's national unconditional cash transfer program for extreme-poor households, run by the Ministry of Social Affairs and financed primarily by World Bank (IBRD/IDA) loans to the Government of Lebanon, with additional support from the European Union, Qatar Red Crescent and other donors. Launched in 2022 as the Emergency Social Safety Net Project (ESSN) in response to Lebanon's economic collapse, it merged in October 2024 with the older, donor-funded National Poverty Targeting Program (NPTP) to become the country's unified safety net. Eligible households are identified through a proxy-means test on the digital DAEM social registry and receive monthly cash transfers via the World Food Programme and local money transfer operators/prepaid cards. As of 2025 it reached roughly 166,000 of the poorest Lebanese households (about 798,000 individuals).
Lebanon, Economic Crisis Response, National Safety Net, World Bank, Proxy Means Testing, Digital Social Registry (DAEM), Extreme Poverty
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- Ministry of Social Affairs, Lebanon
- City
- Beirut
- Country
- Lebanon
Contact
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Active
- Application status
- Rolling
- Number of recipients
- 166,000
- Funding type
- Government, Nonprofit
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- Ongoing / unconditional
- Yes
- Distribution Type
- Cash via Money Transfer Operators, Prepaid/Cash Aid Cards
- Benefit details
Households receive a flat US$25 per household plus US$20 per household member (capped at 6 members), for a maximum of roughly US$145/month per household; payments are executed by the World Food Programme through local Money Transfer Operators and, more recently, cash aid cards. The program also covers direct schooling costs for children aged 13-18 from beneficiary households to prevent dropout, with tuition paid directly to public schools. Funding levels and duration have been repeatedly extended in short increments (e.g., 5-month extensions) rather than following one continuous fixed budget cycle, and the Ministry has periodically sought to expand the caseload beyond 166,000 households (up to 200,000-300,000) subject to available World Bank, EU, and government financing.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Targets the extreme poor among Lebanese households nationwide, identified through a proxy-means test evaluating over 40 indicators (housing quality, assets, income, occupation, demographics) collected via household registration on the DAEM digital social registry and verified through in-person household visits. Registration is open to all Lebanese households, but only those scoring below the extreme-poverty threshold on the PMT are approved; roughly 200,000 of 583,000+ registered households met preliminary screening criteria in the original 2022 rollout, with the caseload later expanded via the NPTP merger to about 166,000 active beneficiary households.
Demographics
- Language
- Arabic, English
Citizenship
- Citizenship / immigration status
- Citizen
Geography
- Countries covered
- Lebanon
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Complementary program enrollment required
- Economic inclusion and social services for women, youth and vulnerable groups (planned/expanding under the World Bank's 2026 Social Safety Net Enhancement and System Building Project, alongside the digitalized DAEM registry)
Application Process
- How to apply
Households register on the DAEM social safety net e-governance platform (managed by IMPACT under Lebanon's Central Inspection, in coordination with the Ministry of Social Affairs), providing household composition, housing, income, and asset information. There is no direct cash-value 'application' beyond registration; households cannot self-select into the program, they are ranked automatically after registration.
- Selection process
Registered households are scored using an automated proxy-means test based on 40+ socioeconomic indicators. Households that meet preliminary screening thresholds undergo an in-person verification visit (conducted by the World Food Programme and/or Central Inspection screeners/social workers) to confirm eligibility before being approved and added to the payment roll. An independent Third-Party Monitoring Agent and a grievance redress mechanism oversee the process for transparency and anti-fraud purposes.
