The World Bank approved $350 million in new financing for Lebanon to help cushion the country’s poorest and most vulnerable populations during its fragile economic recovery and to improve the delivery of key public services through an accelerated push toward digital government.

The funding package, approved by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors, will support two new projects aimed at expanding social protection, promoting economic inclusion—particularly for women and young people—and modernizing Lebanon’s public sector through digital transformation.

“Lebanon is witnessing a fragile recovery,” Jean-Christophe Carret, the World Bank’s Middle East Division Director, said in a statement. “The World Bank’s new financing package is designed to deliver broad, high-impact benefits across society by advancing social protection, economic inclusion, and digital transformation.”

He added that the initiatives would help strengthen economic recovery, job creation and the state’s capacity to deliver essential public services.

Lebanon’s overlapping financial, economic and social crises have deepened long-standing vulnerabilities, pushing large segments of the population into poverty and exposing households to food insecurity, poor nutrition and limited access to healthcare. The deterioration has also taken a heavy toll on public services, undermining human capital and straining already weak institutions.

While Lebanon has made some progress in digitizing parts of its public administration, the World Bank said institutional gaps and limited implementation capacity have slowed the pace of reform and constrained the country’s digital transformation agenda.

The largest share of the new financing ($200 million) will go to the Social Safety Net Enhancement and System Building Project, which aims to strengthen Lebanon’s social protection system while complementing government-funded cash transfers. The project will provide direct financial support to poor and vulnerable Lebanese households, while also expanding access to economic opportunities and social services, with a particular focus on women, youth and at-risk groups.

The initiative will also reinforce the institutional backbone of Lebanon’s social safety net by upgrading the DAEM platform, which currently supports the AMAN cash transfer program. The enhanced system is intended to function as a comprehensive social registry that can serve multiple government programs. The World Bank said the project builds on an ongoing reform agenda focused on increasing domestic budget allocations for social protection, improving targeting through regular household recertification and registration, and strengthening systems to better prepare for future economic shocks.

An additional $150 million will fund the Lebanon Digital Acceleration Project, which seeks to improve citizens’ access to essential government services and economic opportunities, while supporting businesses and entrepreneurs through a more secure and inclusive digital environment.

Under the project, investments will be made in secure infrastructure to host government data, alongside measures to strengthen Lebanon’s cybersecurity framework. The initiative will also focus on bolstering the legal, institutional and human capital foundations needed for a trusted digital transformation, the World Bank said.

As part of the effort, the project will pilot the digitalization of selected public services with high potential to improve transparency, efficiency and citizen outcomes, while also supporting climate resilience.

The World Bank said the two projects are designed to deliver tangible, near-term benefits while laying the groundwork for more resilient institutions, as Lebanon navigates a tentative recovery after years of economic collapse.