The southern Lebanese town of Anane is home to around 1,000 Lebanese residents and 200 refugees. The community has been grappling with weak infrastructure and increasingly lengthy power outages, forcing the municipality to rely on private generators for backup power.

With the ongoing devaluation of the national currency, the municipality could no longer afford to operate and maintain public streetlights, causing an increasing sense of insecurity after dark and fueling growing tensions between host and refugee communities over a series of reported security incidents. In response, the USAID-funded Community Support Program (CSP) replaced 151 inefficient streetlights with LED bulbs and installed 26 solar powered lights to enhance the delivery of streetlighting services in Anane.

On August 14, 2024, CSP successfully completed this cost-efficient and sustainable solution in Anane. CSP has also trained selected municipal technicians in the safe operation and maintenance of the newly installed streetlights and provided the required personal safety equipment. This intervention improved the sense of safety and security among 1,200 residents, while reducing municipal fuel costs by around $20,000 annually. The municipality is now allocating these savings towards the provision of other essential services to residents.

“The installation of the new streetlighting system has drastically decreased the sense of insecurity among residents, all while saving the municipality significant operational costs”, said Mr. Fouad El Hajj, the “Mukhtar” of Anane.