Peace Operations Policy Program

Lebanon: A Resilient Nation Rebuilding Once Again

Ray Lynch recently returned from working with his CHF/Lebanon team on design and implementation of emergency assistance projects and will discuss his impressions of the situation on the ground in Lebanon. He is an expert in natural and complex disaster relief, mitigation and reconstruction programs, especially working with internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees; and with countries in transition. For one year now, Lynch has been responsible for developing efforts in post-disaster/post-conflict and transitional programs for CHF International. Prior to that he was based at the U.S. Embassy/Bogotá (2001-04) where he served as Regional Refugee Coordinator – Andean Region with the Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), and monitored coordination of PRM-fund emergency assistance activities for IDPs in Colombia and refugees in neighboring countries implemented through seven organizations. His work with the U.S. Agency for International Development (1980-2001) has focused over time on the Caribbean, Latin America, and South Africa in the realms of disaster relief and preparation, humanitarian assistance, IDP and ex-combatant socio-economic reintegration, and economic revitalization and rehabilitation. Lynch is a second year master’s student with the Peace Operations Policy Program.