A ‘resilience office’, the first of its kind in the Middle East, will be launched in Jbeil on July 24. The office was created by the joint efforts of the Municipality of Jbeil and the ‘100 Resilient Cities’ organization,  funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.

Tony Sfeir, the newly appointed Chief Resilience Officer, said: “We are preparing a master plan for what we want Jbeil to be like in the next 25 years.” He added that the master plan will be prepared by global experts.

The plan will take place on four levels: Infrastructure, cultural heritage, public transportation and traffic management, and information technology.

Sfeir said joining the program helps Jbeil get easier access to global funding sources such as the World Bank. The office will work on instilling administrative decentralization in order for the municipality to acquire more revenues.

The newly formed office is preparing for an international forum for urban development to be held  in Jbeil, in collaboration with the Lebanese American University and ‘100 Resilient Cities’ organization.