Towards strengthening social rights and security for all.

Lebanon Support and Civil Society Movement conducted a study seeking to understand civil society workers’ access to social protection in Lebanon and identifying possible room for interventions and enhancements. 

This action-oriented research study aims to inform practitioners and decision makers on social protection status, needs, and gaps of workers in the civil society sector.

Read the study here

The social protection landscape in Lebanon is characterised by its fragmentation and exclusionary nature, leaving the most vulnerable and marginalised with little access to any kind of safety net. Workers in the civil society sector are particularly affected by this situation notably as a result of the increased casualisation of employment within the sector, and of more structural factors inherent to financing mechanisms and streams of nonprofits. Civil society sector employees are, as such, often informal workers, and on short-term contracts. Even workers with fixed or open term contracts remain excluded from protection mechanisms as many NGOs struggle with their own institutional sustainability and face challenges in, notably, covering their staff’s social protection costs from their budgets. This renders this category of workers, that is largely composed of women, particularly vulnerable.

Based on survey responses, interviews, focus groups, and consultative meetings, the study formulates recommendations targeting: 
- The Lebanese state
- The donor community and international NGOs
- Local NGOs

The study is published in partnership with the Civil Society Movement, within the framework of the "My Work, My Rights" project, implemented by Oxfam in Lebanon, the Lebanese Observatory for Workers and Employee's Rights (LOWER), and Legal Agenda, with the support of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. 

Read the study here