Report of the Civil Society National Consultation on Social protection in Lebanon

Contribution-based social insurance is the primary form of social protection in Lebanon, which includes the public sector and the formal private sector, with disparity in benefits in terms of components (for example, the retirement system is limited to the public sector only) and in terms of the size of benefits. [...] The crisis also led to a dramatic collapse in the provision of essential services (electricity and water) and in the depreciation of the exchange rate of the Lebanese pound against the dollar (with the lira losing more than 95% of its purchasing value),2 leading to a significant erosion in the actual value of benefits provided by the various components of the social protection system. [...] 2 In January 2022, and upon the request of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Social Policy, and led by the Ministry of Social Affairs, a National Social Protection Strategy for Lebanon was co-developed by Beyond Group, with technical support from UNICEF, and the ILO, and funding from the European Union and the Government of the Netherlands. [...] In addition to the above, the financial and economic crisis has greatly affected Lebanon’s social protection system in terms of a significant disruption in the work of state institutions and agencies, the collapse of essential services such as electricity and water, the collapse of the Lebanese pound exchange rate (devaluation), and a significant increase in reliance on international organizations. [...] • Civil society has a role in evaluating approaches, especially for direct financial support (cash transfer), in terms of assessing the impact (at the outcomes level), the level of waste and effectiveness in the work of these programs, and the social assistance system through the programs and interests of the Ministries of Social Affairs, Health, and Education.