Understanding the social protection needs of civil society workers in Lebanon.

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.

This action-oriented research aims to inform practitioners and decision makers on social protection status, needs and gaps of workers in the civil society sector. It formulates targeted recommendations that aim at enhancing access to civil society workers to social protection, and that target the Lebanese state, the donor community and international NGOs, and local NGOs.

Publisher: 
The Centre for Social Sciences Research and Action
Publishing Date: 
Wednesday, 25 September 2019
Resource Type: 
Studies and Reports
Dossier: 
Civil Society Development
Theme: 
Civil Society Development
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