Improving access to employment and social protection for Palestinian Refugees living in Lebanon

Infographics: Palestinian Labour Force in Lebanon

Contributions of Palestinians	Facts & Figures	Health care coverage	Restricted professions

Background

Palestinian refugees registered in Lebanon have limited social and economic rights. Through a recent legislative change in August 2010, Palestinians can now obtain a work permit in order to access employment opportunities. Despite this positive move it will take a lot of effort to break the cycle of poverty, unemployment and insecurity among the Palestinian refugee population. Therefore, one of the main challenges in bringing a necessary policy change in the Palestinian access to social and economic rights in Lebanon is the lack of reliable and objective data on the issue.

Objectives

This project aims to strengthen the employability and social protection for Palestinian Refugees living in Lebanon. It focuses on:

• Developing a reliable and objective information base on Palestinian employment and social protection in Lebanon in all its aspects
• Advocating for legislative and policy changes in relation to access to employment, social protection, and decent work through dialogue, at both policy and grassroots levels.

Expected results

Upon completion of the project, the following results will be achieved:

• Standardised data on Palestinians working in Lebanon comparable to Lebanese and other labour markets is available to improve the public discourse on right to work.
• Concrete policy options for a social protection strategy for Palestinian workers and their families based on data generation and analysis are available.
• CEP together with existing CSOs from the Right to Work coalition have improved knowledge and coordinate to undertake joint actions to advocate for the right to work and social protection.
• Lebanese policy makers have access to objective information which enables legislative and policy change geared towards removing obstacles for Palestinian employability and promoting decent work.
• The conditions of employability of Palestinian refugees and legislative provisions and policies that have a discriminatory effect on the Palestinian population in comparison with other non-citizens are identified, debated and a draft policy proposed.
• Capacity of CEP and other CSOs for strengthened advocacy role improved.