EU and ILO pledge to increase access to job and livelihoods opportunities for all vulnerable people in Lebanon
A new ILO project, funded by the EU, will work to improve the living conditions and resilience of vulnerable people throughout Lebanon.
13 December 2022
BEIRUT (ILO News) - The European Union (EU) (ILO) and the International Labour Organization have signed an agreement to implement a new project that will work to increase job and livelihood opportunities for vulnerable Lebanese as well as for refugees.
The 3-year project, with a budget of 10 million euros, will be implemented by the ILO in partnership with national and local authorities and in coordination with other UN agencies working on livelihoods support.
The project will offer pathways to work through job-oriented and market-driven skills training, career guidance, support for entrepreneurs as well as short-term job placements.
“We need to continue to work toward generating employment, improving employability and decent employment conditions especially for the most vulnerable and fragile people throughout Lebanon. This new project aims to improve social cohesion and stability, building on long standing EU support to social protection and employment in Lebanon,“ said Alessandra Viezzer, Head of Cooperation, Delegation of European Union to Lebanon.
“The multiple crises facing Lebanon have significantly worsened already fragile socio-economic conditions in the country, causing high levels of vulnerability, poverty, social tensions and informal labour – work that provides very little in the way of protection and security,” said ILO Regional Director for Arab States.
“This new project, will support those currently receiving social assistance and contribute to more and better jobs and self-employment options, increasing the self-reliance of some of the most vulnerable people in Lebanon in the context of a severely depressed labour market.” Jaradat added.
The project will partner with local institutions to provide job-matching services and skills training programmes, and work to develop small income-generating and self-employment opportunities. It will also work with the public sector to implement labour-based construction and maintenance works that provide short-term jobs while developing local infrastructure, focused on those that contribute to environmental preservation - green works.
Vulnerable Lebanese as well as refugees have become increasingly subject to poor living and working conditions, requiring further support through urgent and well-targeted measures. A recent survey conducted by the ILO on informality and vulnerability in Lebanon found considerable decent work deficits among the most disadvantaged groups of Lebanese nationals and Syrian and Palestinian refugees. These three groups together registered an overall employment-to-population ratio of only 26.6 per cent, an unemployment rate of 33 per cent and an informality rate of 77.8 per cent. Among the youth, 62.3 per cent were not in employment, education or training. Syrian refugees exhibited particularly difficult employment conditions with their share of informal employment standing at a staggering 95 per cent.
The 3-year project, with a budget of 10 million euros, will be implemented by the ILO in partnership with national and local authorities and in coordination with other UN agencies working on livelihoods support.
The project will offer pathways to work through job-oriented and market-driven skills training, career guidance, support for entrepreneurs as well as short-term job placements.
“We need to continue to work toward generating employment, improving employability and decent employment conditions especially for the most vulnerable and fragile people throughout Lebanon. This new project aims to improve social cohesion and stability, building on long standing EU support to social protection and employment in Lebanon,“ said Alessandra Viezzer, Head of Cooperation, Delegation of European Union to Lebanon.
“The multiple crises facing Lebanon have significantly worsened already fragile socio-economic conditions in the country, causing high levels of vulnerability, poverty, social tensions and informal labour – work that provides very little in the way of protection and security,” said ILO Regional Director for Arab States.
“This new project, will support those currently receiving social assistance and contribute to more and better jobs and self-employment options, increasing the self-reliance of some of the most vulnerable people in Lebanon in the context of a severely depressed labour market.” Jaradat added.
The project will partner with local institutions to provide job-matching services and skills training programmes, and work to develop small income-generating and self-employment opportunities. It will also work with the public sector to implement labour-based construction and maintenance works that provide short-term jobs while developing local infrastructure, focused on those that contribute to environmental preservation - green works.
Vulnerable Lebanese as well as refugees have become increasingly subject to poor living and working conditions, requiring further support through urgent and well-targeted measures. A recent survey conducted by the ILO on informality and vulnerability in Lebanon found considerable decent work deficits among the most disadvantaged groups of Lebanese nationals and Syrian and Palestinian refugees. These three groups together registered an overall employment-to-population ratio of only 26.6 per cent, an unemployment rate of 33 per cent and an informality rate of 77.8 per cent. Among the youth, 62.3 per cent were not in employment, education or training. Syrian refugees exhibited particularly difficult employment conditions with their share of informal employment standing at a staggering 95 per cent.