Outcome LBN_D_2.3

National authorities, private sector and CSOs are engaged in and actively support gender equality and women’s economic empowerment and protection

This outcome was achieved. Civil society organizations, private sector and national authorities actively supported women’s economic empowerment and protection. Operationally, UN Women reached 13,322 people (11,202 direct and 2,120 indirect), addressing issues of food security and protection in Lebanon. Of these, 9,260 vulnerable women and girls in Lebanon – Lebanese, Syrians, Palestinians, and other nationalities, enhanced their skills, increased their income, and accessed protection services and goods. Of the 11,202 supported, 1,031 women (767 Lebanese, 217 Syrian, 46 Palestinian and one other nationality) increased their skills to help them enter the workforce, 471 women (268 Lebanese, 153 Syrian, 45 Palestinian, and 5 other nationalities) accessed the labor market. An estimated 2,120 family members of these women indirectly benefitted from increased income of the women workers. An endline survey of this work showed that 100% (target 80%) of women improved their self-confidence in work capabilities through participation in the programme and 98% felt that the programme improved their skills applicable to work opportunities. Of these, 100% increased their income security and, despite the challenging socio-economic environment in Lebanon, 27.13% percent found had employment opportunities at the end of the programme, exceeding the target of 15%. Twenty (20) women received vocational start-up kits to enable them to continue work after their training period. Through the opportunities generated through cash for work interventions, 2,319 people received 26,061 hot meals, 150 women in areas affected by the Beirut blast received PPE kits for COVID-19 prevention, and 150 women in Tripoli received hygiene kits that contained menstrual pads produced by women supported by UN Women. Furthermore, 7,001 women received protection services and increased awareness on GBV and PSEA through outreach. This was made possible through UN Women’s partnerships with non-governmental organizations, and the mobilization of the private sector to support and engage in women’s economic empowerment and protection. A survey showed that 99% of beneficiaries increased their sense of wellbeing at the end of the protection intervention as opposed to wellbeing at case intake. An estimated 1,047,388 women engaged with the GBV and PSEA awareness campaigning done through UN Women partner KAFA. Within the private sector, eighteen additional companies committed to gender equality practices in their companies by signing the WEPs, following training and support from UN Women, reaching a total of 38 WEPs signatories in Lebanon. UN Women support the WEPs signatories in revising their internal policies, this included Anti-Harassment as well as Diversity and Inclusion Policies. Institutionally, UN Women partnered with the Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA) and the Ministry of Finance to support women’s economic empowerment and protection. Five hundred and five (505) staff from MOSA working on the National Poverty Targeting Programme (NPTP), Lebanon’s largest social protection programme, have increased capacity on (1) gender equality and social inclusion; (2) gender-based violence (GBV) principles and concepts; and (3) safe identification and referral pathways of GBV cases, as a result of UN Women’s support. This was achieved through trainings conducted jointly by UN Women and WFP. Overall, 98% of the attendees agreed that the training allowed them to gain new skills and knowledge in gender, social inclusion and GBV that will be useful to improve their work. There was also a significant increase in the average knowledge of attendees in gender and social inclusion, GBV, referrals and safety and security measures. While the average score earned by trainees in the pre-training evaluation ranged between 3.2 and 3.6 in these four indicators, it increased considerably to a range of 4.5 and 4.7 (out of 5), as reported in the post-training evaluation. Furthermore, national authorities and others use data generated by UN Women to advocate for gender-responsive policies in the government. UN Women launched papers on gender-responsive taxation and gender-responsive procurement; UN Women published a gender analysis highlighting the voices of women in the agriculture and agri-food sectors and a legislative review of the legal framework governing women in these sectors. A study on sexual harassment and transportation in Tripoli was also completed and used in negotiations with the taxi syndicate in Tripoli around women’s safe usage. These papers were produced to serve as advocacy tools that national authorities and others can use to promote gender-responsive policies.

National authorities, private sector and CSOs are engaged in and actively support gender equality and women’s economic empowerment and protection

In 2021, a total of 6076 vulnerable women and girls in Lebanon – refugees and Lebanese nationals, enhanced their skills, increase their income and feel more protected. In addition, the new draft of the social protection strategy is more inclusive and gender responsive through targeted technical assistance from UN Women. Out of the 6076 women reached, a total of 429 women (56 per cent were Lebanese, and 44 per cent were Syrian, Palestinian, and other nationalities) strengthened their capacities and skills to participate in the labor market in Lebanon. As a result of these trainings, 239 women accessed the labour force. In 2021, 5647 women and girl accessed to holistic protection services and are more aware of their protection rights. 84 per cent of those accessing online protection services responded feeling more protected. Evidence throughout the program demonstrated that interventions contributed to women’s increased knowledge on GBV, greater sense of safety in public spaces and the workplace and improved mental health outcomes. Within the private sector, five additional companies were engaged in actively supporting gender equality through signing the WEPs with support from UN Women, adding up to a total of 22 WEPs signatories in Lebanon. The five additional WEPs signatories committed to push forward gender equality objectives within their companies, with two companies beginning to develop action plans to revise their internal policies in order to make them more gender sensitive. On the macro-level, the government of Lebanon finalized a draft strategy on social protection, a first in the history of the country. UN Women successfully ensured gender equality issues were integrated into it. The strategy notably includes links between SP and welfare services, including gender-based violence, an emphasis on childcare services, capacity building and gender responsive budgeting.