The disunity displayed within the top political levels, within the population, within sectarian divisions, in addition, to the government’s lack of a concrete response to the Syrian refugee crisis have led to a deterioration of socioeconomic, political and security conditions that negatively affect the work of civil society organizations in Lebanon.
Although several CSOs have shifted their focus to relief and humanitarian aid at the local level, the need for basic services in vulnerable communities are still beyond the capacities of CSOs. Indeed, on the humanitarian front, the country is making history: Compared to its population, Lebanon received the highest number of refugees in human history with well over a quarter of the population currently consisting of refugees. In turn, this is straining the economy and creating nonnegligible security dangers.
The examination of the Lebanese civil society at this moment is of great interest as it discloses the capacity of Lebanese CSOs to adapt and serve in a continuously changing and unstable environment. They have managed throughout the years to be a transparent reflection of citizens’ concerns. Lebanon has always been affected by an unstable political system and strong sectarianism, leading to severe divisions among civil society. These divisions reached their peak with the 1975 Civil War exactly 40 years ago.
Historically, Lebanon has had a very vibrant civil society working on a wide range of political and developmental issues.
Governed by the 1909 Ottoman Law of Associations, civil society actors and nonprofit institutions have enjoyed a great margin of freedom.
Lebanon has always had hundreds, and more recently thousands, of associations dedicated to work on issues of governance, development and democratization. According to recent studies, there are approximately 1.3 associations per 1,000 inhabitants in Lebanon. The latest data received from the official records of the Interior Ministry and municipalities shows the presence of 8,311 registered civil society organizations, in addition to a number of loosely organized groups.
Lebanese civil society organizations went through major developments and tremendous changes. Originally dedicated to service provision, charity and war relief, CSOs nowadays are fulfilling additional mandates. Acknowledged as development partners, the organizations’ role shifted to include policymaking and human rights. Nevertheless, the space of maneuver required for service provision and charity is still much wider than that of development and policymaking domains that deal with public policy matters.
In less than a week the findings of a mapping study on civil society in Lebanon carried out in the framework of the EU-funded Civil Society Facility South will be launched publically.
The mapping exercise is based on research carried out by Lebanon-based consulting firm, Beyond Reform & Development.
The mapping aims to provide up-to-date, reliable information on the state of civil society in Lebanon, its needs and the steps required to enhance its role.
The report already shared with a number of stakeholders is based on research carried out over five months and provides a description of the context within which civil society operates in Lebanon.
It provides data and information reflecting: The legal and institutional frameworks and profiles of the main development sectors in which civil society organizations are active; an assessment of their involvement in main policy areas; their capacity building needs; and recommendations for future priorities for donor support.
The report states that despite the dynamism of civil society organizations, accurate and reliable information on the nature of these organizations, their functions, membership, scope of work and overall influence over governance and policymaking is highly limited.
While there is an absence of classification of CSOs in Lebanon that goes beyond regional location, size and type of sector, this report puts forth a typology based on the functional role that CSOs are occupying.
Among the recommendations underlined in the report are: To support the Interior Ministry in digitizing the CSOs registry and make it available to the public, and to support the Social Affairs Ministry in reforming its selection process and funding for CSOs.
These recommendation are a step in the right direction; however, it should have been highlighted as a priority for the development of this sector in Lebanon.
The report also highlights that most CSOs are filling functions of awareness raising and service provision and fewer CSOs are able and committed to work on policy development issues: 30.8 percent of responses have seen the political system as an external threat, 28.2 percent have seen security as the external threat, while 54 percent of respondents said that they did not participate in any dialogue with national or local authorities.
While 62 percent of CSOs are working at the national level, 38 percent are community-based.
The question remains, how can CSOs in Lebanon face the challenges of the next 10 years? CSOs ought to be more open to new ideas and be provocative, innovative, challenging and value-driven when looking at how they can make change.
They should identify the actual space they fit in, in terms of their own capabilities, and match that to not only the needs apparent, but also the modes of work which best suit the environment to operate in.
They should not try to be experts on everything but to be more confident about what a specific contribution within these areas is, rather than diluting resources to cover everything.
Encouraging activism at any age and supporting transparency indices and aid efficiency assessments is definitely a way forward.
Rubina Abu Zeinab Chahine is the executive director of the Hariri Foundation for Sustainable Human Development.
