Civil Society Observatory

Evidence-based research forms the backbone of any serious attempt to produce knowledge about society or understand social, cultural, and political phenomena, behaviors,and attitudes, in order to devise the adequate responses and interventions (whether in programming or policy making). Hence, this module provides civil society organisations, actors, practitioners in Lebanon with basic concepts in research design and practical guidelines to optimise the use of research method tools in their work. 

Information and Communication Technology is necessary to help organisations, as well as grassroots collectives to better communicate, plan, organise, implement, monitor, and develop programmes and initiatives.

This guidebook strives to fulfill the preliminary needs of different small to medium CSOs in better using technology in their daily tasks. It targets team members fulfilling different roles in an organisation, and assumes the team has basic digital literacy.

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.