| Title | Author(s) | Publishing Date | Keywords | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gulf States’ Humanitarian Assistance for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon | Susanne Schmelter | January, 2019 |
The humanitarian engagement of Gulf States has globally increased over the last two decades. This trend also manifests itself in Lebanon, where the displacement from Syria has lead to an unprecedented growth of Lebanon’s diverse humanitarian sector. Due to the weakness of state institutions and the absence of a concerted government strategy, UN-institutions took a leading role in the coordination of international and local NGOs. However, numerous Gulf-funded organisations function largely outside the UN-coordinated response and rely on their own coordination structures. This paper explores these structures and characteristics of humanitarian assistance for Syrians displaced in Lebanon running primarily on Gulf funding. Thereby it focuses particularly on two umbrella organisations, URDA and I’tilaf, that are largely Gulf-funded and coordinate the work of numerous faith-based humanitarian organisations. Based on ethnographic field research – which was mainly conducted in 2014 and 2016 – the paper examines positions and negotiations within these humanitarian structures. These ethnographic insights are completed by an analysis of the available data and literature on Islamic charitable giving and funding trends in Lebanon. Coordination among the different humanitarian actors has repeatedly been a matter of complaint and discussion in both interviews and international reports: The lack of comprehensive coordination structures, the subsequent inefficiency in the use of funds, and the unsatisfying inclusion of local stakeholders are among the main points of critique. Here, Gulf-funded humanitarian assistance for Syrian refugees in Lebanon shows alternative models and approaches in regard to operating standards, administrative procedures, planning, reporting, and contact to the local population. Yet, ad hoc deliveries with few administrative procedures and a lack of transparency simultaneously expose the Gulf donors also to accusations of the misuse of funds and diminish accountability towards donors, beneficiaries and possible cooperation partners. This, finally, raises questions regarding the possibilities of the multilateral system to provide forums for exchange, efficient coordination, and mediation between conflicting positions. |
Syrian Displacement, Lebanon, Humanitarianism, Coordination Structures, Gulf Donors, Islamic Charities |
| Civil Society in Lebanon: the Implementation Trap | Marie-Noëlle AbiYaghi, Léa Yammine, Amreesha Jagarnathsingh | January, 2019 |
In Lebanon, civil society has played an important role throughout history[2] and saw a significant rise during the Chehabist developmentalist era (1958-1964), with the creation of voluntary-run associations that sought to steer away from sectarian identities, while adopting broad development objectives. The Civil War period (1975-1990) witnessed a realignment of the modes of actions towards services and relief efforts. After the Civil War, the civil society sector continued expanding (Kingston, 2008: 1), with civil society organisations bolstering their modes of action to encompass human rights and advocacy efforts. Archives show that an average of 250 organisations was created per year in the early nineties, post civil war era (Karam Karam in Ben Nefissa, 2002: 58). Figures from Daleel Madani[3], suggest a peak in NGO creation after each of the – recurring – humanitarian crisis that the country witnesses. Hence, following the Israeli War on Lebanon in 2006 and the conflict in Syria in 2011, the associative sector saw a proliferation of new initiatives, campaigns, and organisations. An average of 50 registration requests to Daleel Madani’s Civil Society Directory are received on a monthly basis. |
Civil Society; Lebanon; NGOization; Civil Society Development; NGOs; CSOs; Nonprofit Sector |
| Understanding State Incorporation of the Workers' Movement in Early Post-War Lebanon and its Backlash on Civil Society | Lea Bou Khater | January, 2019 |
This paper analyses the part played by the organised workers’ movement in the political and economic struggle for change in Lebanon during the first decade of the post-civil war period. It seeks to explain the trajectory of the workers’ movement, represented by the General Confederation of Workers in Lebanon (GCWL), and their successes and failures during the period in question. It investigates the structure and legal framework within which trade unions and leagues were created, as well as their past political affiliations or alliances. In doing so, the research examined labour provisions, the structural framework of the organised workers’ movement, GCWL documents as well as newspaper archives, which reveal different facets of state-labour relations in Lebanon. As such, the paper begins by briefly charting the main issues affecting state-labour relations, then goes on to advance that the workers’ movement was significantly weakened by state and the ruling elite intervention, repression, and eventually, state incorporation. |
Trade Unions; Labour Movement; State Incorporation; Mobilisation; Wage-earners; GCWL |
| Advocating for Change in the Arab World: Successes and Failures of Lebanon’s Civil Society | Elie Al Hindy , Tania Haddad , Maria Njaim | December, 2018 |
This paper aims at presenting how three selected civil society organisations advocate for change, as well as the tools and skills they utilise. It also attempts to analyse the factors at play in the successes of their campaigns. The paper employs a qualitative method, identifying the different internal and external factors that make some campaigns more effective than others. The paper argues that campaigns were only successful when a number of these factors were present and when the policies put forward did not pose a threat to major political interests. |
Associations; Civil Society; Advocacy; Associations; Lebanon; Public Policies |
| Les projets collectifs de développement en Palestine : Diffusion de la vulgate néolibérale et normalisation de la domination | Sbeih Sbeih | October, 2018 |
Au lendemain de la création de l’Autorité palestinienne en 1994, une multitude d’acteurs se met à réaliser des projets collectifs de coopération au développement sous l’égide des bailleurs de fonds internationaux . L’analyse d’un projet financé par la Banque mondiale illustre la façon dont le projet devient un réseau de pouvoir, qui produit aussi bien les normes gestionnaires que les mécanismes nécessaires à leur application auprès des bénéficiaires de l’aide . Cela contribue à transfigurer le développement en une croyance dominante, fondée sur une lecture néolibérale et post-conflit de la société palestinienne . Au nom de la coordination pour la « bonne gouvernance,» cette mise en réseau structure le cadre de l’interaction des bénéficiaires de l’aide, tout en construisant un nouvel espace social : le « monde du développement.» Si l’adhésion des acteurs locaux à cette croyance se traduit par leur intériorisation des normes rationnelles, elle entraîne une nouvelle manière de percevoir la réalité sociale . De ce fait, un nouveau système de valeurs s’établit . Une nouvelle hiérarchie sociale s’instaure dans la « Palestine des bailleurs de fonds,» au sommet de laquelle se trouvent les bailleurs internationaux . Si l’article se fonde sur le cas palestinien, il aborde une thématique globale, celle de l’instrumentalisation de la « société civile » par les organisations internationales afin d’instaurer l’économie de marché dans les pays dépendants de l’aide dédiée au développement. |
Projet, Gouvernance, Réseau, Aide au Développement, ONGs, Palestine |
| Politics of Care and Social Responses in the July 2006 War: a Special Focus on Local Faith-Based Organisations* | Estella Carpi | August, 2016 |
This paper examines the politics of care of international and local humanitarian actors, as well as the social responses to their intervention in the southern suburbs of Beirut (Dahiye) during the Israeli shelling in the summer of 2006. Through in-depth interviews and ethnographic participant observation methods (2011-2013), this paper illustrates how short-term foreign provision of aid differs from the continuous efforts of some local providers to support their communities on a daily basis, unearth different approaches to states of emergency and responses to crisis and demonstrate how the international-local dyad plays out in a very complex way on the ground. |
Lebanon, Beirut's Southern Suburb, International Development, humanitarian aid, Aid Distribution, faith based NGOs |
| Nahr al-Bared crisis and local responses of aid: a focus on needs assessment during emergencies | Lamia Moghnieh | October, 2015 |
This study describes the process and dynamics of aid during the Nahr al-Bared crisis in 2007. It seeks to explore how previous experiences of relief were capitalized on and used as part of routinized relief procedure in 2007. Based on several interviews conducted, the study provides a general description of the crisis, the problems and challenges faced and the local expertise and skills used during the crisis. The second section focuses specifically on the issue of needs assessment and information consolidation with the action of sharing playing a vital role in aid. |
displaced Palestinians, Nahr El-Bared War, Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon, refugees, Emergency relief |
| Relief as a neutral form of aid or a political-communal mobilization? Doing politics in emergencies and war and the politics of aid in Lebanon | Lamia Moghnieh | August, 2015 |
Drawing on the experiences of several activists, experts, and individuals involved in the provision of aid and relief during and after the 2006 July war on Lebanon, this case study explores the issues of neutrality and local commitment in providing assistance during war and conflict, looking into the humanitarian principle of neutrality, and localized and communal mobilizations for relief. |
July 2006 War, Humanitarian & Emergency Operations, International humanitarian community |
| Local expertise and global packages of aid: The transformative role of volunteerism and locally engaged expertise of aid during the 2006 July war in Lebanon | Lamia Moghnieh | July, 2015 |
This study argues that acts of volunteerism produce locally engaged forms of expertise that have the ability to challenge, direct, and transform global packages of aid into more locally informed and effective interventions. |
Volunteerism; Local expertise; July war; Global aid. |
| Local forms of relief during the July war in 2006 and international humanitarian interventions: Implications on community preparedness for war and conflict | Lamia Moghnieh | June, 2015 |
This study looks into the forms of relief provided by grassroots collective, Samidoun, during the July 2006 war on Lebanon, focusing on the expertise and transformative spaces such groups produce. It argues that a total reliance on professionalization and NGO-ization in aid provision can prevent the emergence of civil resistance forms of relief. |
Local Forms of Relief; Contextualizing Aid; Samidoun; Professionalization; War & Crisis; International NGOs |
Research & Analysis