Research on Social Enterprises

• Country: Lebanon
• Summary: Research on Social Enterprises
• LBT Ref No: 55859475
• Deadline: 16 Aug 2021
• Financier: Self Financed
• Purchaser Ownership: Government
• Tender Value: Refer Document
• Notice Type: Tender
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• Description:
• Tenders are invited for Research on Social Enterprises in Beirut, Lebanon - Call for Research Proposals. Ten years into the Syrian crisis, the largest displacement and refugee crisis in the world, the conflict continues to have a devastating impact on the region for countries hosting high numbers of Syrian Refugees (SyRs). The Government of Lebanon (GoL) estimates that it hosts over 1.5 million SyRs. This is considered the highest per-capita concentration of refugees worldwide. In addition to the Syrian crisis, since the October 2019, Lebanon has been experiencing multiple crises - humanitarian, socio-economic and political - which are alarmingly raising the needs for humanitarian and development assistance. Large scale protests erupted on the 17th of October and continued sporadically throughout 2020, demonstrating the population-s lack of trust in the government-s decision makers. The Lebanese economy, already fragilized by the Syrian conflict and the closure of trade routes and other structural weaknesses, has plummeted and the banking and financial system is nearing collapse. As a result, the skyrocketing rates in unemployment and extreme poverty makes it more difficult for refugees and vulnerable host communities to sustain themselves on a daily basis and access to decent income-generating opportunities. The latest figures presented by the LCRP reveals out that approximately 1.25 million vulnerable Lebanese in the country are in dire need of socio-economic and humanitarian support. Furthermore, the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the curfew and lockdown measures brought by it have further increased barriers to access income and essential services for Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese populations. This was all topped by the Beirut Blast that has further amplified already overstretched system and a community that was further pushed into vulnerability and the vicious circle of unemployment. The explosion has severely damaged dense residential and commercial areas including the Micro, Small and Medium-sized enterprises that were already severely impacted by the fiscal and financial crisis, disrupting economic activity, access to public services and infrastructures. The economic impact of the blast predicts a negative scenario for the coming years not only for Beirut but also for the entire country. A myriad of crisis that the country of Lebanon has been experiencing has indeed a direct economic and social impact on Lebanon, both for the refugee population and the host communities in the country. This is due to the limited access of self-sufficient income-generating opportunities. Economic activity in Lebanon is substantially below its potential and unemployment remains a key consequence for the most vulnerable Lebanese host communities, as well as Syrian refugees. Access to income generating activities and sustainability of livelihoods is a structural challenge for the vulnerable communities that face distinctive restrictions linked to the labor law. As highlighted by the WFP`s study on the impacts of economic and covid crisis in Lebanon, 61 % of Syrian women and 46 % of Syrian men have lost their jobs due to the ongoing crisis in the country. 2020 Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees reveals out that unemployment is especially acute for women, with reported Syrian women who are outside of labor force as 86 %. Income generating activities and employment status of the Lebanese have also been jeopardized by the covid19 and economic crisis as well as Beirut Port Blast in the country. In the same study of WFP, nearly 30 percent of Lebanese respondents reported losing their jobs since the outbreak of COVID-19 and related containment measures and out of those who lost their jobs, 42 percent were found to be between 20 and 24 years of age. Lebanese who lost their jobs, either pre or post-COVID outbreak, are the most worried about not having enough food to eat (67% and 65% respectively) and reduction in their salaries. This negatively affects the purchasing power of the households. The unemployment figures in Lebanon are expected to have risen dramatically in the near future. Given the protracted nature of the Syrian crisis and the continuing impact of the Beirut Port Blast on the city as well as ongoing covid19 crisis and economic turmoil in the country, the current humanitarian response to the most vulnerable populations provides acute remedies such as provision of food parcels, one-off emergency cash assistance to the disaster-affected groups, shelter repairment or one-off business cash grants to the MSME owners whose shops were heavily affected by the blast or the current unfavorable economic conditions. In order to focus on self-reliance of vulnerable people in Beirut and not letting them to be trapped in aid dependency, it is crucial to scrutinize the sustainability in the delivery of humanitarian aid and socio-economic services to the most vulnerable Lebanese, Syrians, or migrant workers. The field of social enterprise presents the opportunity for sustainability by employing cost recovery (the ability to match costs with a source of revenue). A social enterprise is defined, most simply, as “a company or organization that provides a social product or service at a fee.” Social enterprises can take many forms, but they must provide an effective, evidence-based social product or service, they must be financially viable, and they must be scalable or replicable. In other words, a social enterprise must have a social mission to serve its communities while employing cost recovery principles in an attempt to be financially sustainable. On a spectrum between charity non-profits and for-profit commercial businesses, social enterprises fall somewhere in the middle. The field of social entrepreneurship has experienced increased momentum in Lebanon in recent years. Many local and international NGOs in Lebanon, however, have been focusing on covering immediate needs of the most vulnerable groups through fundraising from international aid community and through local and global fundraisers to provide a range of socio-economic services since the beginning of the crisis. Given the funding gaps in the humanitarian sector as well as the increased focus on entrepreneurship in Lebanon, there are currently many successful social enterprise examples such as (1) Live, Love, Recycle, (2) FabricAID, (3) AlFanar and (4) ProAbled. These successful examples of social enterprises in Lebanon serve mostly to vulnerable Lebanese people in different spheres but the question here is whether it is possible to employ a social enterprise approach to serve Syrian refugees and migrant workers as well in Lebanon as customers rather than beneficiaries or not. Overall objective To study and assess the legal and socio-economic feasibility of social enterprises model for Syrian refugees and migrant workers as well as Lebanese under current economic and fiscal circumstances to provide products and services that improve social outcomes for the most vulnerable segments of population in Beirut regardless of their nationalities.
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