Lebanon is a cohesive society that works towards common goals and avoids marginalization within and between groups

Reach agreement around a core set of values that celebrate diversity and build cohesion while making sure no community is marginalized

A Cohesive, Egalitarian, Diverse and Dynamic Society

1. A cohesive community is one in which:

• There is common vision and a sense of belonging for all communities
• The diversity of people’s backgrounds is appreciated and positively valued
• Those from different backgrounds have comparable life opportunities
• Strong and positive relationships are being developed between people from different backgrounds in the workplace, in schools and within neighborhoods

1.Subjective perceptions of closeness to others

2.Threat Perceptions from other communities

3.Support for discriminatory policies

4.V154 in World Values Survey (WVS): The only acceptable religion is my religion

5.V156 in WVS: morality of people belonging to another religion

1.The lack of social capital across communities due to the sectarian and divisive practices of political parties, (i.e., networks of relationships, trust and identity between and within different groups of society) hinders social cohesion

2.Lebanon has a significant non-citizen population that remains structurally excluded politically, socially and economically: aka "forgotten people"

3.Mistrust in the integrity of elections 38% (LADE, 2015)

4.Various components of the Lebanese society have incompatible visions for Lebanon

5.Limited diversity in schools, workplaces and neighborhoods

6.Members of different communities do not have similar life opportunities (ability to procure goods, have a career and obtain inner satisfaction) and access to services and treatments, etc.

7.However, the October 2019 revolution contributed to shattering many barriers that separate the multiple communities in Lebanon

1.Social cohesion in Lebanon lacks an inclusive, coordinated policy-making process that incorporates the views of all stakeholders – ranging from those involved with their implementation to the final beneficiaries

2.Lebanese communities are highly segmented along several lines: sectarian, urban/rural, language, educational, class, etc.

3.The segmentation leads to frequent clashes between communities

4.The influx of over a million Syrian refugees has severely strained the social  fabric and exacerbated divergence between communities

5.Lebanon’s legal system is profoundly discriminatory on the basis of communities and gender

6.Limited data exist on the role of municipalities in promoting or undermining social cohesion through service delivery (Mourad & Piron, 2016)

1.Doha Agreement 2008, Taif 1989 (counter-productive) and 1943 pact

2.EU fund (2013): Support of the Lebanese security sector for stability and national cohesion (€8 million), reinforcing social cohesion (€10 million), and for improving housing and health conditions of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon (€4 million)

3.Save the Children’s Casual Labor Initiative (CLI) between November 2013 and January 2014 engaged people from different communities in Akkar and in the Bekaa to collaboratively carry out public projects

1.Work on community dialogues, peace education, conflict sensitive reporting (campaign)

2.Create safe media spaces, develop local peace mechanisms and work with ex-fighters (campaign)

3.Conduct national campaigns for promoting diversity and highlighting diversities’ advantages (campaign)

4.Foster positive bonding between immigrants and local people (campaign)

5.Ensure election integrity (institutional change)

6.Ensure that municipalities treat all their constituents equally, regardless of their religion or their socio-economic status; e.g. right to acquire land or real estate (institutional change)

7.Create a secular state that treats all of citizens equally (institutional change)

8.Unify school curricula (service provision)

9.Cf. National narrative (O2.a)