Women Empowerment Project - Lebanon

Lebanon continues to face a prolonged economic and social crisis characterized by high unemployment, severe currency devaluation, reduced purchasing power, and limited access to basic services. These intersecting challenges have significantly undermined household resilience and disproportionately affected women, who often serve as primary caregivers and, increasingly, as primary income providers. Despite their critical role in sustaining families and communities, women face persistent barriers to economic participation, including limited access to capital, productive tools, and market opportunities.

The situation has been further exacerbated by renewed conflict. Following the escalation of Israeli military attacks on Lebanon in late September 2024, more than 500,000 women and girls were displaced from their homes, disrupting livelihoods and severing ties to social networks and community support systems (UN Women, 2025). Displacement has intensified women’s economic precarity, increasing their exposure to poverty and food insecurity while simultaneously expanding their caregiving and survival responsibilities.

Evidence from post-conflict and fragile contexts demonstrates that women are often central to rebuilding households and communities yet remain structurally excluded from economic recovery processes. Targeted strategies that address poverty and the gender-specific challenges women face are closely linked to sustainable empowerment outcomes (Duflo, 2012; Sheikh, 2022). Women’s economic empowerment not only accelerates development and advances gender equality but also enhances decision-making power within households, leading to improved outcomes for families and communities (Duflo, 2012; Sheikh, 2022).