National Social Development Strategy of Lebanon.

This National Social Development Strategy (NSDS) is a cross-sectoral document aiming at fulfilling the need for a comprehensive and long-term framework for promoting social development in Lebanon, as for the Mission statement The National Social Development Strategy leads the way to integrated development and an enhanced quality of life through better and more equitable provision of social services, and expansion of socio-economic opportunities . The Strategy is anchored in (1) the Paris III conference following the July war of 2006, which linked the support of the donor community to the obligations of the Lebanese Government for the implementation of a set of macro-economic, fiscal, social and institutional reforms; and (2) the Social Pact that calls for the establishment of a citizenship-based Civil State, committed to the principles of equality in rights and obligations and to the improvement of the socio-economic situation.
The document adopts two pillars that are transversely used throughout the different interventions: (1) the Universal Approach, referring to initiatives that encompass the society at large and aim toward a broad national social development and (2) the Targeted Approach, referring to initiatives that are tailored and limited to specific groups for the purpose of including those groups into the Lebanese society. In addition to the two transversal pillars, the structure of the Strategy is organized around 5 general objectives which represent inter-sectoral areas and form a comprehensive approach toward the development of the Lebanese society, they are as follows (i) achieve better health; (ii) strengthen social protection mechanisms; (iii) provide quality education; (iv) improve opportunities for equitable and safe employment; and (v) revitalize communities and develop the social capital.
The greatest poverty is found in rural areas, so the actions to combat poverty can also be understood as directed to interventions in these areas. They include (i) improve living conditions in under-served areas (promotion of home and land ownership by low-income families through the provision of regionally balanced credit facilities and private sector incentives); (ii) assistance program that protects from destitution, and protect marginalized groups from social ills such as violence, homelessness and child labor; (iii) design and implement an equitable pension system and establish financial security mechanisms including unemployment, accident, and disability insurance; and (iv) create a mechanism that combines targeting formulas and community-based approaches to identify families with various types and levels of need and establish coordination mechanisms between social development centers, municipalities, and community NGOs to provide the needed assistance.
To enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems, the document suggests to encourage and regulate the informal sector of locally-made products, including organic, and handcrafts that might provide a niche at local markets and in countries where Lebanese Diaspora reside.