Labour force study of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

Following a request to the Norwegian Government from the Minister of Labour and with funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fafo is implementing a study on the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and their relationship to the Lebanese and local, Palestinian labour market (the refugee camps).

Through the use of both quantitative and qualitative research methods the study aims at, (1) generating new information about the labour force participation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, and (2) disseminating the research as soon as possible to the Lebanese government and the Palestinian refugee community in Lebanon with the aim of facilitating the dialogue between the two sides on issues of relevance to increasing the employability of Palestinian refugees.

Whereas the quantitative work covers all Palestinian refugee camps and many poor camp-like areas locally called "gatherings", the qualitative work, while concentrating on Palestinian refugees in the same areas, also aims at interviewing refugees, Palestinian and Lebanese employers, and organisations (UNRWA, NGOs, vocational training providers, etc) outside these areas.

As an extension of this project, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) have funded a research module concentrating on the employability of Palestinian professionals.

Results

• A Socio-economic Profile of the Nahr El-Bared and Beddawi Refugee Camps of Lebanon
• Tabulation report with key statistics (English/Arabic)
• Analytical report (English and Arabic)
• PowerPoint presentation from workshop in Beirut, 2 March 2007 (English)

Researchers

Åge A. Tiltnes

Amsale Temesgen

Huafeng Zhang