REGIONAL CONFERENCE
Social Protection in Times of Crisis: Gender & Persistent Inequalities in the WANA Region
November 13-15, 2026
American University of Beirut
Beirut, Lebanon
Background
The West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region is experiencing a period of profound political, economic, and social instability. Protracted conflict, forced displacement, economic breakdown, governance fragility, and deepening structural inequalities are placing increasing pressure on already fragile social protection systems. Against this backdrop, fundamental questions around who is protected, who is excluded, and why have become increasingly urgent.
The Asfari Institute for Civil Society & Citizenship at the American University of Beirut has conducted a region-wide gender and political analysis of social protection systems across six countries: Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Palestine, and Egypt. This research, culminating in six country case reports, examines the gaps within existing social protection frameworks, the gendered and political dimensions of exclusion, and the structural realities facing marginalized populations across the region.
Building on this research, the regional conference “Social Protection in Times of Crisis: Gender and Persistent Inequalities in the WANA Region” will bring together policymakers, civil society practitioners, academics, UN agencies, international organizations, researchers, and development partners for a critical regional dialogue on the future of social protection.
Organized in partnership with the Arab Reform Initiative, Arab NGO Network for Development, Institute of Finance Basil Fuleihan, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung – Lebanon Office, and the Lebanese Observatory for Workers and Employees’ Rights, the conference seeks to move beyond understanding social protection as a residual safety net. Instead, it will explore how social protection can be reconceptualized as a transformative, rights-based instrument grounded in political economy, gender justice, and the realities of communities experiencing multiple and intersecting forms of vulnerability.
Conference Objectives
The conference aims to:
- Identify and debate policy pathways for expanding fiscal space for social protection under conditions of austerity, conflict, and state fragility.
- Foreground the perspectives and experiences of people who are frequently excluded from formal social protection systems, including refugees, informal workers, women, and youth.
- Strengthen regional solidarity, knowledge exchange, and cross-country networks among civil society actors, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers working on social protection.
- Present and discuss findings from six WANA country case reports on gender and social protection within a comparative regional framework and identify priorities for future research and policy engagement.
Conference Themes
Who Is Left Out? Differentiated Vulnerabilities and Structural Exclusion
This theme examines the multiple and overlapping vulnerabilities that shape exclusion from social protection across the WANA region. Moving beyond aggregate poverty indicators, discussions will explore how gender, age, disability, displacement, nationality, and labor market informality interact to create distinct protection gaps. Drawing on findings from the six country reports, the conference will foreground the experiences of groups frequently overlooked by formal eligibility frameworks, including unpaid caregivers, stateless communities, Syrian and Palestinian refugees, migrant women domestic workers, and others facing structural barriers to protection.
Fiscal Space for Social Protection: Politics, Austerity, and Alternatives
The availability of sustainable public resources is central to the future of social protection. This theme examines how austerity, public debt, fiscal pressures, and donor conditionalities affect social spending while exploring alternative approaches to financing social protection. Discussions will consider progressive taxation, social insurance reform, domestic resource mobilization, public expenditure priorities, and other mechanisms for creating sustainable fiscal space for more inclusive social protection systems.
Political Instability, State Fragility, and Social Protection Systems
Social protection systems are deeply shaped by their political environments. This theme explores how political instability, governance crises, conflict, and institutional fragility influence the design and delivery of social protection. It will also examine the political economy surrounding social transfers, including the roles of state institutions, political actors, patronage networks, international donors, and humanitarian organizations in determining how resources are distributed and which populations gain access to protection.
Militarization, Geopolitics, and the Erosion of Welfare Investment
Regional conflict and militarization have significant consequences for public investment and social protection. This theme considers how growing security and military expenditures interact with already constrained public budgets and affect resources available for social services and welfare. Against the backdrop of continuing regional conflicts and geopolitical instability, discussions will examine the political economy of military and security spending and its implications for social investment. Central to this conversation is the question of where public resources are directed during periods of crisis and which communities ultimately bear the social and economic costs.
Full program will be published soon.
Registration Fees
Student Rate: $50
Standard Rate: $100
Contact us
For any inquiries, please reach out to us at asfariinst@aub.edu.lb.
