Employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for young persons with disabilities in Lebanon

Improving employment opportunities for young people with disabilities has been identified as an important policy goal around the world, as evidenced by the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that was signed by 160 nations, including Lebanon. However, a 2017 study by the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs indicates that 70% of Lebanon’s disabled remain unemployed, despite laws compelling companies to hire people with disabilities in the workplace. There is also an absence of government laws and initiatives in support of entrepreneurship opportunities for people with disabilities.

This project is being implemented in collaboration with shareQ, a non-governmental organization that designs and implements job integration programs for youth and women with disabilities. It aims to create knowledge about the needs, challenges, and opportunities for young Lebanese men and women with disabilities in order to inform interventions that can boost their employment and entrepreneurship opportunities and better facilitate their integration into the workplace. Through a survey of 1,000 youth with disabilities, the project will generate recommendations to policymakers and private sector employers that draw on success stories of young men and women with disabilities to promote their employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in Lebanon.