A workshop by Afaaq on reviving the middle class in Lebanon organised in Rashaya

Afaaq organised last week in collaboration with the Cultural and Social Association in Bekaa and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung a workshop in Daher el Ahmar/Rashayya on the revival of the middle class in Lebanon.  The workshop began by a review of the major milestones of economic policy in Lebanon whilst underscoring the important role of civil society in creating incentives for the production sectors in Lebanon and in transforming the overall economic vision in the country from consumption to productiveness and effectiveness.  The workshop called for strengthening the middle class through identifying and addressing weaknesses and gaps.
The Resident Director of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Achim Vogt,, noted in his keynote address that Lebanon is facing many challenges especially with the disappearing middle class through the migration of the educated youth.  He called on the state and its institutions to assume a leading role in eliminating corruption, strengthening the economy and encouraging the reemergence of the role of the middle class.  The president of Afaaq, Mr, Ahmed Thabet, noted that the middle class is shrinking and its members are joining the ranks of the poor in the absence of social safety nets, absence of the state in setting control and accountability mechanisms, and in tackling several areas of weaknesses in the foundations of the Lebanese economy.
For his part, the editorial director of the economy section at the As Safir newspaper Adnan Alhajj highlighted the absence of comprehensive social, fiscal and economic macro policies which has exacerbated social and livelihoods problems.  He also highlighted the lack of any true policy orientation in the drawing of national budgets which resulted in policies based on disarticulated projects and in exacerbating social cleavages.  He also dwelt on the absent role of the Ministry of Labor in creating work opportunities for the youth and in decreasing unemployment, adding that Lebanon needs 30 to 35 thousand new jobs every year whereas the private sector only generated 4000 jobs.  He concluded that the state can only bring down the cost of debt through privatization, the rescheduling of debts, and increasing the revenues of the national treasury.  According to Alhajj, the most important issue for workers remains the availability of social benefits, and the differences in the pensions system between the private and public sector and even within the public sector.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Safir 23 September 2013