UN Global Compact Virtual Session on “Building Beirut Back Better: How the private sector can support response and recovery?”

Distinguished participants,

It’s a real honor for me to join you for this large virtual Global Compact Forum, an event that is particularly important during these difficult times in Lebanon. Let me thank the Lebanese Global Compact network for the invitation.

Over one month after the devastating explosions at Beirut Port, this country is striving to find a way to emerge from a tragedy that has touched every single person in Lebanon, including the large diaspora.

This has occurred at a time when Lebanon was already reeling from civil unrest, economic and financial hardship, increasing poverty and unemployment compounded by political tensions and a soaring number of COVID-19 cases.

The very night of the explosion, the UN and humanitarian actors sprung into immediate action to save lives. However, Lebanon needs support that goes beyond the scope of emergency response and appeals. Together with the European Union and the World Bank, we have delivered a Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment in a record time to help support an evidence-based recovery planning based on a “Building Back Better” approach. This approach guides the 3R framework (reform, recovery, reconstruction) that is in the making and which prioritizes the needs of the people, particularly the poor and the most vulnerable, reforms and lay the groundwork for a much-needed social contract.

Ladies and gentlemen,

As Lebanon continues to struggle against these unprecedented simultaneous shocks, a new social contract appears to be the country’s path for transformation besides the political pact. All People want their fundamental rights and freedoms to be respected. They want a say in decisions that affect their lives! They want and are ready to become the agents of change the Country needs to recover.

Creating a new social pact in Lebanon will provide a binding force of mutual rights and duties between the Lebanese Institutions and the Lebanese society at large, where accountability and citizenship are at the heart of this mutual commitment, where the executive aims for the common good, the legislative aim to protect the citizen and their rights, and where the judiciary system is impartial and independent and where they all commit to transparency and accountability.

Without a social contract agreed between the institutions and the citizen, actions on the economic and fiscal fronts alone will remain insufficient and a profound crisis of legitimacy will continue to drive more people to streets, reversing years of progress on many development Goals.

This new social contract will give the people, especially those who have taken to the streets or who feel marginalized, the opportunity to rethink and shape Lebanon’s future and to feel that their concerns and needs are addressed. It will help re-establish trust in the political system and national institutions and break the vicious cycle of corruption.

Women’s and Youth’s equal leadership and full participation in the reform, reconstruction and recovery process are particularly crucial in this realm! We need women’s and Youth voices, presence and contributions at the forefront of that social contract, to ensure power is equitably redistributed and help create a better Lebanon where all citizen have equal rights and equal representation in public and private policymaking as clearly stated in the constitution.

For the private sector, a new social contract, will help to create for businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, a fair chance to secure projects via a reformed and fair public procurement process, to have investment and support to help develop their sectors and facilitate exports; to be able to open centers of production outside of Beirut, and to be able to retain the highly skilled and educated Lebanese workers; to be sustainable.

The private sector must be a great enabler to this endeavor! An important component of this new Social Contract is a national social protection program, between the Government, the institutions, the Citizen, the civil society and critically, the private sector that will ensure that social protection policies are well integrated in public policy and fully endorsed and implemented by the private sector, based on equal rights and opportunities for all.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In a country that possesses one of the most dynamic and vibrant private sectors in the MENA region, the value that businesses can bring to the reforms, recovery, reconstruction and development trajectory in Lebanon is immense. They also have a great potential to play a more active role in achieving the 2030 Agenda, by ensuring inclusive and sustainable growth through their operations.

All the more, the complementarities existing between the roles of the government, civil society and the private sector are well recognized to ensure employees’ protection. For example, during the 19th century, some industrial employers in Europe implemented social protection programmes for their workers, which contributed to the development of the national social protection system. The social benefits provided by employers boosted their ability to attract and retain the workforce, and improved labor productivity, fostered stronger employee commitment to the success of the business and thus created more wealth for all.

Similarly, in Lebanon, the private sector can set an example by ensuring decent work conditions for their employees including health coverage, gender equality, safe working conditions, environmentally friendly operations, and transparent and accountable way of doing business. In return, they will experience even greater productivity, commitment and sustainability.

UN has been a committed development partner to Lebanon since ever, by supporting its productive sectors for economic opportunities and job creation. This is particularly relevant to Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that form the backbone of the Lebanese economy and are major contributors to supply chains of large companies.

Ladies and gentlemen,

At this pivotal moment, with COVID-19 still spreading, social tensions and civil unrest rising and the cry for social justice and human dignity ever more urgent, we have a huge responsibility to attenuate the pains of the people we serve, to respond to their needs, concerns, fears and to preserve their hopes. The UN is moving forward on that front. But we cannot do this alone! We need every support and contribution of the private sector.

We need your sustained and strong will to ensure a long-lasting recovery and reform process, through innovative & new financial instruments and a constructive way of doing business – one based on equality and fairness of opportunity, on transparency and accountability, which will be worthwhile investments in the stability and prosperity of Lebanon.

Just as importantly, by embedding human rights into your work, respecting the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact and contributing to the shaping and implementing of a national social protection program, you can lead not only an economic but a social transformation and in so doing contribute to a speedy recovery for Lebanon where no one is left behind, a sustainable one.

You have never been short of innovative ideas and incredible dynamism, not only in Lebanon but around the world. When one asks about Lebanese, the first quality that comes up is entrepreneurship! Indeed, you are entrepreneurs and the UN Global Compact Network provides you with an excellent entry point to tap into rich resources for sustainable business solutions and ideas to address Lebanon’s unfolding challenges and reverse the trend of brain drain, gaining and retaining the wonderful youth and human capital the Country has and avoiding the total collapse of the middle class.

Distinguished participants,

My call today is clear, to the Lebanese private sector and to the international community: Invest in Lebanese people, retain the Lebanese capacity in the Country, reverse the brain drain and gain this unique energy, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship that characterized every single young Lebanese. Support them and you will get the best return on investment ever.

Thank you.