Since the last Universal Periodic Review (UPR) cycle in 2021, the impacts of Lebanon’s state-caused economic crisis have been compounded by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beirut Port explosion, and the 2024 Israeli war on the country, as well as the continued Israeli attacks since then, among other crises. The Lebanese government’s failure to adequately address these multilayered crises, end corruption and elite capture of public resources, and implement much needed policy reforms and reconstruction have collectively resulted in widespread violations of economic and social rights in the country. The majority of the population now lives in multi-dimensional poverty, while social protections are abysmal. More and more people are unable to access healthcare, education, or adequate housing, and are living in constant precarity.
As the country approaches its fourth UPR cycle, with the review session on Lebanon scheduled for January 19, 2026, the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP)—together with the Arab Reform Initiative, and Badil | the Alternative Policy Institute—submitted a joint stakeholder report to the UPR Working Group analyzing the state’s record on key economic and social rights in Lebanon since the last review and putting forward recommendations for the state to fulfill its international and constitutional obligations.
The report details, among other things, how:
- Corruption and government mismanagement led to the country’s financial collapse, the devaluation of the Lebanese currency, and hyperinflation, resulting in the rapid rise in poverty and insecurity.
- The government’s failure to respond efficiently to the financial crisis and pass the necessary economic and political reforms have exacerbated the harm caused by these violations of economic and social rights.
- Ineffective and discriminatory social protection policies, as well as the lack of adequate oversight and monitoring, have resulted in weak and underfunded social security schemes, which predominantly impact the most vulnerable populations.
The report is also accompanied by an advocacy fact sheet which highlights some of the key takeaways and recommendations.
The UPR is a UN Human Rights Council mechanism through which all UN member states undergo a peer review of their human rights records every four and a half years. The UPR offers a unique opportunity for civil society organizations to highlight key human rights concerns in the country under review, assess the state’s progress in that regard since the last review, and put forward recommendations to bring about and ensure the state’s compliance with its international obligations. Lebanon underwent its first UPR cycle in November 2010, its second in November 2015, and its third in January 2021, with the fourth review set to take place in January 2026.