You can register to attend by following this link*. You will receive a Zoom confirmation email should your registration be successful. Alternatively, you can watch the event live here on our Facebook page.

* To attend technical sessions 2 and 4 online, please register using this link.

To attend in-person, please register using this link.

To download the agenda, click here.

This conference will take place at the Gefinor Rotana Hotel - Beirut

The world of work is undergoing profound and rapid transformations driven by global trends such as the green transition and de-carbonization, digitalization and the expansion of the digital economy, and the continued implementation of neoliberal economic policies – all of which are interconnected. In the Arab region, these trends are interacting with pre-existing vulnerabilities, conflict and fragility, and structural imbalances, leading to labor market shifts, eroding social protection systems, and deepening multidimensional inequalities. These shifts are evident in how jobs are being created, lost, displaced, and redefined; in the widening gap between high- and low-skilled workers; and in the rising informality and precarity of employment. They are therefore shaping the contours of access to social protection by affecting its financing, adequacy, coverage, and sustainability.

The most affected are vulnerable and marginalized social groups, including those characterized by lower skills, poor education, mobility difficulties, and less access to jobs, telecom infrastructure and technology because of digital divides. People facing additional barriers to entering the labor market and those traditionally excluded from formal social protections are likewise disproportionately affected. The livelihoods and wellbeing of informal and precarious workers, rural populations, youth and older persons, segments of women and LGBTQ+ communities, migrants, refugees, displaced persons, and people with disabilities are therefore put at stake. As transitions unfold, these social groups, which largely intersect, risk falling further behind unless reforms ensure that social protection systems are universal, adaptable, and effective.

In this context, the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)’s Social Protection Program (SPP), this year in partnership with the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI) at the American University of Beirut (AUB), is organizing its third Annual Regional Policy Forum to unpack the implications of the Future of Work (FoW) for social protection systems and subsequently vulnerable populations in the Arab region. The Forum will explore the policy reforms needed to safeguard social security and decent work in light of the three major and interacting drivers of change – the green transition, digitalization, and neoliberalism – while examining how they interact with structural issues like conflict, displacement, and fragility. It will offer a space to reflect on successful international experiences that could help find tangible and feasible solutions and guide national strategies.

The Forum will bring together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and activists to assess emerging trends, share lessons learned, and collectively envision a rights-based and inclusive approach to work and social protection in the region. The needs of vulnerable groups will be central, and discussions will feature the latest research findings from ARI, partners of the SPP’s Arab Region Hub for Social Protection, members of the Global Campaign for the Right to Social Security, as well as independent civil society actors at large.