YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN UNEMPLOYED Unemployment is a cause of great hardship in Akkar, regardless of statelessness, due to the region’s deprivation of services. Wadi Khaled appears as the most affected region across categories. • The limited access to job opportunities in Akkar is due to the lack of public services, political clientelism and the absence of clear governmental policies protecting the relevant working sectors, namely agriculture. However, stateless people in Akkar suffer from a higher unemployment rate (65%) than the Lebanese locals (54%) due to their condition, which affects both their level of literacy and consequently their access to employment, even in the non-formal sectors. • Geographically, unemployment rates among stateless individuals are particularly high in the Jurd (90%) and the Sahel (76%). In addition, the 4% who declared receiving aid from political or religious organizations are mostly concentrated in these previously mentioned areas, and Wadi Khaled. Moreover, stateless persons are not entitled to the National Poverty Targeting Program, launched by the Lebanese government based on a World Bank funding. Fig 25. Unemployment rate in Akkar 35% 46% Fig 24. Unemployment rates per region and category 90.0% 75.8% 62.2% 63.4% 66.7% 58.4% 56.7% 45.9% 41.7% 65% 43.8% Stateless Persons The Plain Wadi Khaled Rural Hilly Unemployed Stateless persons in the region 54% Urban & Peri-Urban Jurd, High Hinterland Unemployed Lebanese Persons Employed Unemployed Lebanese in the region © 2021 Siren Associates. All Rights Reserved.