A SOLiD national social dialogue capacity building for Trade unions was held in Lebanon on the 21 & 22 of September 2021. The workshop gathered key actors and focused on the importance of social dialogue as a tool to achieve the 2030 SDGs. It aimed to strengthen the capacity of key trade union representatives involved in the social dialogue process and the role of the different parties in establishing effective negotiations considering the different challenges in Lebanon and adopting a gender and human rights oriented approach.

Due to the continuous health and social-economic crisis, the trade unions’ confederations are facing several challenges. Activating the social dialogue process was more than needed, and increasing their knowledge of the major tools and modalities of this mechanism were key elements in the development of these workshops. Nineteen participants from six trade unions confederations took part in the Lebanese workshop and their level of experience and different backgrounds allowed strong and effective interactions and promoted productive cooperation through the event.

The main achievement of this national workshop was to raise awareness about the role of trade unions in the process of social dialogue and sustainable development. Participants discussed the importance of having a strong common trade union voice to address key priorities. The event was also an opportunity to develop effective cooperation between the different participating organizations to address the key issues they face.

 This workshop is part of a series of training sessions for trade union confederations in the three new countries targeted by the SOLiD project. Bipartite events to go deeper into the social dialogue process in the selected countries will follow this series of training sessions.