Navigating Lebanon’s Multiple Crises: A Conversation with Lebanon's Minister of Social Affairs H.E. Haneen Sayed

After more than a month of hostilities, Lebanon and Israel agreed to a fragile 10-day ceasefire on April 16 after their first direct talks in decades. Israeli strikes and evacuation orders forcibly displaced over 1 million people; more than 2,000 people have been killed, and more than 7,000 have been wounded. Many are seeking to return to their homes despite dangerous conditions. Lebanon was already grappling with the consequences of a historic economic crisis and deep cuts to humanitarian aid. Now, the ripple effects of the Iran war have increased fuel, food, and medical prices, and are further straining Lebanon's fragile economy and exacerbating social vulnerabilities. 

How will this latest war impact Lebanon's longstanding socioeconomic challenges? If the ceasefire holds, what are the opportunities and challenges for early recovery efforts? How will these efforts impact Lebanon's affected communities, especially its Shia community in the south? And what will this mean for broader stabilization efforts in Lebanon?  

To explore these questions and more, please join the CSIS Middle East Program for a discussion between H.E. Haneen Sayed, Minister of Social Affairs of Lebanon, and Mona Yacoubian, CSIS Middle East Program Director on Monday, April 27 at 9:00 AM EDT. 

H.E. Haneen Sayed is an experienced economic development professional. She spent 30 years at the World Bank leading major strategic engagements, business development, reform programs, and policy dialogue in economic and human development, spanning four regions of the world (Middle East and North Africa, East Asia, South Asia, and Europe). Since leaving the World Bank in 2023, she joined the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center as a senior fellow. Her sectors of expertise include social protection, labor and jobs, education, poverty, and gender, in addition to fragility and conflict. She is the author or co-author of multiple publications and articles, and an economist by academic training with undergraduate and graduate degrees from Stanford and Columbia Universities, respectively, and executive training at Harvard University.  

This event is online-only and will be livestreamed on this webpage. 

This event is made possible by generous support to the CSIS Middle East Program from the embassies of Canada, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, and Ray Debbane.