Learnings and Reflections Study of the Lebanon Solidarity Fund

The Lebanon Solidarity Fund (LSF) was introduced, first in 2020 and later in 2021, to address some of the pressing issues facing the arts and culture sector in Lebanon during a time of economic and financial crises compounded by the global COVID 19 pandemic and exacerbated by the August 4 explosion at the Port of Beirut. Amid ongoing conversation and collaboration amongst institutions and peers in the sector about ways to overcome the current challenges,  questions about the function, roles, and ways of working together in this sector arose. The physical and financial recovery of the workers, practitioners, institutions, and companies that make up Lebanon’s cultural economy is accompanied by the need to re-imagine modes of operation and production.

The first round of support for arts and culture structures launched in May 2020 and came to a close in December 2021. The second round of support, which started in January 2021, is about to be completed soon. DROSOS FOUNDATION, Arab Fund for Arts and Culture and Culture Resource would like to look back at these two rounds of emergency support schemes to study their impact, reflect on their implementation processes, and extract learnings that would be beneficial to the arts and culture community locally, regionally, and globally.

The main purpose of the assignment is to conduct a reflection and learnings research study elaborating on the impact and challenges of the LSF. The study will inform on the results of such an intervention on individual organisations and on the eco-system.

Objectives of the study

The objectives of the study include the following:

1. Document the current working conditions of the arts and culture sector in Lebanon
2. Assess the effectiveness and impact of LSF in responding to the arts and cultural sector particularly following the economic crisis
3. Document the current conditions of the 54 grantees
4. Study the collaboration and partnership amongst selected implementing cultural organizations and that of donors in Lebanon
5. Reflect on the significance and positioning of emergency response and funding programs as two approaches to financial support.
6. Assess ideas and recommendations for sustainability of the solidarity funds in responding to crisis situation and to overall unfunded sector

Expected profile

The evaluation may be carried out by an individual consultant or by a team of consultants.

The evaluator(s) should have the following qualifications and skills:

• Researcher in the social sciences and/or affiliated fields  with knowledge and understanding of arts and cultural ecosystem in Lebanon
• Demonstrated experience in conducting evaluations and studies
• Ability to work with grassroots organisations
• Based in Lebanon
• Fluent in English and Arabic (if a team of evaluators applies, different team members can cover different language skills)
• Excellent report writing and presentation skills in English and in Arabic.