The Parliament of Lebanon has passed a law that establishes a comprehensive pension system for private sector workers and fundamentally reshapes the governance of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).

Previous attempts spanning three decades to replace Lebanon’s end-of-service indemnity system with a modern pension scheme had been met with failure. Until this recent milestone, Lebanon stood as one of only two countries in the Arab region without a scheme that protects insured workers with long-term periodical benefits for retirement, death and disability.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) provided extensive technical support to the relevant parliamentary committees, the NSSF and workers and employers’ organizations in Lebanon to reach consensus over the design and parameters of the scheme, and the final text of the legislation that was adopted by Parliament, ensuring its alignment with international labor standards for social security.