This paper presents preliminary findings from an on-going PhD study about the role of religion in the conceptualization and practice of social welfare in Lebanon. The paper presents a profile of the Ministry of Social Affairs and five religious NGOs from the different sects in order to assess some of the key issues relating to their philosophy of welfare, their policies and programs and how they measure welfare outcomes.
The paper makes the following key conclusions: (1) welfare has an instrumental role in Lebanon (2) the family remains the key locus of welfare (3) religious welfare highlights the importance of Takaaful (4) religious faith is a key factor for both service-providers and service-users which challenges the conventional need for social insurance (5) political interference affects the social welfare sector (6) it is questionable to what extent the policies and programs of welfare actors in Lebanon are treating the causes of poverty.