Small women-owned businesses in Lebanon fight to stay afloat amidst a crisis
Suzan Mallas, 52, a hairdresser living in Beirut, is one of many Lebanese women trying to keep their small businesses afloat as the country’s economic crisis fast slips out of control — against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Beirut Port explosion.
Suzan was on her way home on August 4 from Beqaa, in the west of Lebanon, when she saw pink smoke emitting from Beirut, the Lebanese capital. “My daughter was with me, but my husband and son were home. We first thought it was an aerial bombing and we assumed the worst.”
Although her son and husband were traumatized by the explosion’s sound and impact, they were safe, and her house suffered only minor damage in the kitchen. After inspecting her home, Suzan rushed to the salon she manages, not far from where she lives. While the salon was thankfully unscathed, the damage she witnessed on her way has stayed with her. “On my way, I saw a lot of wounded people being rushed to the hospitals nearby; I saw broken glass and the scared faces of people running everywhere,” she recalls.
Small and medium enterprises like Suzan’s salon represent 95 per cent of all companies in Lebanon, accounting for 50 per cent of national employment, and according to the 2019 World Bank Enterprise Survey, 9.9 per cent are owned or co-owned by women.
A recent brief by UN Women, including the findings from an online survey with 90 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), found that 51 per cent of female business owners said they could not reopen without receiving assistance. 54 per cent stated a need for support in rebuilding the physical infrastructure of their businesses and 36 per cent requested financial support to rebuild and/or replace lost or damaged stock.
UN Women partnered with UNDP’s Accelerator Lab and UNICEF to conduct a telephone survey with 136 women-owned MSMEs impacted by the blast, with findings expected to be published by the end of 2020.
Suzan today enjoys a renewed confidence about her future. “Now I can pursue two careers: hairdressing and becoming a makeup artist. If I ever decided to leave my job as a hairdresser, I can work on becoming more focused on makeup using the skills I took from the training.”