موارد

Global civil society alliance, CIVICUS, has released a revised version of what is probably the world’s most comprehensive compilation of commitments made by governments on civil society rights. Originally released in 2008, and now fully updated, the compendium consolidates various international standards and commitments made by governments at the regional and global levels to protect civil society and ensure participation in public processes. In addition to collating relevant portions of major UN documents, the compendium also includes commitments made by regional bodies such as the Arab...

This briefing note presents facts about violence against women (VAW) and discusses the repercussions that it has on development.

In December 2013, NRC launched a report entitled ‘The Consequences of Limited Legal Status for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon: NRC Field Assessment in Aarsal and Wadi Khaled’ (Part One) based on the findings of an assessment that NRC conducted between

Briefing papers on the preservation of cultural heritageInstitutions and individuals from the Middle East and North Africa experience many shortcomings in legislation, policies and current practices impeding the sustainable preservation of cultural heritage. In order to obtain a systematic overview and a sound basis for engaging in lobby and advocacy work for improved governance of the cultural sector, the Modern Heritage Observatory contracted local lawyers and researchers to analyze and assess current regulations, policies and practices concerning the preservation of cultural heritage in...

This Regional Analysis of the Syria Conflict (RAS) is an update of the April RAS. The RAS seeks to bring together information from all sources in the region and provide a coherent analysis of the overall situation in the region as well as in each of the affected countries. While Part I focuses on the situation within Syria, Part II covers the impact of the crisis on the neighbouring countries. The Syria Needs Analysis Project welcomes all information that could complement this report.  

Working Paper | May 2013
Emerging Powers and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The Case of Brazil and Venezuela by Guy Burton
What are the prospects of new rising powers to play a role in the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? At present the possibility of direct talks leading to a final settlement of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians looks far from promising. Negotiations between the two sides have been at a standstill since September 2010, when the two sides briefly met under US sponsorship. Expectations had been high that the US would once again take a leading...

UN-Related Publication | January 2013
Benghazi so Far: A View from Inside the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) by Georges Nasr
I joined the UN Support Mission in Libya, known by its acronym UNSMIL, in early 2012 as Head of Office in Benghazi. Established by Security Council resolution 2009, the Mission’s mandate is to support Libya’s democratic transition by facilitating political dialogue and delivering targeted technical support in the areas of electoral assistance, constitution drafting, human rights, transitional justice and public security. UNSMIL also has a mandate to...

Briefing papers on the preservation of cultural heritage Institutions and individuals from the Middle East and North Africa experience many shortcomings in legislation, policies and current practices impeding the sustainable preservation of cultural heritage.

The “Review of the Public Procurement Legal Framework in Lebanon” introduces the Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) in Lebanon and elaborates on the legal of the country’s procurement and sustainability laws that may offer a legal possibility for the adoption of SPP principl

Lecture | December 2012
International Intervention in Lebanon and Beyond by Maureen Ali
As part of its United Nations and the Arab World Program, the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs initiated a series of panels and lectures entitled, “International Intervention in Lebanon and Beyond.” The series analyzes the role played by international institutions in conflict and post-conflict zones in the region and seeks to contextualize military, civilian and humanitarian stands that are often interlinked or sometimes so blurred as to obscure the reality on the ground...

Interview | October 2012
Insight into the UN in Libya
Dr. Tarek Mitri, Senior Fellow at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI), on October 15th 2012, began his appointment as the Special Representative for the Secretary-General at the United Nations, and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). Dr. Mitri will be spending the year in this capacity, working closely with the Libyan government and civil society, aiding the process of institution building and security stabilization, as well as work with international actors playing a role in...

Working Paper | August 2012
 The Politics of International Justice  – US Policy and the Legitimacy of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon by John Cerone
Assessing the state of US policy toward international criminal courts is a complex, if not impossible, undertaking. Indeed, there is no coherent U.S. policy on international criminal courts generally. This is attributable on the one hand to the multifaceted nature of international criminal courts, and on the other to the fact that U.S. policy is an amalgamation of diverse views reduced in some cases to written form, which is itself subject to...

Working Paper | May 2012
Women’s Citizenship Rights in Lebanon by Maya W. Mansour and Sarah G. Abou Aad
This paper tackles citizenship rights of Lebanese women married to foreigners, from an international human rights perspective at first, as consecrated over and over by multiple conventions and treaties; to move afterwards to a more practical approach in exposing the provisions of the Lebanese Constitution, the nationality law and regulations, while pointing out the consequences and challenges in addition to the movements of the civil society facing such trials. The analysis used in...

Tobacco Control Research #2 | March 2012
A Smoke Free Campus: Lessons Learned from AUB by the AUB Tobacco Control Research Group (AUB-TCRG)
Following the adoption of a No Smoking Policy (NSP) by the American University of Beirut (AUB), the vast majority (90%) of undergraduate and graduate students surveyed, and over a third (36%)of them who smoked were satisfied with the new policy; with a full compliance (respecting the designated smoking areas) rate of 73% among the smokers surveyed. In addition, 1 in 6 smokers reported receiving a warning ticket when smoking in nondesignated areas. And, 20%...

Policy Series: Tobacco Control Research #1 | March 2012
The Transnational Tobacco Industry Effectively Hampers Tobacco Control Policy-Making in Lebanon by the AUB Tobacco Control Research Group (AUB-TCRG)
Lebanon is still considered one of the weakest countries in the region with regards to regulating tobacco use, despite having ratified the World Health Organisation’s Framework convention on Tobacco Control in 2005. Lebanon has failed numerous attempts to introduce a national tobacco control policy, including banning smoking in closed public areas, banning advertising and sponsorship, and...

Working Paper Series #7 | February 2012
The Dynamics of Policy Innovation and Diffusion in the Gulf Cooperation Council:  A Case Study of Three Specialized Cities by Hiba Khodr
This study examines a recent phenomenon in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) referred to as Specialized Cities (SC). A Specialized City is a “city in-the-city” that has the main purpose of implementing innovations in selected policy areas, in addition to being a new town. This paper goes beyond describing the spread of SC in the Arab Gulf region to answer to a broader question: what motivates a GCC country to adopt...

Arabic version available

2011 ملخص تنفيذي | تشرين الثاني
​ جيل التغيير: واقع الشباب العربي بين التطلعات والتحديات | ملخص تنفيذي
​من إعداد رامي خوري, شاهدة أظفر, تشارلز حرب, ناصر ياسين, موسى شتيوي, يزن دخقان, عبلة غوجاندي, دينا شحاته, بربارا ابراهيم, غريغوري غاوسي, كريستين أسعد, جاد مالكي, منيرة حب الله, مارك ليفين, وعد ابراهيم, رودا ليغ, إيفانا تشالمرز, كارين ابي صعب, ساره طياره, جو خليل, زينه صواف, كارين علاف, دايان سنغرمان, نيكولا بل, شيرين الفقي, لوكاس نيلسن, أيمن زهري, محمد يونس, أحمد يونس, ليه بايبس, تيم جاكوبي, الين قطب, سايسي فولك, زافيريس تزاناتوس, و كامل نابلسي

This case study book entitled “Cases of Femicide before Lebanese Courts” was written by Azza Charara Baydoun and published by KAFA (enough) Violence & Exploitation in 2011.

On December 9, 2009, a Lebanese criminal court sentenced a Lebanese woman to 15 days in jail for repeatedly beating Jonalin Malibago, her Filipina maid, three years earlier. Lebanese newspapers hailed the case a landmark victory for the country’s estimated 200,000 migrant domestic workers (MDWs), many of whom report abuse at the hands of their employers. The case illustrated the positive role that the judiciary can play in protecting MDWs, even though the sentence was lenient given the violation. But it also raised at least one significant question: was the Malibago verdict a rare instance of...