Lebanon’s Municipalities: Enhancing Local Governance and Activating Municipal Work | LFPCP & FES

The Lebanese Foundation for Permanent Civil Peace (LFPCP) and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) – Lebanon, have organized a National Roundtable Discussion Meeting on Monday, October 19, 2026, on: Fostering and Activating Local Governance and Municipal Work in Lebanon. The meeting brought together at the opening session, the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on National Defense, Interior Affairs, and Municipalities MP Jihad El Samad, Country Representative of Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Lebanon Mr. Merin Abbass, and Dr. Antoine Messarra from LFPCP. Two Studies on Municipal effectiveness and Local Governance were presented by Dr. Tony Atallah and H.E. Mrs. Faten Abou Hasan. The former Minister interior and municipalities Attorney Ziad Baroud, MP Ziad Hawat, MP Ibrahim Mneimneh have contributed to a Round table Panel titled: “Required steps and mechanisms to enhance and activate the work of municipalities in Lebanon: Merger or Restructuring? And what are the other options? Main Challenges and Opportunities”. This panel was facilitated by Journalist Riman Daou. A Number of Ministers, Parliamentarians, Representatives of Governmental Entities, Embassies, Judges, Lawyers, Municipalities, Chambers of Commerce, Entrepreneurs, Business Leaders, Experts, Academia and Civil Society Organizations participated and contributed to the discussions of the workshop. Note that this activity was within a framework of an initiative supported by FES Lebanon and implemented by LFPCP, Gherbal, and GroundUp Consulting.