Statehood & Participation

Throughout the countries of the Middle East, citizens view the state with suspicion. State institutions are often experienced as biased towards the powerful, corrupt and predatory, and as a sometimes violent means to safeguard the position of a ruling elite, or the domination of one part of the population over others.

Participation, on the other hand, is mostly reduced to elections of questionable representational value, or relies on informal channels and structures and primordial relations, and thus reinforces existing patterns of subordination and power.

The program Statehood & Participation supports initiatives that demand accountability and due process and encourage citizens to become aware, active and organized around issues of (gender-) democratic participation, freedom of expression and sustainable development.

The survivors of the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria need support!

Appeal

Help knows no borders. There are many people who are willing to take in survivors of the earthquakes in Syria and Turkey. Medical support in the stricken areas is desperately needed. But this will require support at political level.

By Imme Scholz and Jan Philipp Albrecht

Publications

The Realities, Needs and Challenges Facing the Feminist and Queer Movements in Lebanon in Light of a Multi-Layered Crisis

Report

This report provides a situation analysis of women in Lebanon. Overall, it examines gender, feminism, sexuality, queer, and human rights conditions and challenges. The reading takes place in the context of Lebanon’s severe economic collapse, especially after the Beirut Port Blast and the lockdowns imposed during the pandemic over the past two years.

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Indications of a Critical Electoral Process Path

Report

The Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections -LADE and as part of its mission towards observing and monitoring the electoral process, spotted numerous indications of a critical political path that affects the electoral process.

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Research: To Strengthen the Culture of Knowledge

Research Abstracts

The 7th edition' booklet of abstracts of the Research Program To Strengthen the Culture of Knowledge, which was launched with the support of Heinrich Boell Middle East, Beirut and Mimmeta Organisation.

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Lebanese Parliamentary Elections 2022 – What should international observers know?

Lokman Slim, 2005, at the Hangar, the venue of Umam Documentation and Research Centre, Dahiyeh Beirut.

Statement on the Assassination of Lokman Slim

Kohl's last issue for 2020 is finally OUT!

Kohl Vol. 6 No. 2 | Fall 2020 Cover Picture

The new Kohl issue is out | Resisting Ableism, Queering Desirability

Feminist Revolutionaries

Abstract Digital illustration on white background

Tensions in Movement Building: Kohl New Issue is Out!

“People like me, they have to bypass”

Research Paper

What does it mean to live in Lebanon without Lebanese citizenship even though your mother is Lebanese? Benita Kawalla pursues this question in her paper “People like me, they have to bypass- Lebanese young adults without citizenship”: The paper examines the situation of young adults, children of binational parents in which the Lebanese mother cannot transmit them her nationality because of the restrictive Lebanese nationality law. Using the concept of performative and affective citizenship, she claims that these young adults perform their Lebanese citizenship by political and social activism for a more inclusive citizenship law, by finding coping strategies to exercise basic human rights and by feeling Lebanese and stating their right to be legally Lebanese.

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Kohl | Vol. 7 No. 1 | Summer 2021

Journal

Our Partner kohl is finally happy to announce the publication of their latest issue, Counter Archives, encompassing the works of more than 35 writers, researchers and illustrators.

This issue started as “A Revolutionary Archive of 2020,” and acquired a life of its own. It took the shapes and contours of the writing circle Kohl called for in early 2021. The circle met virtually for eight Saturdays. Tearing through the realisms of lockdown, migration, COVID-19, and occupation, they created an oasis for them to grieve, breathe, be in solidarity with each other, and do community differently.

The struggle of the LGBTIQ* community to achieve visibility on TV and social networks

E-Paper

To use platforms and coming out- or not to? How to balance between the desire for a presence to share experiences on the one hand and being firmly attached to their family’s values? This is a question that many LGBTIQ* people in Lebanon face.

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Video

INVISIBLE BORDERS - DOCUMENTARY FILM - Heinrich Böll Foundation Beirut - Middle East

Watch on YouTube

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