Public policies are designed to address societal needs. The laws, regulations, and decisions policymakers adopt impact every aspect of our lives: They affect our access to electricity, the quality of our healthcare system, the jobs we get, and the pension system that protects our elderly.

These policies deserve our attention as only when policymakers are held accountable will they represent public interests.

In Lebanon, however, policies have lost their “public” nature: They have been crafted by the political elites for the elites, putting their own interest ahead of the public’s. This has resulted in a co-opted public administration that is plagued by corruption, causing myriad of crises that they are incapable of solving, deeply threatening society itself.

The foundations of sound policymaking lie in a well-researched and evidence-based vision that is representative of the interests of the broader public as well as an informed and empowered constituency that can act as an agent of change.

This is why The Policy Initiative (TPI), a homegrown and independent think-tank, was founded in February 2021. We endeavor to contribute to shaping that vision and empowering the public to demand a better alternative. In other words, our mission is to bring policies back to the people.

To fulfill this, TPI aims to critically and empirically assess existing policies and generate meaningful alternatives. We also seek to engage with like-minded entities to harness the immense political and intellectual energy that still exists in the country.

Moreover, we strive to reach as many people as possible through various media. In the absence of a capable and responsible leadership, our main interlocutor is the public itself; this includes syndicates, labor unions, civil society organizations, and alternative political groups. Given the growing role of the donor’s community, we seek to shape and influence their policy agenda.

TPI’s five founders, Sami Atallah, Hala Bejjani, Karim Daher, Mona Fawaz, and Nizar Saghieh, have decades-long track records of research, activism, and fighting for a better Lebanon by pushing for better policies. They join TPI with their expertise and their own teams and institutions.

The team at TPI is diverse, young, and skilled. The synergy between its members, some of whom share years of experience working together, has helped expand and build a wide array of skillsets and knowledge on the topics we cover. Our team sets TPI’s agenda and deploys innovative research tools to gain deeper insight into the problems as well as identify solutions for the larger public.

Our fellows magnify and broaden TPI’s scope of knowledge with their expertise, methods, and cutting-edge research that will help our work in Lebanon. They are based all over the world and hail from numerous fields, including anthropology, economics, history, political science, public health, sociology, and urban studies, among many others.

Amidst the multiple and unprecedented domestic crises and regional challenges, now is the time to provide an alternative course for the country that services the larger public. And TPI along with its partners seeks to contribute to a new vision.