Over the last few years, Lebanon has been witnessing the most devastating, multi-pronged crisis in its modern history. The country's socio-economic crisis has been deliberately ignored by the ruling political elite, which has led to further deterioration without any clear reform plan. With the depreciation of the Lebanese currency, the municipal sector has been severely impacted by the crisis due to a shortage of funds and the Lebanese government's reluctance to pay its annual commitments to the local authorities.

In an effort to tackle these challenges, the “Strong Republic” Bloc in partnership with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung organized a workshop that discussed the reality of municipalities in Lebanon and the challenges they face in light of the economic crisis, with a number of head of municipal unions, heads of municipalities, and mayors, as well as local associations and concerned international institutions.

The workshop, which had 85 attendees, addressed the following issues and presented viable solutions:

• Identifying public and financial challenges arising from the crisis and promoting solutions
• Municipal and Mayors Elections Law, required amendments to its articles
• Public Procurement Law, its framework and amendments
• Decentralizing Waste Management
• Syrian Displacement

A comprehensive summary of the workshop's conclusions has been compiled into a recommendation paper. (available only in Arabic).