The UNDP Lebanon Accelerator Lab is part of a global network established to bring new ways of thinking, learning and experimentation into development practice. In Lebanon, the Lab emerged during a period of profound social, economic and institutional change, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the 4 August 2020 Beirut port explosion and a deepening socioeconomic crisis. Against this backdrop, the Lab sought to help UNDP better understand rapidly evolving realities, identify emerging needs and explore new approaches to complex development challenges.

Over time, the Lab has developed an approach grounded in data, behavioural insights, local knowledge and people’s lived experiences. Its work has included gathering and connecting data on vulnerability and emerging needs, testing ideas and approaches, and generating insights to inform UNDP programming and support partners in understanding how different communities are being affected by changing circumstances.

Today, the Lab combines experimentation, data, behavioural science and collective intelligence to explore complex challenges and identify solutions emerging from communities, entrepreneurs, institutions and other actors across Lebanon. Rather than starting with predetermined answers, it listens to communities, maps emerging practices, tests ideas on a small scale and generates evidence on what works, what does not, and why.

Through this approach, the Accelerator Lab serves as a learning and innovation function within UNDP Lebanon, connecting grassroots insights with programmes, policies and institutional action. By working with communities, public institutions, civil society, academia, the private sector and innovators, the Lab helps UNDP adapt to changing realities and explore new pathways towards a more inclusive and sustainable Lebanon.