Project Overview

UNDP is implementing an electoral and parliamentary support project for the period 2024–2027, following an official request from the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities (MoIM). The project supports the organization of parliamentary and municipal elections, strengthens electoral and parliamentary processes, and promotes needed legal and procedural reforms. It builds on extensive assessments and lessons learned from previous electoral cycles. The project also focuses on political participation, and gender equality, in line with SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), to contribute to more transparent and inclusive democratic institutions.

Through a multi-component approach, the project has the intended outcomes of providing technical assistance and support in the following key electoral areas: 

1. Support to the electoral management and administration, 
2. Support to the campaign supervision and electoral monitoring, 
3. Enhanced electoral dispute resolution process, 
4. Promoting the adoption of key electoral reforms leading to enhanced participation, inclusion, and transparency, and 
5. Institutional support to the parliament.
    

Project Objective

• Provide technical and operational support to the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities (MoIM), the Supervisory Commission for Elections (SCE), and the Constitutional Council (CC) to ensure timely, transparent and inclusive elections.
• Inclusive Participation: Increase the participation and representation of women, youth, and persons with disabilities (PWDs) as voters, candidates, and decision-makers.
• Support the adoption of legal electoral reforms based on lessons learned and international standards.
• Support the conduct of nationwide civic education and voter awareness campaigns to provide credible sources of information, combat misinformation, and encourage informed participation.
• Strengthen the Parliament’s legislative, oversight, and representative functions through technical assistance, institutional development, and automation.

Achievements & Key Figures

Strengthening Electoral Preparedness for Parliamentary Elections

Ahead of the parliamentary elections, UNDP LEAPS supported Lebanese institutions in strengthening electoral preparedness, voter information, and access to electoral services, laying the groundwork for credible, inclusive, and transparent electoral processes.

• Voter Awareness: Supported the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities in a nationwide voter awareness campaign on registration and data verification, reaching over 6.1 million users online and generating nearly 12 million video views, reinforced through TV broadcast, outdoor advertising, and printed materials.
• Engaging Lebanese Voters Abroad: Digital outreach supporting overseas voter registration reached approximately 6.4 million users worldwide, coordinated between the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants platforms.
• Digital Access to Electoral Information: Supported the launch of a revamped official elections website, giving voters and stakeholders accessible and timely electoral information.
• Real-Time Voter Support: Supported a national elections hotline responding to voter and stakeholder inquiries on key electoral services.
• Women's Political Participation: Supported the development of a unified gender quota law proposal, endorsed by a broad coalition of stakeholders.

Supporting the successful conduct of the 2025 Municipal and Mukhtar Elections

UNDP LEAPS supported the successful conduct of the 2025 municipal and mukhtar elections, delivering inclusive and transparent processes nationwide despite challenging circumstances.

• Training Election Officials: Developed standardized training tools for more than 28,000 polling officials, strengthening the consistency and integrity of election-day procedures.
• Digital Candidate Registration: Supported an automated candidate registration system used by nearly 30,000 candidates, improving efficiency and transparency.
• Voter Outreach: Electoral awareness initiatives reached approximately 4 million citizens, with targeted outreach to women and persons with disabilities.
• Transparency and Access to information: A national hotline responded to over 18,000 inquiries, while accreditation of approximately 3,000 media representatives and observers strengthened public confidence in the process.
• Operational Support: Supported nationwide delivery of essential electoral materials to ensure smooth election-day operations.
• Lessons Learned and Electoral Improvement: Supported post-election reviews and stakeholder consultations to identify recommendations for future electoral reforms and improvements.

A Decade of Support for Democracy in Lebanon

For nearly a decade, UNDP has provided technical and operational support across multiple electoral cycles in Lebanon, including the 2016 and 2025 municipal and mukhtar elections and the 2018 and 2022 parliamentary elections, helping strengthen democratic processes despite political, economic, and security challenges.
 

GESI Component (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion)

The project is designated with a GEN3 gender marker, indicating that gender equality is a principal objective. LEAP III integrates gender-sensitive approaches across all outputs, including:

• Advocating for a gender quota in the electoral law.
• Providing specialized training and networking for female candidates and parliamentarians.
• Ensuring polling stations are accessible to persons with disabilities (PWDs).
• Producing gender-disaggregated data on voter turnout and political representation to inform future policy interventions.