Lebanon Coordination

 Locally driven coordination - An opportunity for rethinking the future of media assistance Lebanon 
The Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD), in cooperation with SKeyes Centre for Media and Cultural Freedom, and supported by International Media Support (IMS), has initiated an information-sharing effort inviting the international and local media development and journalism support organisations to coordinate recovery and assistance efforts in Lebanon.
The context
On the 4th of August 2020, the Beirut port blast ripped a city to shreds and reopened old wounds for a fragile population already facing civil unrest, an ongoing socio-economic crisis, on the top of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Joint Coordination Mechanism
On the initiative of Samir Kassir Foundation’s SKeyes Center, and with support from International Media Support (IMS), GFMD brought together Lebanese, regional and international media assistance groups together to form a Joint Coordination Mechanism.  
Aim
Bring together all major actors in media development, local and regional media assistance groups and the representatives of nascent media sectors:
Map out media support to Lebanon to help the media development community.
Reach a common understanding of needs and priorities.
Identify areas for potential partnerships, collaboration and innovation.  
Roles
GFMD is supported by IMS, to:
Contribute to the exchange and collection of information about the international media development assistance and recovery efforts in Lebanon through engagement with the network of media donors, funders, and media support organisations and other actors.
Collect relevant information and reports, and share within the group and relevant stakeholders.
Project activities and plans are coordinated and co-organised in partnership with the Samir Kassir Foundation, GFMD member and a well known Lebanon based organisation that monitors violations of freedom of the press and culture, and defends the rights and freedom of expression of journalists and intellectuals. 
Mapping of Lebanon media assistance
To support ongoing coordination GFMD compiled a spreadsheet that lists the organisations invited to participate in the information-sharing initiative, which provides a background for each organisation, an overview of their projects in the MENA region, and outlines their Lebanon recovery efforts. 
MAPPING - Lebanon Media Assistance (Restricted Access)
Access is restricted to GFMD members and those operating in, or managing media assistance and journalism support projects in Lebanon. 
To request access, please click on the link and follow the instructions and/or email [email protected] 
Coordination meetings
To achieve the aims of the Joint Coordination Mechanism, GFMD, in collaboration with IMS and the Samir Kassir Foundation’s SKeyes Center is holding a series of information sharing and coordination meetings.  
October 2020
The first coordination meeting -- “Lebanon Media Recovery Fund and Media Development Assistance Efforts” -- held on October 26th, 2020. 
The meeting was attended by over 35 participants representing local and international media development and journalism support organisations implementing projects in Lebanon. 
A report from the meeting available here. 
October 2020
The coordination meeting raised a significant interest and received positive feedback. 
Economic viability was identified as one of the main follow-up topics participants wanted to learn more about in the upcoming activities.
March 2021
The second coordination meeting, held on 16 March 2021, focused on Media Sustainability in Lebanon.  
The meeting heard from a variety of media with different business models and the results of series of interviews on sustainability and viability in Lebanon with media assistance representatives and Lebanese media.
A report from the meeting available here.
March 2021
December 2021
The third meeting of the Joint Coordination Mechanism for Lebanon on December 16, 2021 focused on the funding landscape for media development actors in Lebanon based on new research. The meeting also heard from donors and implementers on effective programme design and the structure of support. 
A report from the meeting available here.
December 2021
Research
As an introduction to the second coordination meeting, in March 2021, GFMD, together with SKeyes and IMS, prepared and conducted snapshot research on media sustainability and viability by conducting interviews with media assistance professionals and representatives from Lebanese media with successful and/or innovative business models in Lebanon and MENA region.
REPORT - Sustainability & journalism support in Lebanon
Literature review
GFMD is curating a literature review of resources relevant to media assistance in Lebanon.
LIT REVIEW - Lebanon media landscape

Coordination meetings

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Outline

Locally driven coordination - An opportunity for rethinking the future of media assistance Lebanon

The context

Joint Coordination Mechanism

Aim

Roles

Mapping of Lebanon media assistance

Coordination meetings