Sharing Report of Successes and Violations Impacting Voters with Disabilities during 2022 Parliamentary Elections
December 2, 2022 – Beirut, Lebanon – Today, the Lebanese Union for People with Physical Disabilities (LUPD), together with the Lebanon Civic Action Accelerator Program (LEB-CAAP), funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), brought together key national and international stakeholders to reflect on the results of the 2022 Parliamentary Elections Monitoring Report. USAID Lebanon Mission Director Eileen Devitt, LUPD’s President Ms. Sylvana Lakkis, and more than 60 representatives of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), civil society, governmental institutions, academia, media, and international agencies attended the event. During the event, participants debated strategies for advancing the political participation of persons with disabilities in the 2023 municipal elections and beyond.
“We acknowledge the efforts made by the Government of Lebanon to comply with the legal and administrative provisions that facilitate the voting rights of persons with disabilities during the parliamentary elections, specifically in moving polling stations to the ground floor in selected centers and in signing a Code of Conduct for Persons with Disabilities and Media. However, more efforts are needed. We recently met the Minister of Interior and Municipalities (MOIM) and are working with his team to establish the inter-ministerial committee responsible for ensuring the full participation of persons with disabilities in the 2023 municipal elections, which includes the appointment of organizations of persons with disabilities as required by law in Decree No. 2214/2009,” explained LUPD’s president Ms. Sylvana Lakkis.
In marking the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, USAID Mission Director Mrs. Mary Eileen Devitt reaffirmed that “The U.S. Government is committed to supporting Persons with Disabilities in all assistance activities to enact change. USAID will also continue to support the democratic election process through our partnership with other donors like UNDP under the Lebanon Election Assistance Program and other advocacy initiatives to improve Persons with Disabilities voter access and broader rights.”
During the event, LUPD shared the recommendations emerging from the observation efforts led by the HAQQI campaign “I Want to Vote from the Ground Floor,” where mobile and fixed teams visited 123 out of 174 polling centers pledged as accessible by the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities (MOIM) across Lebanon’s 15 electoral districts. On election day, with support from USAID LEB-CAAP, LUPD deployed 116 trained observers, many of whom were persons with disabilities, and accompanied by 42 youth enumerators from Lebanese social enterprise Bridge.Outsource.Transform (B.O.T.) which developed digital tools to capture real-time data from the ground. Observers conducted two surveys in the 123 centers that measured the preparedness of polling centers per international standards and identified the most common forms of violations against voters with disabilities. This was complemented by interviews with 104 voters with disabilities to capture their voting experience. In addition, LUPD kicked off their advocacy action plan for ensuring the 2023 municipal elections are accessible and inclusive, including advocating for the pre-inspection of schools that will be assigned as polling centers, the adoption of inclusive architectural standards in constructing, repairing, and installing ramps, and proposing inclusive designs for tents and booths.
USAID’s LEB-CAAP then facilitated two sessions to explore the challenges and opportunities in mainstreaming inclusion and accessibility within the upcoming municipal elections.