After four election cycles (parliamentary in 2005, partial parliamentary in 2007, parliamentary in 2009, and municipal and mayoral elections in 2010), the My Right campaign launched again for the fifth time, on May 5, 2016, to accompany the municipal and mayoral elections, carrying with it the arsenal of previous years to promote the political rights of persons with disabilities to run and vote in elections.

Despite the adverse political and security conditions that the country went through in previous years, the campaign was able to advance these rights and raise awareness about the rights of this group, which constitutes more than 15% of Lebanon’s population and thus its electorate.

In order to maintain its continuity and its role in promoting these rights among both the public opinion and people with disabilities, the organization built on the results of its achievements in previous years in terms of electoral reform, electoral laws, and decrees. This arsenal is the basis for holding candidates accountable and following up on their electoral programs, which reflect their vision of pressing social issues and their intentions towards implementing them if they reach the developmental work. This time, as usual, it also focused on the candidacy and voting of people with disabilities, encouraging their candidacy, and accompanying this process in the media and in the field before and during the elections.

During May 2016, the campaign completed its primary role in monitoring the activities of the election days, and its teams documented through a specialized form the violations that occurred against voters with disabilities and the elderly, both those that occurred while they were in the electoral centers to complete their voting process, and the general violations that occurred in the context of the electoral process.

The campaign has been working to remove as many obstacles as possible for disabled candidates to bring their issues to their municipal councils, and for voters with disabilities to create a diverse developmental space within municipal councils, raise awareness and remove barriers to an inclusive environment.

Note: the downloadable executive summary is currently only available in Arabic.