The LUPD does not run a single, time-bound program called “policy change”; rather, it follows a comprehensive and ongoing rights-based advocacy approach that is, in essence, a permanent and systematic program aimed at transforming public policies in Lebanon. The goal is to shift the relationship with the state from a charity and welfare model to one of rights and full citizenship.

Strategic Objective: Changing the Model

The core objective is to transform how the state and society approach disability:

• From the charity/welfare model, which views persons with disabilities as passive recipients of help or objects of pity.
• To the social/rights model, which views persons with disabilities as full citizens whose barriers must be removed to ensure equal opportunities and active participation in society and decision-making.

Main Components

This ongoing policy change program operates through three interconnected advocacy campaigns:

1. Continuous Advocacy Campaign (Legislative and Administrative Pressure)

This is the umbrella for all advocacy activities and includes:

• Securing implementing decrees: Pressuring relevant ministries to issue the necessary decrees to activate Law 220/2000, particularly regarding accessibility rights, decent work, and inclusive education.
• Strategic litigation: Filing lawsuits against the Lebanese state to compel judicial enforcement of the law, serving as a direct mechanism to change delaying policies.
• Participation in decision-making: Working with parliamentary committees and ministries to shape and amend national policies, such as the national inclusive education policy or the national disability strategy.

2. “Haqqi” Campaign (Focus on Political Rights)

This campaign focuses on changing electoral policies and procedures to ensure:

• Inclusive and independent voting: Pressuring the Ministry of Interior to make polling stations accessible and implement Decree 2214/2009.
• Monitoring and reporting: Deploying hundreds of observers to document violations and push for changes in practices on the ground.

3. “Ammir lil Jami” Campaign (Focus on Inclusive Environment and Access)

This campaign aims to change urban planning and engineering policies in both public and private sectors, including:

• Engineering advocacy: Working with ministries such as Public Works and engineers’ syndicates to mandate inclusive design standards in construction, reconstruction, and public facilities.
• Studies and costing: Producing detailed cost studies for retrofitting buildings and schools, turning them into advocacy tools with decision-makers.

Key Advocacy Mechanisms

To achieve policy change, the LUPD relies on multiple mechanisms:

• Coalitions and partnerships: Forming partnerships with civil society organizations and international bodies to unify pressure on the state and encourage the private sector to apply the law.
• Awareness raising and dispelling misconceptions: Using media and publications to frame disability issues as human rights issues, not medical or charitable ones, thereby shifting public awareness that in turn pressures policies.
• Evidence-based data: Conducting field surveys and documented studies on the reality of disability in Lebanon, using this data as advocacy tools to counter official arguments about implementation difficulties or cost.