Overview
The Cedar grows strong from the roots.
The Cedar Grows is an independent initiative based in Matn, Lebanon with representatives in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, and Paris, France. Our work aims to strengthen civic participation, civil society capability, systemic reform, institutional transparency and state accountability in Lebanon, and help people engage with the systems that affect their lives.
We examine the institutions, systems and communities that shape public life, with particular attention to governance, reform and the practical ways change can occur. We turn these insights into research, policy analysis, reporting and practical resources.
Lebanon’s challenges are neither inevitable nor beyond repair. Across the country and its diaspora, people and civil society organisations are already contributing to institutional, systemic and social change. The Cedar Grows seeks to support this work and make it more visible, understandable and accessible.
Strategic framework
Working draft | September 2026
Our purpose
Mission
To support the capacity and capability of Lebanese civil society and communities to bring about the Lebanon they want and deserve.
Vision
A reformed Lebanon with an effective, accountable state free of corruption, where all people can thrive and prosper.
The Cedar Grows is an independent initiative that helps people understand how change can happen, organise with others and pursue it through practical routes. Its contribution is to make useful knowledge, connections and tools available to those doing the work. It does not claim to speak for Lebanon or to own the change that Lebanese people achieve.
Our theory of change
If people affected by a public problem can define the change they want, access reliable information, build relationships and understand who has the power to act, they are better placed to organise around a concrete demand. If civil society can connect that organising to the appropriate institutional or political route, and sustain attention through implementation, it has a better chance of securing an outcome people can verify. Each effort can also leave behind skills, trust, leaders, evidence and relationships that make future collective action more possible.
The principles that guide our choices
1. Start with strengths, without overlooking harm.
We reject accounts that treat Lebanon or its people as inherently incapable of change. We look for the relationships, skills, institutions, places and practices that have helped people sustain public life and solve problems. Naming a protective factor never excuses corruption, loss or state failure; it helps identify what people can build on while demanding better.
2. Put the cause and its people before the organisation.
The Cedar Grows is a means to an end. We measure our contribution by the capacity others gain and the outcomes they secure, not by how visible our name becomes. We share credit, make our work usable by others and step back when a community or partner is better placed to lead. We do not turn another organisation’s campaign or a person’s experience into our own story.
3. Make room for every Lebanese person to contribute.
People across Lebanon and its diaspora have different experiences, beliefs, abilities and forms of influence. Sect, religion, gender, disability, race, class, region, political history and access to money should not determine whose voice counts or who can take part. Participation is grounded in consent, respect, evidence and accountability. We also consider the rights and experiences of everyone who lives in Lebanon, including people who are not Lebanese citizens.
4. Build change from the ground up.
People affected by a decision should help define the problem, the remedy and what an acceptable outcome looks like. Our role is to support their ability to understand the system, organise, make demands and assess the response. Expert advice, parliamentary allies and international support can be valuable where they answer to this locally defined purpose. Public institutions remain responsible for exercising their powers and delivering their duties.
Strategic priorities
| Priority | What The Cedar Grows will do | Change we seek |
|---|---|---|
| Make change understandable | Publish accessible research, explainers, maps and case studies on how decisions are made, who can change them and where past efforts have succeeded or stalled. Distinguish evidence from interpretation and advocacy. | More people and organisations can identify a realistic next step, assess competing claims and use the work without relying on us to interpret it. |
| Strengthen civic capability | Develop practical guides, campaign tools and learning opportunities with civil society partners and affected communities. Adapt materials to local needs, languages, accessibility and the risks people face. | Participants can turn a concern into a defined demand, gather and protect evidence, organise others and make informed choices about tactics. |
| Connect public action to accountable decisions | Help partners map decision-makers, legal standing, deadlines, institutional routes and sources of public pressure. Encourage collaboration among communities, researchers, lawyers, journalists, professional bodies and public representatives where their roles complement one another. | More campaigns secure a traceable act—such as a disclosure, filing, referral, question, investigation or decision—and can show what it did and did not achieve. |
| Follow through and carry learning forward | Track whether commitments and decisions are implemented; document obstruction, partial progress and unintended effects; update tools and share lessons with the people involved and the wider field. | More formal outcomes become changes people can verify, while relationships, knowledge and leadership remain available for future efforts. |