While the legal working group has submitted an Access to Information (A2I) draft law and is in the final steps of drafting a Whistleblower Protection (WBP) law, a separate group of the Network is working on advocacy and lobbying activities that seek to forge a partnership with our defined target audience. These activities include:
Nahar Ashabab, in partnership with Maharat, engages the media and raises their awareness on access to information, whistleblower protection and approaches to reporting corruption through the following activities: conducting in-house meetings with members of the media (print and audiovisual) to obtain their feedback on the obstacles encountered in reaching information and reporting acts of corruption; conducting workshops in the five Lebanese governorates for 70 to 100 journalists from all political sides and confessional beliefs on the concepts of free access to information and protection for whistleblowers.
Nahwa al-Muwatinya, in coordination with LebPAC, garners the support of parliamentary candidates and current members of parliament to pass access to information and whistleblower protection laws while monitoring their standpoints and holding them accountable for them; Na-aM plans to engage youth and build their capacity to participate in the lobbying campaign.
The Ministry of Finance (MOF), through the Basil Fuleihan Institute for Economy and Finance (training and communication center within the Ministry), organizes interactive workshops for a targeted group of MOF personnel on the Access to Information draft law and its implications for reporting and reporting mechanisms. The MOF will also seek to involve personnel from other Ministries in these sessions, and conduct general awareness-raising sessions for a broader group of civil servants on access to information and whistleblower protection.
The Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA) is building knowledge on access to information and whistleblower protection through the following activities: a sectoral study on the importance of access to information and whistleblower protection, website development and production of educational and training toolkits.
5. Engaging the Private Sector
The Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA) also implements activities geared toward the private sector, including: organizing workshops with the Chamber of Commerce to introduce the draft bills and receive feedback on them from private sector stakeholders, and forging a sustainable forum for dialogue on access to information and whistleblower protection.