In 2025, the Youth for Governance (Y4G) program worked closely with Lebanon’s Ministry of Interior and Municipalities (MoIM) to support the successful execution of the long-delayed municipal elections. These elections represented a pivotal moment in demonstrating a return to state delivery and rebuilding citizens’ trust in public institutions.
The Y4G team supported MoIM across legal, operational, and digital tracks. A legal study scoped the mandate of the Central Operations Room, focusing on its coordination and oversight role. Additionally, a centralised complaints management system was introduced for effective logging, tracking, and escalation of citizen and polling staff inquiries, allowing for quick response time, traceability and transparency.
A 24/7 chatbot was launched to capture FAQs and swiftly address citizens’ questions, reducing the volume of calls and complaints and enhancing public accessibility. To further support MoIM’s oversight capabilities, interactive dashboards were developed, enabling the analysis of complaint patterns and facilitating strategic decision-making. Concurrently, a media monitoring system was established to accurately capture and respond to public sentiment and emerging electoral issues.
Learning from the electoral operations and needs, Y4G introduced pilot AI agents to support internal activities, compensating for staff limitations and improving the Ministry’s overall efficiency. This technology can be further developed and enhanced to be deployed and embedded within the ministry’s processes and 2026 elections.
Building on a successful electoral experience, Y4G proposes comprehensive recommendations to ensure long-term governance improvements. These recommendations are structured around strategic pillars that include clarifying and updating legal frameworks, developing robust operational coordination processes, enhancing institutional knowledge retention, fostering innovation through digital transformation, taking a proactive risk management approach, building capacity, and consolidating strategic communication plans.
Ultimately, the Y4G program recommends a whole-of-government approach, emphasising collective institutional responsibility in improving voter engagement and strengthening citizen trust. The success of the 2025 municipal elections provides Lebanon with a foundational model of electoral governance, transforming temporary solutions into resilient and sustainable institutional practices, moving from voter skepticism towards renewed democratic confidence.
None of this would have been possible without the dedication of the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities staff. Behind the scenes, we witnessed their energy, commitment, and professionalism, quietly and tirelessly working to bring democracy to life. Their efforts were the driving force behind this success.