About the initiative

UNESCO's Commitment for Beirut

Mobilizing education, culture and information as levers for rebuilding and recovery

At UNESCO, we believe that a city cannot be rebuilt in a sustainable manner without supporting its people and preserving its memory. This is why culture, education and information, through an integrated urban approach, must be at the heart of Beirut’s recovery efforts. As a specialized United Nations agency, UNESCO is uniquely placed to coordinate international efforts to support Beirut, after decades of experience in capacity-building for education systems, the safeguarding and promotion of cultural heritage and the protection of the media and freedom of expression.

"Beirut, a world city, a city of memory, a creative city, was in a few seconds, bruised in its flesh, in its deepest identity."

Audrey AzoulayDirector-General of UNESCO

LiBeirut aims to support the revival of the Lebanese capital’s cultural, creative and educational life, working for and in collaboration with local communities. Together, we can contribute to rebuilding and recovery efforts through immediate actions, such as restoring schools and heritage sites and supporting artists and students, and also through medium- and long-term measures including reactivating the creative economy, developing the media and ensuring access to information, global citizenship and heritage education.

With LiBeirut, UNESCO is committed to:

Rehabilitating schools and universities

Safeguarding heritage

Supporting the press and access to information

Reviving the creative economy

The pillars of reconstruction; access to culture, eduction and information

UNESCO is committed to working with the Lebanese and local communities, through a participatory and inclusive approach, in order to:

Protect and stabilize the most endangered historic buildings,

renovate schools and universities, revitalize urban and architectural heritage and strengthen heritage education.

Build the capacities of teachers,

principals and parents to provide quality distance education and promote global citizenship education.

Support the revival of cultural and social life

helping to meet the needs of cultural institutions, artists, the media and journalists, paying particular attention to the needs of young people and women working in these ares.

Support the media, safeguarding plurality and independence

and build the capacity of journalists to combat disinformation and hate speech, ensuring access to information for all.

Facilitate student access to connectivity and accessibility tools

(computers, tablets, internet connections) and access for artists and cultural professionals to creative equipment and tools.

Establish, in collaboration with civil society,

temporary exhibitions, urban laboratories and education platforms remotely to facilitate the transmission of knowledge and the dissemination of tradition knowledge.

Promote the development of a support plan

for cultural and creative industries and institutions with the aim of reviving the creative economy.

Support Lebanese authorities in strengthening the legal framework

for safeguarding cultural and artistic heritage and promoting freedom of expression and press freedom.

Establish a national team of experts in the fields of distance learning and heritage

in order to support the ministries in charge.

Promote the preservation of and access to documentary heritage,

supporting the reconstruction of libraries, the restoration and preservation of archives, and capacity-building for librarians, documentalists and archivists.