The Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship

What begins as a restaurant can become much more in times of crisis.

This story follows how Raseef Beirut turned into a community-led relief space for displaced families across Beirut; preparing meals, organizing donations, and building a network of volunteers committed to showing up, day after day.

Read the full story here: https://asfariinstitute.org/2026/06/03/more-than-aid-raseef-a-community-space-for-countless-people/

Asfari Institute Director Lina Abou-Habib represented the Civil Society Committee at the opening ceremony of the 5th Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policy: Building Peace and Democracy in Madrid, joining global leaders, UN representatives, regional organizations, and civil society actors in shaping critical conversations on feminist foreign policy, peace, democracy, and multilateralism.

She also participated in the panel “Feminist Foreign Policy at a Crossroads: Rethinking Power, Knowledge, and Resourcing,” where she reflected on the urgent need to reconnect the Women, Peace and Security agenda with feminist foreign policy, while calling for greater investment in feminist research and knowledge production in the WANA region.

She emphasized that decolonizing research must also mean challenging extractive practices, questioning who defines research agendas, and confronting the patriarchal structures that continue to shape whose knowledge is funded, legitimized, and heard.

What happens when sexual and reproductive health is treated as secondary in times of crisis?

This story follows Dr. Faysal El Kak and the WISH Program at AUBMC, whose work reminds us that pregnancy, menstrual health, and sexual agency do not pause during war, and neither should the care and support people need.

Read the full story here: https://asfariinstitute.org/2026/05/20/care-agency-and-access-rethinking-sexual-health-in-times-of-need/

Help us spotlight the diverse work shaping civil society across the SWANA/MENA region. From research and publications to conferences, fellowships, and emerging initiatives, we look forward to featuring contributions that reflect the depth and breadth of third sector engagement across the region.

Selected contributions will be featured in the upcoming issue of the International Society for Third-Sector Research (ISTR) MENA Newsletter and shared with a global network of researchers, practitioners, and institutions.

🗓 Deadline: June 19, 2026
🔗 Submission link: https://forms.gle/TC7N76vsDq2Lfbb16

When the emergency response failed to see them, she made sure they were not invisible.

Mariam Danach, dentist, paramedic, volunteer, spent her nights assembling care packages for women who had just given birth in displacement shelters. Maternity pads, diapers, formula, blankets. The essentials that no one else thought to provide.

The newest article in our Stories Behind the Headlines II series is now live.

Read the full article here: https://asfariinstitute.org/2026/05/18/born-into-displacement-a-care-package-for-mothers-who-could-not-wait/

As displacement continues, this article invites us to pause and ask a difficult but necessary question: who is still being overlooked in the response?

Through a conversation with Amal Charif of HalTek, it reflects on the needs that too often remain unseen, from accessibility and autonomy to the everyday realities of people with disabilities and others pushed to the margins even in crisis.

A more inclusive response is not optional; it is urgent.

Read the full article here: https://asfariinstitute.org/2026/05/15/the-minorities-in-the-minority-addressing-overlooked-needs-in-lebanons-displacement-response/?amp=1

Our Director, Lina Abou-Habib, participated in the Regional Consultation for Arab States on the elaboration of CEDAW General Recommendation No. 41 on dismantling gender stereotypes and unequal power relations, held in Cairo and online on 13–14 May 2026.

During the discussions, she highlighted the need to address the links between gender stereotypes in the public sphere and the private sphere, where discriminatory gender norms are produced and reproduced across social institutions. She also emphasized the transnational nature of anti-rights movements and the importance of recognizing the diversity of feminist movements across the region and their role in challenging discriminatory stereotypes.

Her recommendations focused on strengthening and consolidating existing accountability and reporting mechanisms, while developing clearer qualitative and quantitative indicators to track progress in addressing discriminatory gender norms and stereotypes.

When standing still was not an option, Maria Hamarneh and Yasmine Berjawi chose to act.

This story follows how the two women built a targeted grassroots response for displaced communities in Lebanon, focusing on shelters that were often overlooked and responding to needs with care, consistency, and urgency.

Read the full story here: https://asfariinstitute.org/2026/05/13/when-standing-still-was-not-an-option/