In November 2025 MANARA returned to Beirut, where it all started. Zico House, as always, has been a welcoming base and a good starting point to explore how perspectives on multilateral dialogue are negotiated in political engagement and daily life.
A view on Manara Beirut – Manara is the Arabic word for lighthouse and is also the name of this area close to Beirut’s seaside. Photo: Susanne Schmelter
Providing space for activities and an office, Zico House has been a partner in exploring grassroots perspectives on multilateral dialogue.
Being back to Beirut was an occasion to reconnect with NGOs and initiatives I had known through my previous research on humanitarian government, and to explore new perspectives, particularly linked to the growing agroecology movement in Lebanon.
A first article discussing how local perspectives relate to “the Trump Plan for Gaza” and the UN has been published – in French – with the Swiss Society for the Middle East and Islamic Cultures (SSMEIC) and can be read here.
A general report on the journey and MANARA’s further plans for engagement in Lebanon will be presented during the next General Assembly (28th of February) and will probably be added here. Stay tuned and subscribe to our newsletter!
Susanne Schmelter
In November 2025 MANARA returned to Beirut, where it all started. Zico House, as always, has been a welcoming base and a good starting point to explore how perspectives on multilateral dialogue are negotiated in political engagement and daily life.
A view on Manara Beirut – Manara is the Arabic word for lighthouse and is also the name of this area close to Beirut’s seaside. Photo: Susanne Schmelter
Providing space for activities and an office, Zico House has been a partner in exploring grassroots perspectives on multilateral dialogue.
Being back to Beirut was an occasion to reconnect with NGOs and initiatives I had known through my previous research on humanitarian government, and to explore new perspectives, particularly linked to the growing agroecology movement in Lebanon.
A first article discussing how local perspectives relate to “the Trump Plan for Gaza” and the UN has been published – in French – with the Swiss Society for the Middle East and Islamic Cultures (SSMEIC) and can be read here.
A general report on the journey and MANARA’s further plans for engagement in Lebanon will be presented during the next General Assembly (28th of February) and will probably be added here. Stay tuned and subscribe to our newsletter!
Susanne Schmelter