- 12 July 2023
Media
A Better Development Funding Model for Lebanon: Prospects, Challenges and Applicable Lessons: Middle East Institute
- 18 March 2024
- 14 July 2023
- 26 May 2023
Investigations and reports
- 5 May 2023
What We Do
RITE seeks for international funding of public projects in Lebanon and elsewhere to reach the people that they intend to help while protecting their budgets and reputations. It does this by independently monitoring projects to determine if they are achieving their objectives and providing recommendations on how they can be improved.
Investigations and Reports
Advocacy and Events
Media Coverage
Lebanon and Beyond
RITE is looking into the mismatch between significant levels of international funding for infrastructure projects in Lebanon and the state of collapse of the country. This is with a view to finding solutions that give funders greater control over project outcomes, and that serve the country’s population and economy.
Despite substantial international funding, the most basic needs of Lebanese citizens and the refugee communities that they host are not being met. There is limited access to electricity, water, sanitation, education, and health provision. This situation makes the economic development of the country impossible to achieve. Furthermore, the international community has lost confidence due to their funds being mismanaged and misspent. As a result, much needed funding is being withheld, pending reforms that are long overdue. Rite seeks to help resolve this impasse by identifying ways in which funders can achieve real change through the projects that they support.
Rite intends to focus on Lebanon initially, but anticipates that its work will have impact in other countries where donors and recipients are encountering similar problems.
Our work contributes to setting Lebanon on the road to better governance and greater prosperity. This is existential to all Lebanese, whatever their political and religious affiliations and income brackets. The stability of the country is also a matter of global importance, considering its geo-strategic significance. There are many other reasons for international concern. They include environmental worries over air and sea pollution around the Mediterranean; the continued crisis around the plight of Syrian refugees that make up 30% of the population; the protection of institutional budgets; and the safeguarding against reputational risks.
Who We Are
RITE is a UK based non-partisan not-for-profit organisation established in 2021. We work collaboratively with organisations that share or compliment our objectives within Lebanon or in countries with similar problems, and that seek greater transparency and accountability in governance.
Mona Tayara Deeley
Managing Director
Mona brings to RITE a combination of legal and media experience, having worked as a lawyer for 14 years and TV producer for 7 years. She previously founded and ran a philanthropic organisation, Zenith Foundation, promoting Anglo-Arab intercultural dialogue over 10 years.
Bilal Khalifeh
Non-Executive Director
Bilal is a Lebanese entrepreneur focusing on international digital engagement and tech having built and run successful companies in the Middle East and U.K. He has championed the rule of law including establishing in a test case in the UK courts that the UK has jurisdiction in relation to the freezing of assets of depositors by Lebanese banks. This decision was hailed as a victory for other Lebanese depositors that are in a similar situation. He holds a BA from the Lebanese American University, an MBA from the University of Liverpool, and has undertaken further studies in venture finance and management at Oxford University and Harvard Business School.
Antoun Issa
Non-Executive Director
Antoun is a journalist with expertise in Middle Eastern affairs. He is off-platform editor for Guardian Australia and is a non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute. Prior to that, he worked as senior editorial manager for The Atlantic's consulting arm, Atlantic 57, in Washington DC, and spent three years in Beirut as news editor for Al-Monitor.
Youmna Fawaz
Lead Researcher in Lebanon, 2022 Reviews
Youmna is a journalist that covered key events and issues in the Middle East over a decade and championed women’s and civil rights. The documentaries and reports that she has produced and directed include Children of Marijuana (2017, Al Jazeera TV), the warring factions in Iraq since 2014, The Syrian revolution since 2012, Women In Conflict/Iraqi women (for Global Women Institute), investigations and news coverage of events in Lebanon since 2007, the Yemeni revolution (2012-2014) for Al-Jazeera TV, and presidential elections in Egypt and the United States. She has been involved in the planning and launch of media campaigns on civil rights and reforms, and in advising governmental institutions. In 2021, she joined Lebanese channel MTV as the Head of their Investigation Department. She also runs her own production company U Production & Consulting.
Julie Ramambason
Researcher
Julie has worked in UK public sector research, evaluating projects and policies that span policing, charities, education, gender, disability, and immigration. She worked in different roles and organisations over two years, gaining experience in qualitative and quantitative research and evaluations, as well as in information governance and fundraising. She combines her work at RITE with pursuing a masters at London School of Economics in International Social and Public Policy (Development). She is a Cambridge graduate in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and has a higher education certificate from Goldsmiths University in Computer Science. She is multilingual in English, French, Arabic, Persian, German and Spanish.
Funding and Accounts
RITE 2022 Annual Report
RITE launched in August 2021 with funding from the Open Society Foundations and the support of other key partners such as International Media Support’s Media Bridge Programme (Denmark), The Good Lobby (Brussels), and a host of Lebanese and Diaspora civil society organisations.
