Hariri Foundation For Sustainable Human Development

Hariri Foundation for Sustainable Human Development is a Lebanese non-governmental organization and a member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) with a special consultative status. Hariri Foundation was incepted in 1979 by late Lebanese prime minister H.E. Rafic Hariri and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador H.E. Bahia Hariri, who is president of the foundation to this day.

The inception comprised an exceptional national mission to invest in nearly 36,000 students from all regions and backgrounds across Lebanon through funding educational scholarships to pursue their studies in national and international universities and institutions in 27 countries worldwide. Whilst the mission constituted a direct educational response to the needs of the war-afflicted population, the foundation has ever since expanded its scope of work, shifting towards a more diversified portfolio of interventions aimed at national state-building and sustainable human development.

Today, the foundation stands proud of its portfolio comprising over 200 national and local projects and campaigns across five developmental programs: Education & Digital Transformation; Socioeconomic Development; Active Citizenship; Sustainability & Climate Action; Public Health and Wellbeing. The foundation currently operates 2 offices in Beirut and Saida as well as 13 development institutions and centers.

Hariri Foundation’s projects and services address sustainable human development and aim at strengthening citizen engagement, social cohesion, and community resilience. Those objectives reflect the founders’ firm belief that investing in Lebanon’s future requires the investment in its human capital.

To achieve its objectives, today the foundation seeks to reinforce public-private-civic partnerships across Lebanon as it works with its partners to promote education transformation, develop active citizenship, facilitate policy dialogue, and build urban resilience. Since its establishment, Hariri Foundation has succeeded in extending its outreach and investment beyond Lebanon, serving as a catalyst for positive social change across the Arab region and the world.

Today, the foundation is proud of its affiliations and partnerships, as well as of the many local civic initiatives it has inspired and, to this day, seeks to cultivate and institutionalize into networks and sister organizations.