NAHNOO

What NAHNOO does

NAHNOO is a Lebanon-based, youth-led non-governmental organization that operates as a research, capacity building, and advocacy platform for participatory public policy making. Founded in 2009 as a formal non-profit (registered with the Lebanese Ministry of Interior), the organization originated from a 2003 student-run club at the Lebanese University. NAHNOO rallies volunteer committees across disciplines including urbanism, law, sociology, political science, environment, and investigative journalism to drive advocacy in three focus areas: Public Spaces, Good Governance, and Arts & Cultural Heritage.

The organization's core deliverables consist of evidence-based studies and reports, policy briefs, interactive digital maps (covering municipal work, coastal violations, craftsmanship, and tourism planning), grassroots advocacy campaigns (including Horsh Beirut for All, Coast for All, and Save the Red House), and capacity building workshops on civic engagement, urban planning, and governance. Notable documented outcomes include the 2015 reopening of Horsh Beirut park after a five-year campaign, blocking the proposed demolition of Beirut Municipal Stadium, training 8,258 citizens, and reaching 385 municipalities across Lebanon with 13 active advocacy campaigns.

NAHNOO's business model is donation-based, with no fees charged for services or programs. The organization is governed by a board of directors including founder Mohammad Ayoub and operates with 11-50 staff alongside its volunteer base. It serves Lebanese citizens, municipalities, and youth activists, and is supported by partnerships with UNDP, UNOPS, Fondation de France, and the Fondation Ghazal (which awarded it the 2021 annual prize for conflict prevention and cultural space preservation). Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed.

Name

NAHNOO

Legal name

NAHNOO Association

Website

https://nahnoo.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NAHNOO is a Lebanon-based youth-led non-governmental organization that operates as a research, capacity building, and advocacy platform for participatory public policy making, serving Lebanese citizens, municipalities, and youth volunteers across three focus areas: public spaces, good governance, and cultural heritage.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civic Advocacy and Public Policy Research

NAICS

Administration of Urban Planning and Community and Rural Development (925120)

akta.pro primary industry

Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning (MEL) & Reporting for Donor Programs (BPADAOAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Donor Coordination, Monitoring & Evaluation (MEL) Programs (BPADABAN)

Keywords

• Civic advocacy
• Public policy research
• Capacity building
• Cultural heritage preservation
• Community organizing

Headquarters

HQ city

Beirut

HQ country

Lebanon

HQ region

Middle East

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations: NAHNOO accepts donations through bank transfers, with BLOM Bank account details provided for USD contributions. Donations are the primary funding mechanism for this non-profit organization.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

NAHNOO is a research, capacity building, and advocacy platform for participatory public policy-making in Lebanon. It conducts evidence-based studies, policy briefs, and interactive maps on public spaces, good governance, and cultural heritage; runs grassroots advocacy campaigns (e.g., Horsh Beirut, The Coast for All, Save the Red House); and delivers volunteer-led capacity-building workshops and training programs.

Product overview

NAHNOO is a research, capacity building and advocacy platform for participatory public policy-making, not a commercial technology product. Its offerings consist of advocacy campaigns, research publications (studies, reports, policy briefs), interactive mapping tools, and capacity building programs. The core offerings include studies and reports on municipal governance and coastal issues, policy briefs on public spaces and crafts, interactive maps of Lebanese municipalities and coastal violations, advocacy campaigns on public spaces/good governance/cultural heritage, and workshop training programs on civic engagement and urban planning.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Studies & Reports

Quantifiable outcome

• 385 municipalities reached through advocacy programs
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered moderate, minor and core.

• UNOPSmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerUNOPS (United Nations Office for Project Services) logo appears on NAHNOO's website footer, indicating a partnership or collaboration in development projects. NAHNOO has also produced publications with UNDP support.
• UNDPmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerUNDP (United Nations Development Programme) collaborated with NAHNOO on the Qana Tourism Plan publication. Also supported the Citizen Guide to Municipal Elections 2023 guidebook.
• Fondation de FranceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFondation de France participated in the Fondation Ghazal award ceremony alongside Fondation Ghazal, providing support to Lebanon especially after the Beirut port explosions.
• RPS MENAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRPS MENA was engaged by NAHNOO to conduct an economic study regarding the 'articulating the economic value of the crafts-based industry in Lebanon' project.
• The Coast for All CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNAHNOO is part of The Coast for All coalition which launched a campaign to preserve and restore the public coast of Lebanon. The coalition includes various civil society organizations working together on coastal preservation.
• Academic InstitutionsmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnerships with academic institutions for research collaboration on topics including public space governance, cultural heritage preservation, urban planning, youth civic engagement, and good governance.
• Local CommunitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeep partnerships with local communities across Lebanon for grassroots activities, participatory research, and community-driven advocacy campaigns.
• Concerned NGOs Coalition (Horsh Beirut)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition formed with other concerned NGOs to advocate for reopening Horsh Beirut park. Successfully campaigned together for 5 years before the park opened to all in 2015.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Open Government Partnership: Multistakeholder initiative promoting transparency, accountability, and civic participation globally — thematic adjacency to NAHNOO's governance and participatory policymaking agenda.
• UN-Habitat: UN agency dedicated to sustainable urbanization and public space — operates at a global scale in NAHNOO's core domains (public spaces, urban governance), providing the institutional backdrop against which NAHNOO's local advocacy takes place.

Direct peers

• Transparency International Lebanon: Lebanese chapter of the global anti-corruption movement focused on transparency and accountability in governance — directly overlaps with NAHNOO's Good Governance pillar.
• ARDD – Legal Aid and Human Rights: Lebanese NGO working at the intersection of legal aid, policy reform, and advocacy — comparable in using evidence-based research to drive systemic change in Lebanon.
• ABAAD Resource Center for Gender Equality: Leading Lebanese civil society NGO working on policy reform, advocacy, and capacity building — comparable non-profit operating model in Lebanon with similar research-publication approach.
• Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS): Independent Lebanese policy research NGO producing evidence-based studies on governance, decentralization, and public policy — closely aligned with NAHNOO's research-driven advocacy model and target audience of policymakers and reformers.
• Cultural Heritage without Borders (CHwB): International organization focused on cultural heritage preservation and community engagement, with active programming in the MENA region — directly comparable to NAHNOO's Arts & Cultural Heritage pillar.

Emerging players

• World Resources Institute (WRI) Ross Center for Sustainable Cities: Global research organization with a dedicated program on inclusive, public, and accessible urban spaces — strong thematic overlap with NAHNOO's public space advocacy.

Regional players

• René Moawad Foundation: Established Lebanese development foundation with municipal-development and civic-engagement programs — comparable Lebanese civil society actor with similar geographic and thematic focus.
• Heinrich Böll Foundation MENA: German political foundation affiliated with the Greens operating democracy, ecology, and civil society programs across the MENA region, including Lebanon — comparable in combining research, advocacy, and civic capacity building.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/nahnoo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nahnoo
• Instagraminstagram.com/nahnoo

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NAHNOO