Opinion Makers is a youth-oriented project that aims to strengthen the debate culture in Tunisia and Lebanon by empowering a new generation of opinion leaders to shape important national conversations. In pursuing this objective, Opinion Makers will expand public spaces for conversation, foster civic participation of underrepresented voices and marginalized communities, promote accountable governance through constructive engagement between duty-bearers and citizens, and give rise to and support emerging opinion leaders in the region.

The project targets the most underserved individuals and communities, including youth, women, and marginalized groups (YWM), to not only become active participants in these conversations but to also train and equip them to become opinion leaders capable of shaping key national discourses and holding authorized bodies accountable in the coming years and well into the future. 

The project’s duration is 2 and a half years, starting in 2023. Each year, Opinion Makers will start with a competition where candidates submit audiovisual and written content through an online form. After two stages of pre-selection, 30 participants will be chosen, after which they will receive media and debate skills training.

Opinion Makers will produce more than 70 prime-time and public interest-themed televised talk shows, to be aired by multiple channels simultaneously. Moreover, the project will provide all the needed support to the selected youth in the hope they become future national leaders by working on their public image and on their social media throughout the duration of the project. In addition to their media appearances through weekly episodes of televised debates that discuss several public issues in Lebanon & Tunisia.