Munathara Initiative

In 2023, the Munathara Initiative reported that over 80 percent of its funding came from government grants. Listed funders to the group include the Swiss Development Corporation, the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy, and the European Union ^{2  3  4}

Background

The Munathara Initiative is a nonprofit organization founded in 2012 that promotes “inclusive discussion” in the Middle East and North Africa aimed at generating “tolerance” for people regardless of race and gender. The Munathara Initiative has offices in Washington, D.C.; Tunis, Tunisia; Beirut, Lebanon; Tripoli, Libya; and Rabat, Morocco. ¹

The Munathara Initiative began with a website, debate, and TV productions hosting debates. It became a registered nonprofit in the United States in 2014.  ²

Activities

Major projects of the Munathara Initiative include “Opinion Makers: Tunisia and Lebanon,” a youth debate program; Impact TV, a television station founded in 2012 promote  “voices of youth, women and marginalized (YWM) communities in the Arabic public sphere”; Musabaqat (competition), a debate program; and workshops with local and regional philanthropic organizations that train youth to engage in debate.  ¹

The Munathara Initiative also hosts panel debates and expert debates both on its media channels and in live events in cities across the Middle East and North Africa. ⁵

In 2019, the Munathara Initiative hosted what founding director Belabbes Benkredda described as “the Arab world’s first-ever televised presidential debates” in Tunisia. ⁶

Leadership

The founding director of the Munathara Initiative is Belabbes Benkredda. As of 2026, Benkredda is a fellow at Yale University, a position he had held since September 2019. He previously co-founded the Berlin-based think tank CANDID Foundation, was a communications strategist, a Yale World Fellow, and a Stanford University Draper Hills Fellow. ^{5  6}

Financials

According to tax filings, in 2023 the Munathara Initiative reported $2,627,929 in revenues, $2,493,455 in expenses, and $291,770 in assets. Of its expenses, the Munathara Initiative spent $1,621,159 promoting inclusive debate, especially in Tunisia; $222,909 on creating partnerships with media organizations; and $182,380 engaging with a documentary produced in France and Germany. In 2023, the Munathara Initiative received over 80 percent of its revenues ($2,123,078) from government grants. It also received $504,851 from other gifts, grants, and contributions.  ⁴

Listed financial supporters of the Munathara Initiative have included the Swiss Development Corporation, the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, and George Soros’s Open Society Foundations. Previous supporters include the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Robert Bosch Foundation, Swedish International Development Agency, Institut für, Auslandsbeziehungen, IREX, the National Endowment for Democracy, the European Union, and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The Munathara Initiative also reports having received funding from the European Commission, the Danish-Arab Partnership Program, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and Democracy Reporting International. ^{2  3}