Ogarit Younan
Personal information
Ogarit Younan
Co-founder, President
Contact information (Private)
+961 70128781
Contact information (Work)
Academic University for Non-violence and Human Rights (AUNOHR)
+961 1 445333
+961 70 111382
Community/Lebanon Impact
She devoted her life to humane commitment. A pioneer Arab woman for Non-Violence.
She started her civil activity, soon at school. The first text she wrote was against sectarianism, and other one on Palestine. After the school committee refused it, she understood from the beginning the meaning of struggling against injustice. In 1976, at the outset of the Lebanese war, she published an article against violence in one of the major local newspapers, which made a prominent personality visit her and invited her to be one of the founders of the main peace current during the war…She was the youngest member.
In 1983, in the wake of the Lebanese war (1975-1990), she met Walid Slaiby the nonviolent thinker, (the late Walid Slaiby which passed away in May 2023), and together embarked on a joint journey of life and struggle, under exceptional circumstances. Their commitment and ideas influenced generations of youth, activists, intellectuals, media professionals, workers, political actors, women, civil associations, trainers, unions, etc. They came to be known as pioneers in the renewal of civil society in Lebanon since the mid of the civil war.
She is considered as a reference in issues related to the sectarian system / secular state in Lebanon.
Ogarit Younan sees herself in a permanent ‘philosophical thinking’, in a beautiful friendship with education and nonviolent action, to love and work, day by day…
All my life I lived in Lebanon, with daily initiatives and activities in and for all the regions, witnessing the ‘war periods’ and the ‘fragile peace’ periods, choosing To Be a volunteer intellectual nonviolent activist and writer for justice and love.
Contributing in the formation of new generations of activists and the first trainers and animators on non-violence, citizenship, human rights, conflicts, humane education, civil campaigns, and non-sectarianism, since 1983, which was a crucial transformative element towards a new kind of civil society in Lebanon.Institutionalizing the culture of non-violence on academic and civil society levels, including the foundation of a first of its kind university in Lebanon, the Arab region and worldwide.
Work history
Previous Professions:
- Voluntary work since 1982, including her last engagement in The Academic University for Non-Violence and Human Rights (AUNOHR).
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Since 2009, founder and supervisor of a public academy at the University of Nonviolence and Human Rights AUNOHR (voluntary work)."
Major Achievements
Publications (Books, Articles, Reports, etc.):
Books, Manuals and Research:
- Research on “The Social Mobility through School” (1982; in French);
- Research on “The Concept of Authority: the political Socialization through school” (1983; in French);
- Socio-Pedagogical study of the History school books for all political & sectarian trends in Lebanon: “Alternative for teaching a national unified History in schools” (1988);
- Analytical research on the “First elections for Unified Union of Teachers after the civil war” (1992);
- “Training on Peace, Democracy, Non-Sectarianism, Non-Violence and Conflict Management”: (with others, writing 60% of it): the first guide of its kind in the Arab region published by the UNESCO – Paris (1994);
- “Questions and Answers – Rights of Teachers” (The first Human Rights publication to simplify the laws of the teachers) (1994 – 1999);
- “How are we raised on Sectarianism” (First-of-its-kind 1992; publishing 1996) (Translated to English in 1999);
- “Violent Resistance – Non-Violent Resistance” (1996, with Walid SLAYBI);
- Research on the “Biography of the Death Penalty in Lebanon since the independence in 1943” (1997, published in W. SLAYBI book “The Death Penalty Kills”);
- Comparative study between the “Civil personal status draft laws in Lebanon since the fifties” (1997);
- “Civil marriage”: A guide to frequently asked questions (1998);
- “Nonviolence & Positive Conflict Management”: The first texts in a school manual for Civic Education in Lebanon (unified for all schools, private & public, under the new Constitution after the civil war) (Ministry of Education) (1999);
- Socio-judicial study on “Alternative to compulsory Military Service” (Text simplified for Youth & NGO) (1999);
- Analytical research of 90 schoolbooks for religious education of all sects and schools in Lebanon:
- “Alternatives to compulsory Religious – Sectarian Education in schools” (2000);
- 20 Questions & Answers on “Death Penalty” (2001, with Walid SLAYBI);
- “Women's Empowerment”: Training manual (the Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World (IWSAW); Lebanese American University – LAU) (2005);
- “61 short stories for Women” (12 booklet) (especially for the half-illiterate women) (the Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World (IWSAW); Lebanese American University – LAU) (2005);
- “How we avoid being raised on Sectarianism”: Concepts & Training manual (2005) (130 innovative methods) (Translated to English 2006);
- “No to the Death Penalty”: Concepts & Training manual (2011) (unique worldwide) (Translated to French 2013)
- The Civil Personal Status Law in Lebanon’s History since 1917: A Global research and documentation of a century.
- Quotes in Non-Violence (2020) (Arabic & English) (with Walid Slaiby’ contribution)
Academic texts and material: Philosophy of Education; Philosophy of Non-Violence; Non-Violent Communication; Positive Conflict Approaches; Human Rights; Peace and War concepts; Sociology and Citizenship; Training Active Methods; Mediation; Civil strategies...
Major achievements:
- Thanks to her (alone and with the late Walid Slaiby) that Non-Violence came to be nurtured and institutionalized, over the past four decades, in Lebanon and the Arab world, as “A new and avant-garde vision”.
- Initiating the modern Training, popular and professional since more than 40 years, innovating tens of new methods and pioneer manuals. She is known for her special method and spirit of training.
- Empowering thousands of young actors for peace, social justice and Non-Violence, to become: Trainers-Activists-Social Organizers.
- Innovating a reconciliation initiative, “Letters between Neighbors”, between communities after the civil war, for the displaced villages, which was implemented by young mediators and activists.
- Innovating an interactive Model for socialization on non-sectarianism in a divided country, Lebanon, since the civil war.
- Two unique Alternatives based on academic research at national level, for two crucial problems in the Lebanese sectarian system: History Teaching & Compulsory Religious Education.
- Creating & publishing a pioneer type of people’s rights bulletins, for: “Workers’ Rights”, “Teachers’ Rights”, “Youth & Students’ Rights”, “Community’ Rights”.
- Known as the pioneer of the Non-Violence Education in Lebanon, she innovated a first program since 1985 to transform schools into Non-Violence Education, which was crowned in 2018 at the national level by signing an agreement with the Ministry of Education & the Center of Education for Research and Development (CERD/ CRDP). For the first time, the culture of Non-Violence will be officially integrated in school syllabus for all public and private schools, from kindergarten to secondary classes.
- Changing the name of the “negro’s head” popular pastry as symbol of non-racism culture.
- Initiating the establishment and the inauguration of the universal statute of Non-Violence “knotted gun” in a first Arab capital, Beirut, in 2018.
- Developing a project of law for civil marriage “Lebanese civil Law for Personal Status” (244 articles), the only one introduced to the parliament and accepted on the agenda of the common parliamentary commissions (2011), and which was adopted by the National Campaign for Civil Personal Status.
- Succeeding in getting Lebanon to vote at the UN in favor of the universal moratorium on executions and celebrating 20 years of non-application of the death penalty (2004-2024).
- An added value for the higher education system: Innovating pioneer curricula, Master and Diploma degree, on Non-Violence studies, through the creation of a first university of its kind in Lebanon, the Arab world and at international level, AUNOHR.
Accomplishments
Diplomas:
- The honorary doctoral award in humanities for the year 2023 from LAU University for the distinguished figure in the field of human rights, Ogharit Younan, in appreciation of her outstanding achievements and service to the community.
Distinctions:
- The PAX Christi International Peace Award, 2006.
- The French Republic Human Rights Award, 2005.
- LAU Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters 2023 to the human rights pioneer figure, Ogarit Younan, in recognition of her outstanding achievements and service to society.
Awards:
- The PAX Christi International Peace Award 2006, for her continuous commitment for justice and peace in Lebanon and the Arab world.
- The French Republic Human Rights Award, with the late Walid Slaiby, as founders of LACR for the struggle to abolish the death penalty, 2005.
- GANDHI INTERNATIONAL AWARD 2022, with the late Walid Slaiby, for promoting Gandhian & Non-Violent values outside India for 40 years
Competences & Skills
Field(s) of Expertise:
- Sociology
- Non-Violence
- Education
- Sectarianism
- Human Rights
- Gender based Discrimination
- Civil Society
Languages:
- Arabic
- French
- English