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
Ogarit Younan devoted her life to humane commitment and was a pioneering Arab woman in the field of non-violence.
She began her civil activity early, starting in school. The first text she wrote was against sectarianism, and another was about Palestine. After the school committee rejected them, she understood from the beginning what it meant to struggle against injustice. In 1976, at the onset of the Lebanese war, she published an article against violence in one of the major local newspapers. This led to a prominent figure visiting her and inviting her to be one of the founders of the main peace movement during the war. She was the youngest member.
In 1983, after the Lebanese war (1975-1990), she met Walid Slaiby, the nonviolent thinker who passed away in May 2023. Together, they 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, and unions. They became known as pioneers in the renewal of civil society in Lebanon since the mid-point of the civil war.
She is considered a reference on issues related to the sectarian system and secular state in Lebanon.
Ogarit Younan sees herself in a state of continuous ‘philosophical thinking,’ in a beautiful relationship with education and nonviolent action, dedicated to love and work, day by day.
Throughout her life in Lebanon, she engaged in daily initiatives and activities across all regions, witnessing both the 'war periods' and 'fragile peace' periods, choosing to be a volunteer intellectual, nonviolent activist, and writer for justice and love.
She has contributed to the formation of new generations of activists and the first trainers and facilitators in non-violence, citizenship, human rights, conflict resolution, humane education, civil campaigns, and anti-sectarianism since 1983. This work was a crucial transformative element toward a new type of civil society in Lebanon. She played a key role in institutionalizing the culture of non-violence at both academic and civil society levels, including the establishment of a pioneering university in Lebanon, the Arab region, and worldwide.
Education
Education:
- Sociology and Education, doctorate degree, Lebanese University and La Sorbonne.
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
Productions and works:
Books, Manuals, and Research:
- Research on “Social Mobility through School” (1982; in French).
- Research on “The Concept of Authority: Political Socialization through School” (1983; in French).
- Socio-pedagogical study of History school books for all political and sectarian trends in Lebanon: “Alternative for Teaching a National Unified History in Schools” (1988).
- Analytical research on “The First Elections for the Unified Union of Teachers after the Civil War” (1992).
- “Training on Peace, Democracy, Non-Sectarianism, Non-Violence, and Conflict Management”: (co-authored, writing 60% of it): the first guide of its kind in the Arab region published by UNESCO – Paris (1994).
- “Questions and Answers – Rights of Teachers” (The first Human Rights publication to simplify teachers' laws) (1994 – 1999).
- “How We Are Raised on Sectarianism” (First of its kind, 1992; published in 1996) (Translated to English in 1999).
- “Violent Resistance – Non-Violent Resistance” (1996, with Walid Slaiby).
- Research on “The Biography of the Death Penalty in Lebanon Since Independence in 1943” (1997, published in Walid Slaiby’s book “The Death Penalty Kills”).
- Comparative study of “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 and public, under the new Constitution after the civil war) (Ministry of Education) (1999).
- Socio-judicial study on “Alternatives to Compulsory Military Service” (Simplified text for Youth & NGOs) (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 the Death Penalty” (2001, with Walid Slaiby).
- “Women’s Empowerment”: Training manual (Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World (IWSAW); Lebanese American University – LAU) (2005).
- “61 Short Stories for Women” (12 booklets) (Especially for semi-illiterate women) (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’s contribution).
- Academic texts and materials: Philosophy of Education; Philosophy of Non-Violence; Non-Violent Communication; Positive Conflict Approaches; Human Rights; Peace and War Concepts; Sociology and Citizenship; Active Training Methods; Mediation; Civil Strategies.
Publications (Books, Articles, Reports, etc.):
- Younan, A. (2018). Personal Status in Lebanon – A Research Report Documenting a Comprehensive Strategy. Beirut: Author.
- Younan, A. (2013). Say No to the Death Penalty: Concepts and Training Manual. Beirut: Lebanese Civil Rights Organization. Translated into: French, English.
- Younan, A. (2005). How Not to Be Raised on Sectarianism. Beirut: Lebanese Civil Rights Organization. Translated into: English.
- Younan, A. (1996, first text 1992). How We Are Raised on Sectarianism. Beirut: Dar al-Jadeed and the Human Rights Movement. Translated into: English.
- Younan, A. (1998). Comparative Study of Personal Status Draft Laws in Lebanon Since the 1950s. Beirut: Author.
- Younan, A. (2000). Alternatives to Mandatory Religious Education in Schools. Beirut: Human Rights Movement.
- Younan, A. (2003). Empowering Arab Women through Literacy. Beirut: Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World at Lebanese American University.
Major achievements:
- Thanks to her (and the late Walid Sleibi), non-violence has been nurtured and established over the past four decades in Lebanon and the Arab world as a "new and advanced vision."
- She began modern, popular, and professional training over 40 years ago, creating dozens of new methods and pioneering guidelines. She is known for her unique style and the spirit of her training.
- She has empowered thousands of young people to become peace and social justice advocates and non-violence activists, including trainers, activists, and social organizers.
- She initiated a reconciliation project, "Messages Between Neighbors," between communities after the civil war, for displaced villages, which was implemented by mediators and young activists.
- She created an interactive model to introduce non-sectarianism in a divided country like Lebanon since the civil war.
- Based on national academic research, she developed two unique alternatives to two critical issues in the Lebanese sectarian system: compulsory history education and compulsory religious education.
- She established and published a pioneering type of pamphlets on people’s rights, such as: "Workers’ Rights," "Teachers’ Rights," "Youth and Students’ Rights," and "Community Rights."
- She is recognized as a pioneer in teaching non-violence in Lebanon and created the first program of its kind in 1985 to transform schools into non-violence education centers, culminating in 2018 with a national agreement with the Ministry of Education and the Center for Educational Research and Development (CERD/CRDP). For the first time, a non-violence culture will be officially integrated into the curricula of all public and private schools, from kindergarten to high school.
- She changed the name of "Ras al-Sudan," a popular sweet, to symbolize a non-racist culture.
- She initiated and inaugurated the global non-violence sculpture "The Knotted Gun" in the first Arab capital, Beirut, in 2018.
- She drafted the "Lebanese Civil Personal Status Law" (244 articles), the only bill presented to Parliament and accepted on the agenda of the joint parliamentary committees (2011), which was endorsed by the National Campaign for Civil Personal Status.
- She succeeded in convincing Lebanon to vote in favor of the global moratorium on executions and celebrate 20 years of non-implementation of the death penalty (2004-2024).
- She added value to higher education by developing pioneering curricula, a master’s degree, and a diploma in non-violence studies, through the creation of the first university of its kind in Lebanon, the Arab world, and internationally, 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