Ogarit Younan

A pioneer intellectual and advocate of the non-violent education in Lebanon and the Arab world.
Younan is a researcher and writer;
She is an expert and innovator of a specific method in training. She had developed tens of methods and training exercises, some of which translated to English and French.
Studying and specializing in Sociology and Education Sciences (The Lebanese University, and Sorbonne – Paris).
Founder and/or co-founder of the first human rights and nonviolent organizations in Lebanon and the Arab region, and member in the first international network of expert trainers and pioneers on peace, conflict resolution, citizenship and human rights.

She started her cultural and civil activity, soon at school. The first text she wrote was against sectarianism. After the school committee refused it, she understood from the beginning that the struggle by ‘words’ must be the path. And, 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 a peace and secular current. She was the youngest member…

In 1982, she met Walid Slaybi, in the wake of the Lebanese war, and embarked on a joint journey of life and struggle, as partners seeking to build their dream day by day under exceptional circumstances. They shared the same vision to serve the values of non-violence, justice, freedom, non-sectarianism, and love.
They came to be known as pioneers in the renewal of civil society in Lebanon for the past three decades (since the mid-eighties).

Since 1986, she launched the first bulletins on human rights in Lebanon, based on the art of simplification and vulgarization of the knowledge and published on national level with extensive impact: for the worker’s rights, for the teacher’s rights, for the youth and student’s rights, and for the community and citizens’ rights.
She has more than 20 titles of researches and publications, in education, political socialization, the history schoolbooks, the religious teaching books, the personal status, the death penalty, the compulsory military service, the women’ empowerment, the culture of non-violence… In addition to pioneer manuals and training guides, articles, lectures, short stories, and poems.

Her first book “How can be raised on sectarianism”, and its complementary book on “How can avoid being raised on sectarianism”, both translated to English, were unique in kind and had a deep impact on more than generation with particular academic interest.

Younan is considered as reference in issues related to the sectarian system and laws in Lebanon. She is also known to be the first to have integrated the culture of non-violence and the conflict resolution in the official curricula in Lebanon.

Ogarit Younan sees herself in a permanent activity, teaching and learning at the same time in a beautiful friendship with education, to love and work day by day…