Dawaer

National Network
Lebanon
Address

Beirut-Badaro
Beirut
Lebanon

Telephone
009613159027
E-Mail
lama@dawaerfoundation.org
Organisation Type
Non-Governmental Organization
Year of Establishment
2015
Fields of Activity
  1. Democracy and community development
  2. Human rights
  3. Media
  4. Youth and education
General Information
Dawaer Foundation is a non governmental organization established in 2015 by a team of motivated activists who are committed to preventing the spread of extremism in Lebanon and the Middle East through producing and disseminating alternative narratives and empowering youth and children to become responsible global citizens and mobilizing their critical thinking to counter radicalisation. Dawaer has one full time and two part-time staff, and 10 committed volunteers, dedicated to the development of the NGO. Dawaer is mainly involved in capacity building and networking activities that enhance human right values and practices among vulnerable communities to reduce violent extremism. Our main partners are the Ministry of Social Affairs development centers, Beit Atfal Assumoud, and youth groups and leaders in Palestinian and Syrian refugee camps in addition to MUBS university and Teach for Lebanon. Dawaer is a member of ANHRE (The Arab Network for Civic Education) an independent non-governmental Arab Network located in Jordan consisting of 53 member organizations in 10 countries working to unify and coordinate efforts among different civil societies concerned with Human Rights and Citizenship Education, to influence the policies, procedures, formal and non-formal regulations in order to ensure the adoption of legislations that respect Human Rights and dignity. It is worth noting that Dawaer has joined the Prevention Network of the "Strong Cities" Network of NGOs to prevent radicalism established by the Danish CVE Programme for the MENA region and will soon join the prevention network established by the Municipality of Beirut to counter radicalism.
Mission and Objectives

Dawaer's mission is to prevent the spread of extremism among youth and children in Lebanon and the Middle East through producing and disseminating alternative narratives and empowering youth and children to become responsible global citizens and mobilizing their critical thinking to counter radicalization. Our objectives are: - Youth are empowered to critically respond to extremist narratives - A network of teachers is formed whereby they are empowered to respond to behavioural and extremism challenges among their students and exchange experience at the national level - Raise the awareness and develop the skills of schools on detecting extremism among their students, adopting preventive measures and empowering young people to become more resilient to extremism. - Enhancing media literacy in schools to prevent extremism - Empowering parents to detect and respond to signs of radicalisation among their children - Enhance community social cohesion and resilience against extremism

Main Projects / Activities

Dawaer has started training the Ministry of Social Affairs staff in Lebanon, who are in direct contact with children and youth, on implementing interactive activities that enhance human right concepts and values and self-expression and achieve a change on the attitude level.
Furthermore, Dawaer has trained social workers and “Teach for Lebanon” staff on implementing interactive human right activities for children aged between 9-12 years to enhance their self-expression and resilience. The activities were further disseminated to over 200 Syrian refugee children in the area of Bar Elias.
Dawaer has further worked with Syrian Refugee children in Burj Al Barajneh camp to raise their awareness on human rights, respect for diversity and protection and build their resilience against human right violations.

How can you contribute to the Network in your country?

Dawaer can network with existing partners to conduct complementary projects that would enhance the impact of the work done. By partnering and cooperating with civil society organizations, we believe we can multiply the impact of our efforts into different aspects and several areas.

Why do you want to join the ALF Network?

Dawaer believes that being part of the ALF network will facilitate sharing information among NGOs of silimar or complimentary missions, offer support and guidance, have access to more resources and provide a sense of belonging to us and achieve a greater impact on the national level.

Contact (1) Full Name
Lama El Awad
Job Title
Executive director
Head of the organisation
Lama El Awad
Contact (2) Full Name
Rania Zaatari
Job Title (2)
President