Activity: Follow up meeting on the World Congress of the World Federations of UNESCO Clubs, Centers and Associations (WFUCA) held in Athens, Greece from 11 to 13 July 2007 and a workshop titled “How to Act in an International Conference”
Date: Saturday, November 3, 2007
Time: 8:30 am until 1:30 pm
Place: West Hall, Room 400
Patronage of: Lebanese National Commission for UNESCO (LNCU)
Sponsor: Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs
Organizers: UNESCO Club cabinet
Attendees:
Ms. Christiane Jeitani, UNESCO Clubs National Coordinator at LNCU
Ms. Wadad Hueisseny, Director of Student Activities at the Office of Students Affairs - AUB
AUB UNESCO Club
1- Nidal Mawas, president
2- Esraa Al Muftah, treasurer
3- Nermine Shatila, secretary
4- Afif Tabsh, member at large
5- Sana Nassar, member
6- Aya Asaad, member
7- Suzan El Loulou, member
8- Tariq Buhilaigah, member
9- Mohamad Hindi, member
10- Loulwa Kalash, member
11- Majed El Saadi, member
12- Rouba Mhaissen, member
13- Muneera Al Naibari, member
14- Dominik Wierzbousk, member
15- Claudia Matta, member
16- Dima Matar, member
17- Samira Naim, member
18- Moh’d Warae, member
19- Khairat Al-Habbal, member
LAU UNESCO Club
1- Tala Itani, president
2- Abbas Sibai, treasurer and secretary
3- Wael Komaty, member
4- Nazha Sadek, member
5- Rashad Taha, member
USJ UNESCO Club
1- Hoda Barakat, president
LU UNESCO Club
1- Rami El Shahhal
2- Mohamad Fahad Annous
Nabatieh UNESCO Club
1- Christianne Abou Zeid, member & coordinator
2- Achraf Noureldine, member
3- Khalil Rezek, member
Schedule of event:
8:30 am – 9:00 am: Registration and handing out of the countries’ profiles for the workshop
This task was done at the entrance of West Hall by Esraa who handed out the files, name tags, and pens. She was there to direct the attendees to Room 400.
9:00 am – 9:30 am: Overview of UNESCO Clubs by Christiane Jeitani
This presentation covered the history, aims, themes of study, and activities of the UNESCO clubs and their relation to the LNCU and UNESCO. This was a reminder for all the attendees, who are by majority cabinet members of other UNESCO clubs, the guidelines for conducting activities as UNESCO Clubs and policies related.
9:30 am – 10:15 am: Presentation and discussion of reports of WFUCA by Nidal Mawas and Abbas Sibai
This presentation covered the details of the WFUCA by which Nidal and Abbas described the difficulties they faced in the world congress in Greece in terms of dealing with matters of diplomacy. This presentation triggered lots of debate on ‘corridor diplomacy’ especially when confronting Israel. This brought forth controversial issues very much related to politics (although UNESCO is an apolitical organization).
10:15 am – 10:45 am: Break
Catered by Socrate, refreshments and snacks were offered. During this break a lot of socializing took place during which the various Lebanese UNESCO clubs’ representatives met and acquainted with one another. This proved to be very efficient for the mediating of communication between the attendees.
10:45 am – 11:15 am: Quiz by Nidal Mawas and discussion by Hoda Barakat, president of USJ UNESCO Club on her participation in an UNESCO workshop in Germany
A quiz by Nidal on what are the five regions represented in the WFUCA in order to draw the attendees’ attention to this point and to show that the Arab countries are not classified as Asia, Africa nor the Middle East, but rather as Arab states. Furthermore, Hoda Barakat, the president of the USJ UNESCO club, presented her experience about the UNESCO workshop she attended in Germany, which prompted debate and discussion on the importance of attending conferences and meeting activists from different regions. This was considered to be essential for the acknowledgement of a human being.
11:15 am – 11:30 am: Announcement of UNESCO website by Afif Tabsh
Afif presented the dynamic website that would enable communication between the various Lebanese UNESCO clubs. This website organizes events, enables on-line chatting, and facilitates the announcement of events. After a brief and quick presentation on how to use the website, Afif was asked to create a manual that facilitates the use of the website in addition to the creation of an account for Christiane Jeitani and Wadad El Husseiny, who insisted on creating a procedure that would ensure the continuity of the website. This was followed by the distribution of the user names and passwords a cabinet member of each UNESCO club.
11:30 am – 12:00 pm: Presentation on diplomacy and international affairs by Nermine Shatila
A thirty minute long presentation was given by Nermine on diplomacy. Information on the history of diplomacy, its definition, and its progression was initially given followed by detailed information on the modes of diplomacy and the detailed process of negotiation. This presentation included all the difficulties that a diplomat faces in addition to the necessary strategies and considerations that have to be taken into account in the process. The attendees found the information given to be helpful but the presentation to be too long. A suggestion of including a power point presentation or a brief video of diplomats at work was made. Nermine was asked to send the detailed information by e-mail to all the attendees.
12:00pm – 1:30pm: Round-table discussion on assigned case study
The round-table discussion was regarding the issue of freedom of expression and press. Eight countries were represented by several attendees and each country was asked to give a brief on their position regarding their specific cases. After, a discussion was prompted in search for a definition on ‘freedom’ when it comes to press. Due to time constraints, the discussion was brought to an end before the attendees used all their arguments. However, a resolution was passed by the “UNESCO representatives”, Nidal and Nermine, in order to close the event.
Overall, this event was deemed successful by all the attendees, the cabinet members, and Christiane Jeitani. It was a very efficient way in enhancing communication within the AUB UNESCO Club and through the UNESCO Clubs of Lebanon.
