Naam lil Hiwar: The War as We Lived it

"Memory is the antidote to repetition of the wars.”
Ghassan Mkheiber

In commemoration of the Lebanese civil war, Nahwa al Muwatiniya is please to invite you to an open dialogue session with Mrs. Wadad Halwani, president of the Committee of the Families of the Disappeared, and Mr. Assaad Chaftari, former militia intelligence chief during the civil war, titled:

The war as we lived it
Testimonials and confessions on the civil war

Come and share your personal experiences and feelings about the Lebanese civil war in this transparent and uncensored dialogue; let us remember, commemorate, and reconciliate.

PLACE: 961 on Gemayze Street (next to Doculand)

DATE: Monday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m. sharp


Please mark your calendar. Naam lil Hiwar will alternate on Mondays between the following places:

961 on Gemayze Street:
Every other Monday on March 31, April 14, and April 28

Café Yet on Hadi Nasrallah Boulevard (intersection with Sfeir bridge) next to Pizza Plus, facing BLOM bank - Dahieh
Every other Monday on April 7, April 21, May 5

For more information: 03-562478 or 01-354466
info@na-am.org




بمناسبة ذكرى الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية وإيماناً منّا بمبدأ "تنذكر ل ما تنعاد"، تدعوكم جمعيّة نحو المواطنيّة إلى حوار مفتوح وصريح مع السيدة وداد حلواني، رئيسة لجنة أهالي المخطوفين والسيد أسعد شفتري، رئيس مخابرات سابق في الميليشيا خلال الحرب الأهلية، تحت عنوان:


الحرب كما عشناها
شهادات واعترافات عن الحرب الأهلية

شاركونا تجاربكم الشخصية ومعاناتكم خلال الحرب في هذا الحوار الشفاف لنتذكّر و نعتبر ونتصالح...

المكان: مقهى 961 في شارع الجميزة ( قرب دوكولاند) -

الزمان: : الأثنين، 14 نيسان في تمام الساعة 7:30 مساءً-


نرجو الملاحظة أنه سوف تنعقد جلسات نعم للحوار أيام الأثنين بالتتابع بين المكانين التاليين:

*مقهى 961—شارع الجميزة
كلّ ثاني ورابع نهار إثنين من الشهر: 31 آذار، 14 نيسان، 28 نيسان

* قهوة كافيه يات—أتوستراد هادي نصراللـه (تقاطع جسرالصفير)
كلّ أوّل وثالث نهار إثنين من الشهر: 7 نيسان، 21 نيسان، 5 أيار

للمزيد من المعلومات:562478 03
01 354466
info@na-am.org

Naam lil Hiwar: The War as We Lived it

"Memory is the antidote to repetition of the wars.”
Ghassan Mkheiber

In commemoration of the Lebanese civil war, Nahwa al Muwatiniya is please to invite you to an open dialogue session with Mrs. Wadad Halwani, president of the Committee of the Families of the Disappeared, and Mr. Assaad Chaftari, former militia intelligence chief during the civil war, titled:

The war as we lived it
Testimonials and confessions on the civil war

Come and share your personal experiences and feelings about the Lebanese civil war in this transparent and uncensored dialogue; let us remember, commemorate, and reconciliate.

PLACE: 961 on Gemayze Street (next to Doculand)

DATE: Monday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m. sharp


Please mark your calendar. Naam lil Hiwar will alternate on Mondays between the following places:

961 on Gemayze Street:
Every other Monday on March 31, April 14, and April 28

Café Yet on Hadi Nasrallah Boulevard (intersection with Sfeir bridge) next to Pizza Plus, facing BLOM bank - Dahieh
Every other Monday on April 7, April 21, May 5

For more information: 03-562478 or 01-354466
info@na-am.org




بمناسبة ذكرى الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية وإيماناً منّا بمبدأ "تنذكر ل ما تنعاد"، تدعوكم جمعيّة نحو المواطنيّة إلى حوار مفتوح وصريح مع السيدة وداد حلواني، رئيسة لجنة أهالي المخطوفين والسيد أسعد شفتري، رئيس مخابرات سابق في الميليشيا خلال الحرب الأهلية، تحت عنوان:


الحرب كما عشناها
شهادات واعترافات عن الحرب الأهلية

شاركونا تجاربكم الشخصية ومعاناتكم خلال الحرب في هذا الحوار الشفاف لنتذكّر و نعتبر ونتصالح...

المكان: مقهى 961 في شارع الجميزة ( قرب دوكولاند) -

الزمان: : الأثنين، 14 نيسان في تمام الساعة 7:30 مساءً-


نرجو الملاحظة أنه سوف تنعقد جلسات نعم للحوار أيام الأثنين بالتتابع بين المكانين التاليين:

*مقهى 961—شارع الجميزة
كلّ ثاني ورابع نهار إثنين من الشهر: 31 آذار، 14 نيسان، 28 نيسان

* قهوة كافيه يات—أتوستراد هادي نصراللـه (تقاطع جسرالصفير)
كلّ أوّل وثالث نهار إثنين من الشهر: 7 نيسان، 21 نيسان، 5 أيار

للمزيد من المعلومات:562478 03
01 354466
info@na-am.org

Youth in Action

Lebanese youths are often unaware of their rights and responsibilities as citizens, as well as the practices of a democratic society. They lack skills on how to be active and take part in the decision making process in the country.

Moreover, Lebanon has not witnessed one single lawsuit to bring corrupt public officials to justice in the entire 53-year history of Law 154/99 “Min ayn laka Haza.” The law is simply inapplicable in its present form. Essentially, limited civic participation by citizens and the lack of accountability in politics have played a large role in delaying the emergence of a strong and progressive democratic society. (read more)

Na-aM is recruiting

Nahwa al-Muwatinya is seeking to recruit motivated and engaged citizens in the following positions:

• General Coordinator (read more)
  
• Financial Manager (read more)
  

If you fit any of the needed profiles, drop us a line!

Youth In Action Gains Visibility in Daily Star, May 31st 2007

Called to account: Young activists target graft in high places
'Youth in Action' project wants to create pressure for updating of 'completely flawed' corruption legislation
By Nour Samaha
Daily Star staff

Thursday, May 31, 2007
BEIRUT: Lebanese law 154/99, meant to regulate corruption among civil servants, has become a cause for concern for some people dedicated to reducing the country's democratic deficit. The civil society movement Nahwa al-Muwatiniya (NAM) has decided to rally young people and lobby Parliament in an effort to redress the legislation's shortcomings.

Law 154/99, otherwise known as the Illicit Wealth Law, was created in 1954 but has yet to be used because of glaring flaws in its design, NAM says. Its original purpose was to scrutinize the role of public servants, ensure they fulfill their duties and limit corruption in Parliament. However, says NAM, the law is unacceptable in its current form.

"The law is meant to monitor the role of public servants and parliamentarians, but it is not working - it is completely flawed," said NAM coordinator Sonya Day in an interview with The Daily Star. "We are working on a project that empowers the youth to lobby their parliamentarians to change the law."
The project, known as Youth In Action, is designed to educate youths on their rights as Lebanese citizens and on the powers they have to make a difference in how the country is managed and run.
"We are working on two main objectives," said project leader Sahar Franjieh.
"The first [is] to empower youths in taking part in the decision-making process and the formation of the country. The second objective is to train the youths in lobbying and advocacy skills, in order for them to use these newly found abilities on parliamentarians and to fight corruption."

Sponsored by the World Bank, the project has already completed several workshops throughout the country, including sessions in Beirut, Sidon, Baalbek and Tripoli. Still to be completed are workshops in Nabatieh and Zahle.
Youths aged 18-25 - a mixture of university students and professionals - can participate in the workshops, which are designed to help students gain awareness of and practice their rights as citizens.
"Once they attend the training workshop, the youths then go and call parliamentarians in order to push for an amendment to the law," said Franjieh. "The previous workshops have been successful because volunteers who attended them have managed to secure meetings with certain parliamentarians to discuss the law. This is very positive for us and for [the youths]."

It is necessary to create a culture and tradition of working with youths and building awareness of citizens' rights, added Franjieh. "Their role is not just to go and vote," she said. "They have other rights as well, such as monitoring their parliamentarians."
The workshops consist of a series of lectures and group participation sessions with the presence of legal experts. NAM is developing the workshops into a campaign to assess the role of citizens in Lebanon through the participation of local and international non-governmental organizations.
"While we have implemented this project, we think the participation of other groups is necessary to bring awareness to the issue," she said. "In addition, we have had positive feedback from some of the parliamentarians we have lobbied."
During the lobbying of the parliamentarians, the youths have managed to bring together at least half a dozen officials - from differing party blocs - to sign the youths' petition and support their case.
"The petition, essentially, is to get enough official signatures to ensure that the next time there is a parliamentary session, this issue of amending the law will be brought up and put on the agenda," said Day.
While it may not be successful the first time, the group is not willing to give up. "We will keep on trying," said Franjieh. "You can't get anywhere unless you try, and the youths are motivated to do this."
The youth remain the focus of the entire project and the campaign. "The whole idea is to get a group of youths to become expert lobbyists and who know how to lobby when a law needs to be amended," she said.
As the situation in the country deteriorates, movements and groups such as NAM continue to plan for the future, in an effort to improve the political system and prevent deadlocks.

NAM's next Youth In Action workshop will take place Saturday, June 2 in Nabatieh in the Cultural Council of the South from 10 a.m.

Rapid Action Needed for Palestinian Refugees in North!

Since last Sunday, May 20th, there have been fighting between the Fatah al Islam and the Lebanese Army in the Nahr El-Bared Palestinian camp in Tripoli. The fights have continued despite of the attempt to a cease-fire on Thursday 24th, and the security situation has grown worse. Thousands of Palestinian families have fled their homes to another camp, Badawi, also located in Northern Lebanon.

Already poor Badawi residents are hosting a large number of refugees. A rapid reaction of the Civil Society is needed among the humanitarian help provided by the international organizations.

Please, help us with raising funds for these neglected people in need! Na-aM together with a group of students, AUB professors and a Palestinian humanitarian relief group wants to contribute to the worsening situation by providing the refugees with medication and everyday necessities.

We would highly appreciate your financial donation of any kind. This can be done by either contacting Ms. Newman, or by depositing in the Na-aM account- as found on the website, and sending an email designating the money for aid.

For more information, please contact Marcy Newman at 70-977812 / marcynewman@gmail.com

The Hiwar blog is online!

Preview the new-born Hiwar blog (hiwar.na-am.org). Give it time to deploy! We, of course, expect your contribution, either by participating to the Hiwar sessions, or by commenting on our blog.