Lebanon/Regional bootcamp in Beirut: Middle Eastern students learn about mediation and positive communication

AUF Middle East, in partnership with the Professional Mediation Center (CPM) of the University of Saint Joseph in Beirut (USJ), organized a regional mediation bootcamp on May 20 and 21, 2025, at AUF's Centre d'Employabilité Francophone (CEF) in Beirut.

Bringing together some fifty students from seven countries in the region (Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Sudan and Yemen), this intensive seThe aim of this intensive seminar was to strengthen their skills in amicable conflict management, positive communication and the use of mediation tools.

Supervised by experts from USJ's CPM, participants took part in practical workshops and mediation simulations, encouraging a participative approach rooted in the realities of their respective contexts.

The closing ceremony, held on May 21 at the National Library, was attended by M. Jean-Noël Baléo, Regional Director of AUF Middle East, the Rector of USJ, RP Salim Daccache s.j., and Ms Johanna Hawari-Bourjeily, Founder and Director of the CPM. The students presented interactive presentations illustrating the techniques acquired during the bootcamp.

Certificates of participation were awarded to participants, testifying to their commitment to becoming agents of change at their respective universities.

On this occasion, Jean-Noël Baléo underlined the importance, in a context of widespread violence and conflict in the Middle East, of raising students' awareness of mediation and the peaceful settlement of disputes, and of the need to take action.glement des différends, and of spreading a culture of conflict avoidance at local and decentralized campus levels, to contribute to national harmony and civil peace.

For his part, RP Salim Daccache s.j. stressed the importance of the partnership between the USJ's CPM and the AUF to disseminate mediation as a peace education process among universities in the Middle East and Lebanon.

For her part, Johanna Hawari-Bourjeily emphasized the importance of students learning to build human bridges together, and of passing on the learning from these two days to their peers.

This bootcamp is part of a series of actions undertaken by the AUF in the Middle East to develop mediation in a university context, with the aim of training a generation of student mediators, who will be able to share their knowledge and experience with their peers.generation of student mediators, capable of promoting the values of dialogue, respect and cultural diversity in their universities and communities.

Source: www.auf.org/