For the 7th consecutive year the Department of Government and International Relations (GIR) and the Human Rights Club at the Faculty of Law and Political Science (FLPS) at Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU) organized Human Rights Trivia Competition titled “The Road Less Traveled”, targeting secondary school students in Lebanon.
Building on the legacy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which turned 70 years old on 10 December 2018, GIR partnered with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF), Lebanon and Syria office. “Our aim is to engage youth in a societal debate, prepare them to become leaders of change, and equip them to work against structural causes of injustice and oppression, and towards liberation and solidarity with one another”, said Dr. Cedar Mansour the Dean of FLPS.
Prior to the competition, 80 high school students from various institutions all over Lebanon, participated in training seminars, held on the main campus, and conducted by GIR faculty members in collaboration with professional and human rights activists from Save the Children Lebanon with Aliaa Awada, media advocacy and campaign manager; George Ghali, executive director at ALEF-act for human rights and Bassam Kantar, member of the Lebanese Human Rights Commission. The training sessions were conducted during two separate dates and covered topics related to History of Human Rights, Bullying Prevention Methods and Protection, Human Rights Treaties, Refugee Rights, Democracy and Good Governance and Human Rights in Lebanon in addition to general awareness about equality and diversity. During the actual competition, the participating team sat for two rounds of written tests. The teams that were qualified for the second round competed in a set of seven rounds. The questions were prepared and judged by a panel of five-experienced jury.
The jury included Rida Azar a member of the Lebanese Human Rights Commission; Awada, Dr. Chady Hajjal judge and constitutional expert; Dr. Karim El Mufti Director of the Human Rights Legal Clinic at Sagesse University and George Ghali.
The winning teams received a monetary prize which was sponsored by Byblos Bank. The winners were:
First Prize: Sacred Heart School – Kfarhbab, Ghazir (College des Saints-Coeurs Kfarhbab)
Second Prize: Jesus and Mary School – Rabieh
Third Prize: Al Qalaa Secondary School – Saida
At the end of the competition Dr. Dany Ghsoub, the chairperson of GIR, thanked all those who have made these trainings and competition possible. “Our department’s commitment in spreading the culture of human rights, rule of law and democracy is in line with the university mission. We believe that holistic quality education does not occur in the classroom, it is a continuous effort by all of us at the university and the community; here we have created a learning environment to nourish the mind and soul of our students. Through this Trivia competition we expanded our reach to a younger generation as well,” concluded Dr. Ghsoub.