Fifth meeting: Beit Merry Lebanon, May, 2003.
Subject: Pan-Arab Meeting:
The Pan-Arab meeting for 2003 had two objectives: the first was to introduce new inspiring initiatives to the network of the Arab Education Forum, and conduct an in-depth discussion of the work of the Arab Education Forum, defining the terms that we use, and defining the relationships that were developed.
The participants were selected based on two main criteria: the first was a group of individuals/organizations who have developed and maintained strong cooperations with AEF over the past four years, and the second was a group of individuals/organizations who have crossed the path of AEF but have not been directly involved in any of the AEF meetings. The final group of participants were the following:
1. Laila Iskandar, CID, Egypt
2. Dimitri Khodr, Beirut D.C., Lebanon
3. Margo Malatjelian, writer, Jordan
4. Lubna el Amine, Qalb el Umur youth project, Lebanon
5. Farah Choucair, Qalb el Umur youth project, Lebanon
6. Mona Knio, Arab Theatre Training Center, Lebanon
7. Youssef AbdulNabi, Qalb el Umur youth project, Jordan
8. Sawsan Dissi, Qalb el Umur youth project, Jordan
9. Moza Ghubash, Community Reading project, Dubai
10. Fateh Khalef, General Union of Students, Algeria
11. Wahid Hintati, Sfax children's book fair, Tunis
12. AbdulRazzaq Kammoun, Sfax Children's book fair, Tunis
13. Dr. Nour Dajani, UNESCO, Beirut
14. Salwa Baaseeri Siniora, UNESCO, Beirut
15. Hanan Min'em, Educational center for research and development, Lebanon
16. Mirsal Abi Nader, Educational center for research and development, Lebanon
17. Hassan al Ibrahim, AEF coordinating committee, Kuwait
18. Sally at Turki, AEF coordinating committee, Saudi Arabia
19. Adnan el Amine, AEF coordinating committee, Lebanon
20. Munir Fasheh, Director, AEF
21. Serene Huleileh, Regional Director, AEF
22. Mai Jneidi, Webmaster, AEF
The meeting which took place in Beit Merry, Lebanon, reviewed over the period of three days the various programs of AEF, as well as listening to presentations from the different partners on their work and how it was impacted by the AEF network.
Unlike the other meetings, the proceedings of this annual meeting went into the evaluation report and proposed future program of AEF.
لقاء إقليمي حول دور حملات تشجيع القراءة والكتابة والنشر في الوطن العربي في نشر الثقافة ومحو الأمية.
Regional meeting on "The Role of promoting reading, writing and publishing campaigns in spreading literacy in the Arab World"
7th September, 2002
Amman/Jordan.
Organizers: the Arab Education Forum in cooperation with the UNISCO/Amman & Ministry of Education/Jordan
Participants:
1. Yumna Albatran (Ministry of Culture/Palestine).
2. Abdulsalam Nakhleh (Tamer Institute for Community Education/Palestine).
3. Denise As’ad (Children Literature Critic and Writer/Palestine).
4. Rawda Alhuhud (National Reading Campaign/Jordan).
5. Ali Elbtairi (National Reading Campaign/Jordan).
6. Margo Mlatigelian (Child’s World Center/Jordan).
7. Lamees Alhusaini (Dar Albustan Bookshop/Jordan)/
8. Aida Maraqah (The Library of French Center for Middle Eastern Studies).
9. Taghreed Alnaji (The Library of Greater Amman Municipality).
10. Rasha Najdi (Aljana Center/Lebanon).
11. Sharifa Samawi (Department of Reading Promotion/Tunisian Ministry of Culture).
12. Margot Sonaibo (Diakonia Institute/Sweden, Jerusalem).
13. Robert Barwa (UNISCO/Amman).
14. Lina Khamees (UNISCO/Amman).
15. Munir Fasheh (Arab Education Forum).
16. Serene Huleileh (Arab Education Forum).
Recommendations and Follow-up:
This meeting was a preliminary meeting to bring together individuals as well as governmental and non governmental Organizations in the Arab world active in promoting reading and writing and publishing for children and youth. Each participant presented his/her work in the field, and the presentations were followed up by suggestions to develop this network and interaction amongst these initiatives. The following recommendations were not directed to others but were rather an expression of a commitment on the part of the participants:
Initiating an e-network for individuals and institutions active in the promotion of reading, writing and publishing in the Arab world, in order to exchange information about different activities, articles and publications to enrich each other's work and to be aware of different experiences.
Preparing for another meeting on April, 2003 at the head office of UNESCO in Jordan that includes: seminars, specialized workshops, a children's book and illustrations fair, in addition to presentations of various experiences.
Make contact with TARA (The Arab Reading Association) in Bahrain to arrange a follow-up meeting in February, 2003 in Bahrain to coincide with their annual conference.
The Arab Education Forum will allocate a special section on its website for the reading, writing and publishing promotion group, where visitors can become acquainted with the various experiences in this field.
The UNESCO website will be used to present some experiences in this field.
In addition, the following suggestions were made:
To establish an Arab Committee for Children Books.
To issue a unified Arab reading passport.
To establish a regional resource center for children's literature similar to the Palestinian experience in this field.
To draw a practical plan for the marketing and distribution of books published by non-governmental organizations.
لقاء يجمع بين مبادرات عربية تتوجه للشباب في مجال التوعية البيئية من مصر والأردن وفلسطين ولبنان.
I. The Heinrich Boll Foundation and the Arab Education Forum co-organized a meeting in Cairo for groups involved in environmental awareness and youth in Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon. The meeting took place from 8 – 10 December 2003 and included 25 participants from 11 NGOs in 4 countries. A film and newsletter documenting the meeting are currently being prepared and are scheduled to be disseminated in July 2004.