Year 2021 In Review
Since October 2019, and even more after the Beirut port blast in August 2020, Lebanon has been witnessing very challenging times: from an uprising to an economic meltdown and multidimensional crises.
Always true to our mission, we at “Fondation Diane” had one thing in mind! How to play a central role in our community, and positively contribute to reviving our economy and the well-being of our people. To achieve so, we kept fighting for “Sustainable Development” and promoting “Civic Awareness”, while preserving the environment.
365 Days of "Fondation Diane" Stories
Despite all challenges, we focused on giving back to our community while prioritizing the following fundamental pillars:
SDG 3 and SDG 10: Ensuring Good Health & Well-Being, and Reducing Inequalities
In light of the skyrocketing costs of quality medical care and the undermined healthcare sector in Lebanon, we signed an MOU with Hotel-Dieu de France to establish a “Social Pediatric Clinic” for the underprivileged children in Lebanon from birth to adulthood, to provide them with medicinal care, physical health and psychosocial services, at no cost, with a nominal registration fee.
SDG 5: Achieve Gender Equality and Empower all Women and Girls
To empower women and contribute to achieving gender equality, we launched a series of awareness videos on the occasion of the “Women’s Day” and the “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence”. We also partnered with the UNFPA and developed a 9-day Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Training and intensive program for more than 35 GBV specialists and social workers.
To highlight women’s role even in politics, our President, Mrs. Diana Fadel actively participated as a keynote speaker in the signing ceremony of the book entitled: “Lebanese Women: Journey to the Parliament” by Dr. Halime Kaakour. She also took part in the IPI’s (International Peace Institute) online discussion entitled “Empowerment of Young Women in the MENA Region”, attended by leading women from across the region, as well as officials and diplomats. Playing an influential role and being a source of inspiration for women in the region, her achievements in empowering women were recognized by the WLC (Women Leaders Council of Lebanon) who appointed her as an honorary member in the council.
Having survived two cancer diseases, she delivered a strong and inspirational message as part of our October “Breast Cancer Awareness” Campaign.
SDG 2: End hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition & promote sustainable agriculture
To contribute to SDG2 in Lebanon, we are proud to have launched the 1st edition of the EEST Program that awarded 4 green MSMEs in the Food & Beverage industry for their social, economic, and environmental impact.
As a step to achieve our Corporate Social Responsibility, we collaborated with "Haddak Men B3id" NGO to collect food donations and give them back to the less fortunate.
As a member of the Mediterranean Innovation Partnership (MIP), we also took part in the "Mediterranean Innovation Agri-Food Week" in Italy.
Civic Awareness
We at "Fondation Diane", are crazy about Lebanon and the people of Lebanon. That’s why we enlighten them and make them aware of their responsibilities towards their country, the society, and the environment. Not only this, we relentlessly motivate them to be the voice of change, and fight for their civic, political, and human rights.
Committed to restore the motivation and lost vigor of the Lebanese people, we hope that Lebanon becomes once again the country we all dream of!
In this regard, we distributed “Kulluna Lil Watan”, the 1st Book of Revolution in Images to more than 20 winners of our “independence competition” and “Why You Love Lebanon” contest on our social media platforms. We also launched the Lebanese Diaspora Voting Campaign to encourage them to register to the upcoming Lebanese parliamentary elections that will be held on May 2022. We also took part in the “Beirut Blast 1st Year Memorial”. To revive the Lebanese Musical Heritage, we contributed to the unearthing of the lost music of Wadia Sabra, the composer of the Lebanese anthem, after it was hidden for 70 years. We did so through sponsoring the “1st Modern Edition of Wadia Sabra's Music by Fady Jeanbart”, and participating in the official issuing ceremony of Wadia Sabra and Rachid Nakhle’s Limited Edition Stamps!
SDG 6: Clean Water & Sanitation for All
The Chair of “Fondation Diane” in Education for Eco-citizenship & Sustainable Development (CEEDD) contributed in raising awareness on water management practices, through partnering with the USAID in 2 main projects:
1- launching the "Sustainable Management of Waterin the Region of Akkar" and organizing a school competition around the topic at Al Marzouka Public School for girls
2- launching the national campaign called LWP (Lebanon Water Project) and prepared a series of brochures and videos about: groundwater pollution, wastewater management, water conservation in agriculture, water conservation in industries, rainwater harvesting, and the responsibilities of citizens.
SDG 4: Quality Education
In quality Education, we granted Mr. Hreir Danageuzian the opportunity to pursue his doctorate studies as part of our annual "Call for Phd Scholarships".
Organizational Development
Committed to organizational excellence, we are one step closer to the NGOi certification (a Non- Governmental Organizations Initiative of the American University of Beirut).
SDG 13: Climate Action
We organized an “Environment Day” competition and contributed in raising awareness over environment preservation across many schools in Lebanon.
In the same context, with more than 13 Stop ECO(sui)CIDE operations throughout the years, “Fondation Diane” is committed to continue its mission of preserving Lebanon’s nature; Our Volunteers database has drastically grown; we succeeded in gathering more than 500 motivated volunteers from all over Lebanon to help us achieve our environmental activities, such as beach cleanups, reforestation, fight for gender equality…
We are still playing a major role in Making USJ Green! Our "Waste Sorting Campaign" successfully continues for the 4th year in a row. Our sorting bins are distributed across the university’s campuses, we make sure to periodically collect the waste and transport it to recycling plants.
Eco-sustainability
We collaborated with the Lycee Francais-Verdun to ensure an eco-sustainable path within the school. We also signed an MOU with ALERC (L'Association Libanaise pour Renouvellement Educatif) to organize trainings and awareness projects on environmental education at the level of schools and municipalities.
Webinars
The Chair of “Fondation Diane” (CEEDD) organized a series of webinars, entitled:
-
"Agro-ecology: "Opportunities for the youth and the new farmers in Lebanon".
-
"Aromatherapy In Times of COVID" to boost the immune system and relieve anxiety amid the coronavirus pandemic.
-
"COVID-19 mRNA vaccines- A Step Closer to Health and Well-Being"
-
“mRNA Anti-Cancer vaccines: an approach to Better Health”
-
«L'Inclusion Universitaire des Personnes a Besoins Specifiques - Vers l'egalite des chances pour tous » with the Chair of UNESCO
-
المواطنية البيئية في ظل الرقمنة: أي فرص للتغيير
-
“Les Dechets: Un Marqueur de notre societe”, tackling waste from its different perspectives, and proposing solutions.
Green Entrepreneurship
To foster Green Entrepreneurship and Support eco-entrepreneurs and innovators, we partnered with many international and local entities on different projects and programs.
We are proud of our partnership with the Asfari Foundation and Cewas on the implementation of the YLEAP Program (Youth, Learning, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program)… a program that aims at building the organizational capacity and strengthening the sustainable entrepreneurship ecosystem in Lebanon.
As the leading partner of SwitchMed Program in Lebanon, we have proudly joined and became member of the EcoSwitch Coalition, a network of 21 organisations, institutions, and corporations that support eco-entrepreneurs in Lebanon! In this regard, we launched and organized with the EcoSwitch Coalition a series of programs and trainings, starting with the:
-
“Switchers Support Program”: more than 120 innovators and entrepreneurs at ideation or early stage are still receiving workshops and training sessions to develop their Green Business Models and eco-design their products and services. At the end of the program, 20 entrepreneurs will benefit from an incubation program.
-
“Bridging the Gapwith Industries” Green Entrepreneurship Lab 1, a virtual 4-day event that brought together experts and green entrepreneurs in 3 main sectors, energy, agri-food, and recycling, to outline their work and exchange on potential opportunities.
-
“Storytelling Impact: Communication Workshop for Green Enterprises" Green Entrepreneurship Lab 2, a 3-day online event that brought together green entrepreneurs with Communication experts, to support them in pitching their ideas/businesses.
-
We also organized the “1st Annual EcoSwitch Festival”for Green Enterprises, a 3-day event that gathered over 65 online participants, and 80 people at the networking event.
-
At last, we participated at the 4th edition of the “SwitchMedConnect”event along with stakeholders involved in scaling-up social and eco-innovations in the Mediterranean.