Sustainable Development Goals

Outreach Activities around the SDGs

LAU is committed to providing dedicated outreach educational activities for the wider community, including alumni, local residents, and displaced people. These activities aim to extend the university’s expertise and resources beyond its student body to foster learning and development in the wider community.

Furthermore, In his 2024 message “To Educate, Serve and Unite,” (https://www.lau.edu.lb/about/governance/president/2024/to-educate-serve-and-unite.php) LAU President Chaouki T. Abdallah reaffirmed the university’s mission as one that “remains unwavering: to educate, serve, and unite.” This statement underscores LAU’s role as a civic institution dedicated to empowering individuals and communities through education and outreach. The message situates LAU’s academic excellence within a broader framework of service, compassion, and unity, highlighting that outreach and engagement with Lebanon’s diverse communities, including youth, alumni, and residents affected by ongoing socio-economic challenges, are central to its identity. This presidential vision strengthens institutional evidence that LAU’s educational mission directly supports community transformation and inclusive development, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Initiatives included:

Outreach and Civic Engagement (OCE) Department

OCE Website

The Outreach and Civic Engagement (OCE) Department at the Lebanese American University (LAU) provides a structured institutional platform for civic learning and community engagement that extends far beyond the university’s campuses. Through its two core units — Outreach, Leadership, and Empowerment (OLE) and Community Service & Engagement (CSE) — the OCE integrates leadership education, community service, and volunteering into students’ personal and professional development, while simultaneously serving the broader community in Lebanon and the region.

Outreach, Leadership, and Empowerment (OLE)

The OLE unit fosters holistic student empowerment through a diverse portfolio of leadership and outreach programs. These initiatives prepare students to act as ethical, globally minded leaders capable of serving their societies with empathy and resilience. OLE offers dedicated outreach educational activities via youth-leadership and simulation programmes that engage school students drawn from the broader Lebanese community, thereby expanding LAU’s educational mission beyond its own student body. Working with local high-schools and community partners, the programmes build skills in research, public speaking, debate, leadership.

The “Youth Leadership Simulation Programs” include:

The OCE/department integrates civic engagement with the extra-curricular activities of students on both campuses.

OLE also facilitates local and international outreach programs, visits, and conferences that expose students to civic action and leadership experiences across communities. By offering leadership training, skills development, and volunteerism opportunities, OLE creates an environment where participants interact with peers and organizations beyond LAU, thereby nurturing a culture of inclusion, cross-cultural understanding, and service to society.

Through these activities, LAU builds bridges between its academic community and the wider public, contributing to SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) by empowering youth to become active contributors to social progress.

Community Service & Engagement (CSE)

The CSE unit drives LAU’s mission of civic responsibility and social contribution through volunteerism, community partnerships, and experiential learning. It provides LAU students — including recipients of USAID scholarship grants — with structured opportunities to serve local communities, NGOs, and public institutions through civic projects and capacity-building activities.

CSE programming combines volunteerism, networking, and civic engagement with capacity building and leadership development, empowering students to share their knowledge, train others, and contribute to sustainable community initiatives. These activities encourage students to engage with local residents, underprivileged groups, and displaced populations, helping address real societal challenges while developing empathy, teamwork, and problem-solving skills.

By connecting academic learning with community realities, CSE transforms education into an instrument for social responsibility and empowerment, advancing SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).

Nursing Outreach and Community Health Leadership – LAU ARCSON (2024)

A New Cohort of LAU Nurses Pledges to Lead with Compassion

In June 2024, the Lebanese American University’s Alice Ramez Chagoury School of Nursing (ARCSON) celebrated the graduation of a new cohort of nurses who pledged to lead with compassion and commitment to community well-being. During the Nursing Pledge Ceremony, graduates affirmed their dedication to providing ethical, evidence-based, and people-centered care, reflecting LAU’s mission to extend its educational impact beyond the classroom and into the heart of Lebanese society.

Faculty members and institutional leaders underscored the vital role of these graduates as frontline community educators and advocates for public health. The event emphasized that LAU-trained nurses are not only healthcare providers but also agents of change capable of delivering community-based education, patient counselling, and preventive health outreach. Through their clinical placements and community initiatives, these graduates are equipped to work with diverse populations, including local residents, underprivileged communities, and displaced persons affected by Lebanon’s ongoing socio-economic and health crises.

The ceremony and its message represent a continuation of LAU’s broader commitment to SDGs and to the development of human capital that serves the wider community. ARCSON’s nursing education integrates outreach and leadership training, encouraging graduates to participate in health literacy workshops, vaccination campaigns, and mobile clinic initiatives in underserved regions. By empowering nurses as educators and advocates, LAU reinforces the university’s role as a civic institution dedicated to advancing societal resilience, community health education, and sustainable development in Lebanon.

Community Health Outreach by Student Pharmacists – LAU School of Pharmacy (2024)

Student Pharmacists: Serving Through Uncertainty

Amid Lebanon’s ongoing socio-economic crisis, students from the LAU School of Pharmacy mobilized to serve vulnerable and displaced populations through community-based health initiatives. As reported in “Student Pharmacists: Serving Through Uncertainty” (LAU News, 2024), pharmacy students united “to support vulnerable individuals during the country’s crisis,” offering counselling, health education, and essential medication distribution to communities with limited access to healthcare. This initiative embodies LAU’s commitment to merging academic learning with civic responsibility, empowering students to apply their medical expertise in real-world humanitarian contexts. Through these outreach efforts, LAU contributes directly to SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) by extending pharmaceutical and health education services to marginalized groups, reinforcing the university’s role as a driver of community engagement and compassionate care.

The Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury School of Medicine

The School actively engages in numerous outreach education activities aimed at the wider community, including alumni, local residents, displaced people, and underserved populations.

Hands-Only CPR program offered to school students

https://csc.lau.edu.lb/news/hands-only-cpr-program-offered-to-school-students.php

A key example of this outreach is the LAU Clinical Simulation Center’s collaboration with the NGO Youth Organization Heart Awareness (YOHAN), which resumed the Hands-Only CPR program. This program, aligned with the American Heart Association’s curriculum, raises awareness about sudden cardiac arrest through training sessions in schools.

Mobile Clinic

https://www.laumcrh.com/lau-mobile-clinic

In addition, the Mobile Clinic is an innovative initiative dedicated to educating the public and improving access to medical information and basic health services across Lebanon, especially in remote areas.

This service was crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering free PCR tests, vaccines, and health consultations to underserved populations, ensuring continuity of care during lockdowns and is continuously serving population in underserved areas, rural areas with limited access to care.

Even more important in Lebanon’s ongoing economic crisis, the mobile clinic and a team of healthcare professionals visit on a weekly basis, new areas across Lebanon, providing essential medical services to underserved populations, particularly in rural regions with limited access to healthcare. These services include health screenings, consultations, vaccinations, and educational sessions on preventive care, ensuring that even the most remote communities receive continuous support and medical attention.

This outreach initiative plays a vital role in promoting health equity and addressing disparities in access to healthcare.

Furthermore, medical students at LAU gain hands-on experience while training at various clinical sites, including dispensaries that provide a range of educational activities and serve local communities.

Keep Learning Lecture Series

https://alumni.lau.edu.lb/programs/keep-learning-lecture-series.php

The school’s Alumni Affairs, in collaboration with the office of faculty affairs and development, responsible of Continuing Education, organizes the Keep Learning Lecture Series, which offers educational lectures and workshops to alumni, enhancing lifelong learning and community engagement.

Additionally, the School of Medicine hosts various events open to the public, such as webinars, seminars, and national and international conferences, focusing on key health issues, including nutrition, cancer prevention, and palliative care (https://medicine.lau.edu.lb/conferences/cme.php). Moreover, the LAU Medical School Association (MSA) conducts regular outreach programs where medical students volunteer to provide free consultations in different regions of Lebanon, offering vital health services to underserved communities. These efforts demonstrate a strong commitment to improving health and well-being across Lebanon, reinforcing the school’s dedication to the SDGs, particularly SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).

Camping Around the Sustainable Development Goals

Participants in this year’s School of Arts and Sciences Summer Camps got a taste of university-level education in line with LAU’s SDG-based Liberal Arts and Sciences Curriculum.

This year, 79 high-school students congregated to participate in the School of Arts and Sciences Summer Camps, which were spread out across three individual camps focusing on essential SDG-focused majors: physics, chemistry and nutrition.

Following the immersive summer camps of 2022, the Liberal Arts and Sciences Department designed lectures and activities over five days of learning, from July 3 to July 7.

Campers had the opportunity to experience a university environment and explore multiple programs they might wish to study at LAU. This was facilitated not only by the number of seminars that were given at each camp but also by the chance to earn a 10-to-30-percent scholarship to study at the university upon completing the camp.

Introductory sessions for all the participants were held at the Adnan Kassar School of Business (AKSOB) on the Beirut campus before they dispersed among different schools. AKSOB hosted most of the physics and nutrition sessions, whereas the chemistry sessions took place at the chemistry facility in Sage Hall.

At the physics camp, students participated in interactive lectures on Einstein’s theory of relativity, electromagnetism and the realm of quantum mechanics by discussing their understanding of the theories with the instructors. Associate Professor of Physics Jimmy Romanos and Assistant Professors of Physics Rana Nicolas and Walid Malaeb organized lectures, experiments and documentaries to allow for an engaging learning experience.

“We tried to give the students an overall idea of the different interesting topics in physics,” said Dr. Nicolas, “especially since the subject itself can be intimidating. In all, I think the students were very interested and motivated and posed a lot of questions that were surprisingly good for their age.”

Grade 11 student Jana Abou Hijeily said that “the camp was a great opportunity to discover new aspects of physics that we don’t thoroughly learn at school. The practical experiences, like performing a residential energy audit, enabled us to visualize the pragmatic side of most of the theoretical knowledge we’ve acquired over the years.”

Over at the nutrition camp, discourses were designed by Associate Professor of Nutrition Nadine Zeeni, Associate Professor of Food Science and Technology Hussein F. Hassan, Assistant Professor of Nutrition Rana Rizk as well as Instructors of Nutrition Marwa Fadlallah and Marie Stephan to address emerging issues in nutrition and food science with a focus on the impact of food insecurity and malnutrition on communities worldwide.

Additionally, students got to explore sustainable food practices and how they contribute to both human health and the environment. “Throughout the camp, the intricate connections between nutrition and overall health were investigated,” said Dr. Rizk. “Lectures provided a comprehensive overview of this link, explaining how proper nutrition directly impacts physical and mental wellbeing.”

Youssef Itani, Grade 11, said that having this opportunity was beneficial for him and his peers as they made “new acquaintances in the field on top of learning about the role of nutrition in addressing the sustainable development goals.”

Inspired by videos featuring testimonials from practicing dietitians in diverse nutrition fields, the participants gained insight into real-life experiences and perspectives on the day-to-day responsibilities of a career in nutrition.

Meanwhile, the chemistry camp addressed the challenges related to soil quality deterioration in Mediterranean countries and introduced experimental procedures to the participants to sharpen their understanding of soil parameters and environmental contaminants.

Assistant Professor of Chemistry Elias Akoury, who was responsible for delivering all the lectures, was determined to ensure a learning experience for the students different from the methodology used in schools. And in fact, the campers felt enlightened as they discovered the multidisciplinary approaches used to address environmental issues.

All of this was made possible by the experiments they got to conduct in the chemistry labs, such as spectroscopic techniques, thermogravimetric analysis (observing the mass variation of materials with temperature changes) and X-ray fluorescence.

“I am glad I took part in the program because we were introduced to the different disciplines and experiments of science,” stated 11-grader Karim Kassem. “Tackling soil chemistry, its chemical composition and properties with Dr. Akoury was very enriching. I was able to form solid bonds with chemistry enthusiasts and obtain a rigid chemistry background knowledge.”

On the final day, in an awards ceremony held on the Beirut campus, scholarships covering up to 30 percent of the tuition were granted to the 17 participants who scored high on their final examination to kick off their university education at LAU

Domestic Workers

Awareness Guide for Female Domestic Workers in Lebanon: What should I know?

AiW undertook an awareness-raising campaign that entailed developing, printing, and distributing brochures to domestic workers in Lebanon.

With a grant from the Foundation of Open Society Institute, AiW developed and printed the brochure for the campaign. The brochure was written in English to address migrant workers from the Philippines, and immediately translated into three languages, Amharic (Ethiopia), Nepali (Nepal), and Sinhala (Sri Lanka). A total of 24,000 brochures were printed.

Since the printing process has been finalized in December 2010, AiW has been working on disseminating the brochure to migrant domestic workers in Lebanon.

“Shabaket el Meem”: LGBTQ Youth Support Platform

In 2018, The AiW began working on a new project with a funding from the Embassy of Netherlands in Lebanon that aims to promote issues related to the LGBTQ community in Lebanon. The project focuses on the dearth of reliable information and support available to the LGBTQ community, and strives to promote a strong civil society network of organizations and actors that can fill this gap. The AiW, together with a number of local subject-matter experts, produced an online platform “Shabaket el Meem” for LGBTQ youth in Lebanon that features short animations, a podcast series, a Q&A section, and a glossary with LGBTQ terms in English and Arabic. The platform also includes a map where visitors can share their own experiences.

Visit www.shabaketelmeem.com for more information and follow them on Instagram (@shabaketelmeem) and on Facebook (Shabaket el Meem).

Coordination and Support for the Human Rights Network

In 2019, the AiW continued its work with Management Systems International (MSI), within the “Building Alliances for Local Advancement, Development and Investment – Capacity Building” (BALADI-CAP) program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The purpose of the project concluded in March 2019 by the AiW is to build alliances and bring to the table participating CSOs, to communicate, collaborate, and create a human rights network (HRN) in Lebanon. During its last year of funding, the HRN concluded the project funded by BALADI CAP working to address human rights issues in Lebanon and focusing on vulnerable groups in media, specifically social programs on Lebanese television. AiW will continue sustaining the Human Rights Network with all its members Soins Infirmiers et Developpement Communautaire (SIDC), Skoun, and Dar Al-Amal.

Support for Incarcerated Women

Guide for Working in Women Prisons in Lebanon

The Arab Institute for Women launched the “Guide for Working in Women Prisons in Lebanon”. The guide was funded by the United Nations Population Fund and authored by Anita Nassar, former Assistant Director of IWSAW (AiW).

The guide aims to help those wishing to implement projects in women’s prisons by providing general information on rights and status of women prisoners in Lebanon, as well as a 1999-2010 comparative study on women’s situation in prison. It targets a wide array of groups, mainly: local civil society (especially social workers) and international bodies dealing with the affairs of prisons in Lebanon; religious institutions; officials and decision-makers in charge of prison management.

Women Prison Project

The AiW was granted funds to purchase items needed by women prisoners. The following items were purchased as per the amounts allotted by the fund:

Hygiene pads, bath soap bars, bath sponge, laundry detergents (5kg/pack), hair shampoo gallons (4kg/gallon), bed sheets and underwear.

Connecting Students and Alumni with Top Employers

Extending over a week, the hybrid LAU Spring 2023 Career Fair brought leading employers to LAU campuses. Meanwhile, and building on a long list of services available to students, the Office of Career Development ran an interactive campaign enticing students to perfect their elevator pitch, prepare a resumé and get to know more about the participating firms.

Panel Discussion - Healthy Eating and Weight Management Mythbusting by Experts

The Alumni Relations Office in collaboration with the Nutrition Program at the Department of Natural Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, organized a panel discussion on the Beirut campus on June 23, 2022.

The event started out with dietitians who are LAU alumni, and who were available for individual consultations on proper diet programs. Followed by a panel discussion, which featured:

Dr. Nadine Zeeni, Associate Professor of Nutrition at LAU, Dr. Myriam El Khoury Malhame, Assistant Professor and Program Lead of Psychology at LAU and Dr. George El Khoury, Clinical Assistant Professor, Division of Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery, LAU Medical Center - Rizk Hospital. The panel was moderated by Dr. Hussein Hassan, Director of Academic Compliance, Provost’s Office and Associate Professor of Food Science and Technology.

Keep Learning Alumni Webinar: Resilience in Extreme Contexts by Leadership and Business Advisor: Rabee Fares

International award-winning leadership coach Rabee Fares offered an eye-opening session that was of great benefit to all those in executive 

or leadership positions across industries.

Rabee spoke about extreme events and extreme contexts, adapting to extreme contexts and how to bring out your best and the best of others in extreme contexts.

Keep Learning Alumni Lecture: Logotherapy | Finding Meaning, Purpose, and Success

The LAU Alumni Relations Office (Lebanese American University - Alumni) in collaboration with the LAU - Continuing Education (CE) held on Thursday, October 28, 2021, its KEEP LEARNING.