Our aim is to promote the teaching of history as an academic discipline. We also seek to build the capacity and capabilities of history teachers through continuous professional development.
Lebanon has never had a common textbook on the country’s history since independence. Even today, Lebanese children from different communities are taught different versions of their nation’s history. This is extremely damaging to social cohesion, reinforces confessional divisions over multiple generations and sews the seeds of future civil conflicts.
Lebanese from across the sectarian landscape, agree on the urgency to develop a common History textbook, which will help to build a common national identity and begin to heal the legacy of the civil war. This was even recognised in the Taif Accord that created the peace treaty ending the 1975-1989 civil wars, which stipulates the creation of a unified history book.
Teaching history in a country recovering from a fierce civil war is an emotive and delicate task. Four different governments have previously tried and failed to produce a unified national history curriculum and textbooks.
Our constitution and stated values mean that we are recognised as a non-confessional, non-aligned organisation that can take on subjects that are politically sensitive. Our academic credentials and track record of research and expertise in this field makes us best suited to address this controversial issue in an independent way.
Below is a list of the projects:
