Mission:
ACT for the Disappeared (ACT) was founded in 2010 as a Lebanese human rights organization seeking to:
- Bring answers to the thousands of families of the missing and forcibly disappeared in their demand to know the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones.
- Initiate a sustainable peacebuilding reconciliation process in Lebanon, in the interest of bringing recognition to the victims, enabling collective healing and restoring social cohesion.
Objectives:
- Ensure that the search process for the missing and forcibly disappeared is initiated and with the participation of their families, in respect of their right to know the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones.
- Collect and preserve information on the fate and whereabouts of the missing and disappeared, including the mapping and protection of clandestine gravesites.
- Foster a sustainable peace and reconciliation process in Lebanon that guarantees the complementarity of these processes and the clarification of the fate and whereabouts of missing persons.
- Enhance the capacity of relevant stakeholders, civil society actors and support the National Commission for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared in Lebanon
The Team
Ammar Abboud
Manal Hamdoun
Leila Daou
Bassel Bou Monsef
Researcher & Field Officer (Matn & Mont Lebanon)
Walaa Farran
Field Officers
Jinan Salemeh
Field Officer (Mount Lebanon & Beirut)
Malak Chahbaz
Field Officer (North)
Maya Fakih
Field officer (South)
Rania Rmayle
Field Officer (Bekaa)
Advisory Board
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Justine Di Mayo Houry: Justine is a Co-Founder of Act for the Disappeared and served as its Director before joining the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience as a senior program manager.
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Gillian Kettaneh: Gillian is a lawyer who worked for international development finance institutions (World Bank, EBRD) and a South African community-based investment company for over 20 years. Her father disappeared in Beirut on 19 August 1985.
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Jihad Nammour: Jihad is the Academic Coordinator of the Arab Master in Democracy and Human Rights (ArMA) at the Universite Saint Joseph, Lebanon. He is a lecturer at the Institute of Political Sciences. Legal theory and Political sociology are his areas of study. Jihad holds a DEA in Law and Political Science from Saint Joseph University and a DEA in Jurisprudence from Paris Nanterre University. His latest research focuses on forced migration. He develops educational programmes within several Lebanese NGOs, including Sakker el Dekkene and Peace Initiatives.
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Dima Smaira Dima was ACT's Executive Director between 2022 and 2024. She holds a PhD in International Relations from Durham University (UK), specialising in Peace and Conflict Studies. Dima has led multiple international research projects and is a Lecturer at higher education institutions across Lebanon and the UK.
Partners & Donors
ACT’s principal partners are the Committee of the Families of the Missing and Kidnapped in Lebanon, the Committee of the families of the missing in Syria (SOLIDE) and the International Committee of the Red Cross in Lebanon (ICRC).
ACT has also developed international partnerships with organisations such as the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), the Argentinean Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), Memorial Abierta in Argentina and Hafiza Merkezi in Turkey. ACT has been a member of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience since 2014.
Since its creation ACT has received support from the Norwegian Embassy in Lebanon, the Dutch Embassy in Lebanon, the Swiss Embassy in Lebanon, the European Union, Robert Bosch Stiftung Foundation, L’Atelier and the Fondation des Cedres, as well as the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES).
ACT’s ongoing projects are currently supported by the National Endowment for Democracy, the Sigrid Rausing Trust and the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany (BMZ).
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