Who we are

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 establishment of the Commission

     

    The Team

     

    Dima Smaira

     

    Executive Director

     

    Manal Hamdoun

     

    Project Coordinator

     

    Leila Daou 

     

    Financial officer

     

    Bassel Bou Monsef 

     

    Researcher & Field Officer (Matn & Mont Lebanon)

     

    Walaa Farran

     

    Researcher

    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

    • Inaya Salame

      Inaya Salame is the secretary of the board at Act for the disappeared. Her previous positions include project manager and program coordinator at Act for the disappeared. She holds a master’s degree in psychology from the Lebanese university.

       

    • Carmen Abou Jaoude

      Carmen is a researcher affiliated to the Center for Studies of the Modern Arab World (CEMAM) at University St Joseph of Beirut (USJ) and a lecturer at USJ and the University of Kaslik. She worked with the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) where she served as Head of its program and its office in Lebanon between 2011 and 2015.

    • Justine Di Mayo Houry

      Justine is a Co-Founder of Act for the Disappeared and has served as its Director since its inception. She is a consultant for the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience where she conducts trainings on oral history, documentation of human rights violations and advocacy issues.

    • 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. 

    • Berengere Pineau 

      Berengere is a Co-Founder of Act for the Disappeared. For years she managed Nassim, a rehabilitation center in Lebanon for victims of torture. She is currently a consultant on the evaluation of projects for large international organizations, including Save the Children and Search for Common Ground.

    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).