Lebanon: Restoring a Broken State to End Occupation and Destruction

"Lebanon: Restoring a Broken State to End Occupation and Destruction"

Featuring: Najat Aoun Saliba, member of the Parliament of Lebanon

Thursday, March 6, 2025 from 9 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Zoom link to be sent to all registrants via the registration confirmation email.

https://sdwac.org/event-6086729

About the Program

Lebanon faces a turning point amid regional shifts, internal exploitation, and external pressures. Geopolitical and demographic changes are altering power balances, while warlords have plundered resources, weakening institutions. Iranian proxies, once dominant, are now weakened, but Hezbollah fuels instability to maintain influence. Meanwhile, Israeli occupation persists, further straining sovereignty.

Despite these challenges, Lebanon has a chance to rebuild. With the election of a president and a cabinet of experts, the country can restore credibility, regain international trust, and enact reforms. Strengthening governance and curbing interference can lead Lebanon toward sovereignty, stability, and renewal.

About Najat Aoun Saliba

Najat Aoun Saliba is a member of the Lebanese parliament - elected in 2022. She is a Professor of Analytical Chemistry and an atmospheric chemist at the American University of Beirut (AUB). She was the Director of AUB's Nature Conservation Center from 2013 till 2020. Saliba is also the co-founder and director of Khaddit Beirut (an initiative launched after Beirut's 2020 explosion) and the founder and director of the Environment Academy (an initiative created with the support of the World Health Organization). She was appointed a laureate of the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science program in 2019.

Born in 1966, Saliba studied at the Lebanese University, where she earned her bachelor's degree in 1986. She moved to the United States for her graduate studies and earned her master's degree from California State University, Long Beach in 1994. She completed her doctoral studies at the University of Southern California in 1999. She completed a thesis on water pollution and studied catalysis. She was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Irvine.

Saliba returned to Lebanon after the Civil War, and joined the American University of Beirut in 2001. She helped to establish the Ibsar Nature Conservation Center for Sustainable Futures in 2002, which looked to protect Lebanon's biodiversity. She used to be the Director of Ibsar, which has since been renamed the Nature Conservation Center, at the American University of Beirut. Saliba established the Atmospheric and Analytical Laboratory. Najat Saliba became involved politically after the 2020 Beirut Port Explosion. She ran in the 2022 Lebanese general election as a new face against the 50-year ruling political class. She won a seat in the parliament representing the Maronite sect of the Chouf district.