Mentor Arabia and Oum el Nour are holding, under the patronage of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Affairs, a seminar entitled “The Role of Schools in Promoting Drug Prevention” on 10-11 April 2008 at Holiday Inn-Dunes, Verdun, Beirut.

The seminar aims at raising the awareness of school principals and policy makers in educational institutions of the importance of drug prevention and encouraging them to include drug-prevention programs in their curriculum and activities.

The seminar is the result of a partnership between Mentor Arabia and Oum el Nour, a Lebanon-based organization which focuses on drug prevention and addiction treatment.

Taking part in the event are experts and specialists from Lebanon, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, who will present studies on health risk behaviors among the youth, and shed light on the state of drug use in the Middle East and North Africa, in general, and Lebanon, in particular.

Speakers will also highlight the relationship between education and school-based drug prevention, and will introduce a series of prevention approaches which can be implemented in school settings.

Over the past few years, prevention efforts have begun to bear fruit, according to evaluative studies and researches. More importantly, school-based prevention approaches in particular have shown high success and productivity rates.

The reasons for the focus on drug prevention in schools are obvious. Schools serve as natural sites to target all young people during their formative years. Furthermore, their structured setting involves all stakeholders from the youth themselves to faculty members to parents, and society as a whole.

“This seminar is driven by Mentor Arabia’s mission to ensure the health and well-being of youth in the Arab World,” said Ramzi Naaman, Mentor Arabia’s Executive Director. “The correlation between students, schools, parents and those who can effect change in public policies is crucial to be able to develop a sustainable drug-prevention approach.”

Added Oum el Nour’s General Manager, Mouna Yazigi: “Drug addiction is a state of physical, financial, psychological and legal decline alike, and it is exacerbating in our society, hence the importance of prevention. We believe the school is one of the essential pillars for the development of a good health, a smart education and a wholesome growth. That’s why drug-prevention programs must be integrated into the school setting.”

It is organized in collaboration with Caritas Lebanon, Caritas Luxembourg and “Fonds de Lutte contre le Trafic des Stupéfiants”, and with the participation of Mentor International.

To review the Seminar's programme, click here.