The Youth Network For Development
Let your youth potential be the driver of change
Who we are
How it all started
WHO WE ARE
We are a Youth-led organization which is voluntary, non-profit and apolitical. Our NGO has been initially founded by a group of young students and professionals committed to achieving social and economic development as well as peace in their societies.
OUR HISTORY
Youthnet has been first launched in Lebanon. It started as a small youth movement named “Fi2o- حركة فيقوا للشباب” in 2008 as a “wake up call to the Lebanese youth” and consisted of regular informal meetings during which a group of young students and professionals gathered to debate and organize events related to strengthening the role of the youth in the Lebanese society. It was later officially registered as a Lebanese NGO in 2017. In addition to our mission to bring together the youth across boarders to work on sustainable development projects and other projects involving the civil society, a special group under YFD has been created on the side “LMA (Lebanese Mental Awareness)” to enhance and promote mental health awareness in Lebanon. We have addressed environmental and social topics in our events so far ranging from deforestation, carbon emission to civil marriage and mental health.
OUR MISSION & ACTIVITY
Our mission is to encourage participation in civil society from a young age, to empower young generations by building their leadership skills, to be a platform for the exchange of ideas on the problems our society is facing and ways to resolve them. We want to make our young generation an active actor in finding and implementing solutions to those problems.
Fi2o Dynamic
our core values
Meet the team
The people behind the scenes
Christelle Comair
President
Christelle Comair is founder and President of the NGO. She is a Sciencespo and AUB graduate currently undertaking her PhD in Political Science. Passionate about Public Affairs and International Relations she has served as an advisor to National and International Organisations on issues pertaining to youth, sustainable development and conflict resolution.
Zeina Obeid
Vice President
Zeina Obeid is founder of the NGO and currently holds the position of Vice-President. She is a lawyer specialized in international arbitration and based in Beirut. She holds a PhD from Panthéon-Assas Paris-II University and an LLM from Columbia University. Zeina is actively involved in the civil society and led various projects related to social awareness in different sectors (legal, environment etc).
Toni El Khawand
Secretary
Tony El Khawand is founder of the NGO and currently holds the position of secretary. He is a pharmacist and studied Medicinal Chemistry/Pharmacognosy at Université d’Angers. Tony is currently undertaking his PHD at Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin in Bordeaux.
Tatiana Skaff
Public Relations
Tatiana Skaff is Board member and holds the position of Public Relations. She is the Managing Partner of Trending Agency and has been actively involved with the work of NGOs. She previously worked at UNESCO and at UNDP. She graduated from the American University of Beirut (AUB) and holds a Master degree from University Paris Sud (XI) and from Harvard Univeristy, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Jennifer Farhat
Youth Outreach Coordinator
Jennifer Farhat has joined the NGO as a member since its inception and is currently Youth Outreach Coordinator. She is a corporate lawyer based in Beirut but currently residing in California. She has graduated from Saint-Joseph University in Beirut and holds an LLM degree from the University of London. She has a strong interest in social matters and has had a number of volunteering experiences and has taken part in projects targeting these matters.
Myriam Daher
Board Member
Myriam Daher has joined the NGO as a member since its inception and is currently a Board Member. She is a corporate lawyer based in Paris. She has graduated from Saint-Joseph University in Beirut and holds a Masters degree from Panthéon-Assas Paris-II University as well as an LLM from Harvard Law School.
Our Philosophy
Listen, Plan, Act.
Listen: to the problems the youth are facing and the society in general and have active discussions with the different actors in the society.
Plan: Define the actions that can be taken by the group and build a plan.
Act: Implement the plan by organizing awareness events, drafting law reforms or taking any other kind of active role in implementing solutions.
Selected Events
Some of our youth oriented events
In Action
Interview of the first founders of Youth For Development (was known as Fi2o Ya Shabeib) on MTV
By Christelle F. Comair, Toni El Khawand and Mariam Kandil
