New Human Rights Initiatives

Two New Initiatives in Honor of the Lebanese Statesman

Charles Malik

Coinciding with the seventieth anniversary of Lebanese independence on 22 November 2013, the George and Lisa Zakhem Kahlil Gibran Chair for Values and Peace at the University of Maryland is inaugurating The Charles Malik Annual Lecture on Human Rights.  The establishment of the Malik Lecture is a prelude to the planned launch of a related Charles Malik Legacy Project. 

Although officially representing what was then the newly independent Republic of Lebanon, Charles Malik (b.1906-d.1987) became a major figure on the world stage as one of the most respected, well known, and influential diplomats of the twentieth century.  His career highlights included service as President of the U.N. General Assembly, Ambassador of Lebanon to the United States, head of Lebanon’s delegation to the U.N. General Assembly, Foreign Minister of Lebanon, and Professor of Philosophy at the American University of Beirut.  Malik is perhaps best remembered for leading the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, the body charged with drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which, more than six decades after its promulgation, remains the international community’s most comprehensive and authoritative statement of human rights.

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The Charles Malik Annual Lecture on Human Rights will be inaugurated on April 3rd, 2013 at a ceremony held at the University of Maryland (UMD).  A distinguished scholar well versed in human rights generally, and Malik’s life and work in particular, will deliver an address, which in due course will be published and circulated by UMD. 

Professor Habib Malik—President and CEO of The Charles Malik Foundation—will be the guest of honor at the lecture. 

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The George and Lisa Zakhem Kahlil Gibran Chair for Values and Peace is also planning to establish the Charles Malik Legacy Project, which will be dedicated to researching, documenting, and critically analyzing the Lebanese statesman’s international thought, broadly defined.  In-depth studies of Malik—based on his diplomatic addresses, public lectures, and official and unofficial writings (both published and unpublished)—will provide key insights into past, present, and future global realities. 

The proposed Malik Project will at all times seek the guidance of, and coordinate its efforts with, Professor Habib Malik and the Charles Malik Foundation. 

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For further information on the Charles Malik initiatives, please contact: Professor Suheil Bushrui (301-405-3711 / sbushrui@umd.edu).