The Goguikian Foundation in partnership with the Haigazian University had a panel presentation titled “Careers in the Lebanese Public Sector, Separating Facts from Myth”. 

Mrs. Soheila Y. Hayek, the Executive Director of the Foundation opened the presentation with a reference to the importance of the public sector and the need to participate in order to affect change. She touched on the myths of corruption, low pay and the need for wasta and asked each to think about taking a stance to participate in the governance of the country.

Next Dr. Carmen Geha from the NGO Beyond Reform took to the podium to explain about active citizenship and Liberal citizenship which entails taking matters into one’s own hands not by petitioning the government, but by participating in the public sector to affect change from inside. She mentioned the regional developments have caused a new way of looking at the role of the citizen as well as the international thinking about the role of the public sector and the citizens.

She encouraged the students who will soon be educated specialists to join the public sector to affect real change.

Mr. Raffi Ashkarian and Dr. Sabine Barakat each spoke about their own experiences at the Port of Beirut and the Ministry of the Environment, respectively and talked of the positive and negative points of working as a civil servant.

The session ended with a Question and Answers session where students asked about the electronic address of the Civil Services Board to look at possible job availabilities.