Farid Antoun/ Egypt, Friend and Colleague.

12 October 2026

I knew Youssef professionally between 1995 and 2008. He truly embodied the meaning of his name (in Arabic), “one who grows and flourishes”. This is how I saw him, an educated individual capable of changing his mind and embracing new ideas. I recall him once reflecting aloud, saying: “Today, I learned such-and-such from the children in Yemen with whom we worked”. The same occurred with lessons he learned from children in the Sultanate of Oman. This is how I learned the value of listening and learning from Youssef.

As for “Hajjar” (in Arabic), he held inside him a profound and exalted place, a space where he carved and engraved his values ​​and principles. I witnessed how he deeply empathized with the children with whom we worked, and how he gave lessons in respecting them, especially those facing hardship. I saw his loving compassionate gaze transcending distances, titles, ages, and nationalities. Whenever the children saw him, they would gather around him, running to greet him. As he entered the world “Youssef” and “Hajjar”, his spirit moved among us, “teaching, learning” and “engraving human principles”.

I knew you as a human and say goodbye to you as a human.