The Al-Kafaàt University is a private, independent university established in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded in 1999 by the Al Kafaàt Foundation. The university is managed by a Board of Trustees, appointed by the Al-Kafaàt Foundation's Board of Trustees.
In 1957 Nadeem Shwayri founded the Al-Kafaàt Foundation, a non-profit and non-governmental development organization whose mission is to preserve the dignity of people with challenges. With his wife Lily, they developed the Mission of the Foundation selflessly to serve the mist challenged in Lebanon. Today the Al-Kafatàt Foundation delivers education and rehabilitation to over 4,500 people in 7 different centers, with a working team of over 800 employees. The Al-Kafaàt Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees. The Al-Kafaàt Foundation is a founding member of the World Commission on Vocational Rehabilitation, member of the InternationalCerebral Palsy Society, member of Inclusion International, recipient of the Rehabilitation International Presidential Award, three times recipient of the Lebanese Order of the Cedars, and recipient of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America Antonian Gold Medal. In the mid 1990s, the Al-Kafaàt Foundation set-up the Al-Kafaàt Institution of Higher Education which obtained the Ministry of Higher Education's approval in 1999. The Al Kafaàt Foundation then developed the School of Technology and the School of Education, covering ten fields of study. In 2005, the Al-Kafaàt University was accredited by the Ministry of Education, after developing the School of Business and the School of Fine Arts. The university is located on the Al-Kafaàt Campus which spreads over an area of 60,000 square meters, in Ain-Saadeh. It is located 10 kilometers away from the capital-city Beirut. The Campus includes nine buildings consisting of 90 classrooms, 25 laboratories, 30 industrial workshops, 300 residential rooms, multipurpose halls, the Al-Kafaàt Campus Restaurant, the Al-Kafaàt Theater, and the Al-Kafaàt Sports Club.
