Bayan Yammout

Bayan Yammout was born in Beirut, Lebanon during the civil war, where she spent 17 years living in a war zone. Bayan witnessed first-hand what it means to be a child impacted by conflict – hiding in bomb shelters, searching for water and feeling the anguish of losing family members.

She grew up seeing her parents helping others by distributing UNICEF emergency supplies in shelters, providing educational activities to children, transporting injured people to the hospital, and risking their lives to help others.

Bayan left Lebanon in 1997 and later moved to Canada with her husband. She is now an elementary school teacher in Toronto.

As a UNICEF Canada Ambassador, Bayan promotes UNICEF’s work in education and child protection, especially during times of conflict. She was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 for her advocacy work with UNICEF Canada in her first year as an ambassador. One of Bayan’s most recent projects as an ambassador involved working with UNICEF to provide educational training to teachers at Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan; including emphasis on education for children with special needs.