Enab Baladi – Idlib

The “Al Khadra for All” campaign continues to implement a set of activities in Idlib province, to promote integration and cultural exchange between the internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the hosting community.

The campaign has started since 1 February and will continue until 20 March, targeting the forcibly IDPs from various Syrian regions and the residents of Idlib province and its surrounding areas.

The “Al Khadra for All” campaign has been launched by a group of young men and women from the Target Volunteering Center in Idlib, to achieve two main goals through a set of activities and events over seven weeks.

The campaign’s organizers set the first objective to support advocacy of integration and call for promoting peace and coexistence between IDPs and hosting communities in Idlib and its surrounding areas.

In like manner, the second goal is to promote cultural exchange and acceptance between the hosting communities and the IDPs from various Syrian regions.

The organizers held dialogue and awareness sessions involving IDPs and residents of the area to focus on the IDPs’ psychological state and to which extent they think the hosting communities accept them, especially after the recent waves of displacement.

Yamama Asaad, a resident in Idlib province and one of the participants in the campaign’s discussion sessions, told Enab Baladi that the importance of these initiatives lies in the fact that they come to reintegrate the IDPs and the residents.

She added that the event drew the attention of the IDPs and the original residents to several common matters, all of which enhance harmony, love, and cooperation between the IDPs and the hosting communities.

The campaign’s activities have included the distribution of informative flyers about the campaign’s purpose, in addition to road paintings, murals, and creating accounts for the campaign on social media that support its purpose.

The organizers also held Discussions and mutual dialogue sessions (between the forcibly IDPs and original residents) within the event, besides conducting questionnaires before and after the start of the campaign.

The campaign also includes cultural events, in which video recordings of social customs and traditions are displayed, to show the cultural diversity and similarities between the Syrian provinces, and to discuss the recordings’ content with the attendees.

Inas Sarhan, one of the displaced women participating in the event, expressed her admiration for the campaign, stating to Enab Baladi that she benefited from the participation and came up with new ideas from the lecturers. She added that the campaign brought the relationship between the IDPs and the hosting community closer and clarified much confusion.

According to Sarhan, the event addressed some misperceptions and previous stereotypical ideas such as that the arrival of IDPs to the area caused additional waste; however, the reason is the increasing density of population and the inaction of some responsible authorities to perform their duties.

As part of the initial goal and before the beginning of the campaign, the organizers surveyed 250 people distributed equally between the IDPs and the hosting community in Idlib and its surroundings.

An additional survey will be conducted after the campaign assessing the tolerance and acceptance rate between IDPs and the residents, as well as the impact of the activities on them.

Campaign organizers distributed 1,000 awareness-raising publications, in the city of Idlib and its surrounding areas, to raise the awareness of the local hosting communities and the IDPs about the importance of coexistence and peacebuilding among them.

Besides, the campaign also held eight discussion sessions in Idlib city, each included 60 participants, representing equally the local population and the IDPs’ communities.

As for the activities of the second goal, they include holding two sessions highlighting the diversity of cultures across Syria and involve 30 representatives divided equally between the local population and the IDPs’ communities.

Throughout the two sessions, the attendees watch video clips of various cultures and then discuss with each other the shared points and differences, which will eventually promote cultural exchange.

The campaign will convey peaceful messages about history and folklore, from the IDPs community to the hosting community and vice versa, by designing four billboards to be displayed on the streets.

Also, five murals will be prepared, aiming to support the peaceful and tolerant environment between the two communities and to draw the attention of a large number of people to the campaign’s message.

To promote the activities of the “Al Khadra for All” event and deliver its messages, greater reach for the targeted audience.

Besides, the organizers carried out a social media event to promote the activities of the “Al Khadra for All” campaign, deliver its messages, and to ensure greater reach to their targeted audience.