About us
Sawa for Development and Aid is a Civil Society Organisation founded initially as a spontaneous initiative in December 2011, that then grew to include individual activists, locals and internationals, who worked together (literally meaning ‘Sawa’ in Arabic) to share their knowledge and exchange their experiences in order to support Syrians, internally displaced or refugees in neighbouring countries, united by their belief in their right to live in dignity and freedom, and to be proactive individuals in their communities, and wherever they are.
Vision
Individuals supporting one another to build a just, civic, and democratic society.
Mission
Sawa, “Together”, we provide holistic and integrated support to individuals, through the sharing of skills, knowledge, and resources, encouraging each other to self-organize to build strong and vocal communities, foster networks of solidarity and mobilize for collective action at local and international levels.
Services
Relief: We engage and encourage our communities to determine our most pressing priorities for basic humanitarian needs such as food, clothing, water, shelter and sanitation.
This is due to our belief that in order to be active agents in our communities, we need to live with the most basic human dignifying standards. Livelihoods: We work together, individuals within communities, to enhance our skills and share resources and opportunities to become self-sustainable and build stronger collaborative
communities wherever we are. This is due to our belief that being economically independent and productive is an important
aspect of every human’s life, and often a pre-requisite to engage in civic and political participation. Education: We provide, through educators and facilitators from within our communities, a holistic approach to education for children, youth and adults, through the sharing of knowledge and skills to provide basic literacy and alternative ways of education and education support, as well as to facilitate access to formal education.
This is due to our belief that education is a right for all, and an important guarantor for informed future citizens. Protection and Health: We provide, through teams of local doctors and specialists from our communities, medical, mental health and psychological support, and together we find efficient and creative ways to address our communities’ needs.
This is due to our belief that we all need to be healthy and feel at peace within ourselves, and overcome our traumas, in order to be productive and active agents in our communities. Policy, Research and Advocacy: We work together to train and equip a community of social advocates, human rights defenders, and catalysts of change with the right tools for research,
campaigning and advocacy, to better achieve our programmatic interventions, and to bring about social change. Our participatory approach is based on knowledge sharing, learning, active
listening and reflection