The Coronavirus pandemic and the challenges it brought with it in terms of lockdowns, travel restrictions and social distancing meant that we had to react quickly and adapt our activities to the challenges faced globally.
Many events and activities could not take place as planned or had to be adapted in line with new hygienic frameworks and safety regulations. Considerable effort was put into adjusting workshops to an online format, which proved particularly difficult due to limitations with regard to internet connectivity in both Lebanon and Iraq, where all of our projects in 2020 took place. Besides such technical challenges, creating a safe space for our participants in online settings proved to be the main hurdle towards building the trust that is required to engage them in open and fruitful exchanges and learning exercises.
These adaptations allowed us to still make considerable progress in all of our projects thanks to the commitment and creativity of our staff and implementing partners on the ground. We ventured into new terrain, as we explored new tools for online workshops and we even organised a virtual study tour which brought our Iraqi participants from the “Women make film” project to the International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film. Other projects included ‘Women Take the Lead’ in Lebanon, as well as ‘Clean Tigris’, ‘Women’s Participation in Peace Processes in Nineveh’, and ‘Women Talking Peace’, that all took place in Iraq. We were also co-coordinators of a campaign project against domestic violence in Iraq, and completed several consultancies for donors such as UN Women and GIZ in Chad, Nigeria, and the larger West and Central African region.
Read our Annual Report 2020 here.
