The project “ Youth for Peace and Social Cohesion in Heet City, Anbar, Iraq” was launched in partnership and cooperation with local partner SODAC to increase peacebuilding efforts and social cohesion among diverse communities living in Heet city. In this project, we increased the capacity of local youth activists and local CSOs on planning and organizing local initiatives addressing various topics related to peace building and social cohesion in their communities, included the voices of social and religious leaders and highlight their role in advancing the peacebuilding and social cohesion process in Heet city, advocated and included representatives from government to join project activities and support the efforts by local civil society in Heet, and provided sessions and launched campaigns to reach the wider audience in Heet city and in Iraq.
The project included several activities including:
Campaign in Streets to Promote Peace Values and Inform Local Community
Capacity Building for Youth Activists and Local CSOs
The workshop increased the capacity of 22 female and male activists and representatives of local CSOs in Heet to provide them with tools and raise their capacity on self-organization and planning and implementing local initiatives in their city.
Mapping the Voices of Youth, Social, and Religious Leaders in Heet city.
Round One
Round Two
Public Event: Heet a City for Peace and Coexistence
The public event brought various civil society actors, activists, local community members, social and religious leaders, and government representatives together to share thoughts and show collective efforts for peace and coexistence in Heet. The event included speeches, readings, and music sessions.
Discussion Round on Challenges and Obstacles in Heet City
The first dialogue ring was held on “Difficulties and challenges that hinder the promotion of social cohesion and peacebuilding in Heet.” The session was attended by representatives of the local government, a number of religious leaders, tribal elders and local community activists, including young men and women.
The session addressed the nature of the difficulties and challenges that limit the improvement of the social fabric in Heet and ways to promote cohesion and peacebuilding, in addition to discussing concepts and measures that contribute to repairing the damage suffered by the social fabric in Heet over the past years.
Discussion Rounds on Challenges and Obstacles in Kabisah area of Heet City
Another discussion round was held in Kabisa district on “Difficulties and challenges that hinder the promotion of social cohesion and peacebuilding in Heet city”. The session was attended by the district director, as well as representatives of the local government, religious leaders, tribal elders and local community activists, including young men and women. The session addressed the nature of the difficulties and challenges that limit the repair of the social fabric in Kabisa district and ways to promote cohesion and peacebuilding, in addition to discussing concepts and measures that contribute to repairing the damage suffered by the local community fabric in the district over the past years.
Music For Peace “Heet Water Wheels”
To promote the beauty of Heet city and its diverse social fabric music was used as a tool to highlight various social and geographical areas of Heet, reach out to people from various gender, age, and backgrounds in the city, and use various types of local music to describe the city and promote its beauty. Here is the Music clip titles “City Water Wheels” in Arabic” Nawa’ir Al-Madina” that was produced also with English subtitles:
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