Mediating Dialogue & Conflict Resolution Between Syrian Refugees and Hosting Community

Description

The influx of Syrian refugees has had a crippling effect on the resources and infrastructure in the northern towns of Jordan near the Syrian border, where communities were among the poorest already before the current crisis. A myriad of social problems are reported as a result, including intensified drug use, inter-group violence, violence at school, increasing number of school drop-outs, and alarming number of early marriage cases especially among refugee girls.

The aim of this project is to start the building of social cohesion in the governorate’s troubled villages by generating respectful interaction and conversation between Syrian and Jordanian women and young females in dialogue workshops – at the same time providing them with crucial life skills and enhancing their capacity to function as small-scale conflict mediators in their close surroundings. In our dialogue spaces we have worked hard to provide a controlled, neutral and open forum for both sides to express their feelings, so that they can eventually overcome their grievances and form alliances beyond group borders.

During its first two years, the project reached more than 300 Syrian and Jordanian women in dialogue workshops, and 10 teachers and 225 female students through innovative educational activities (drama workshops, drawing exhibition, etc.) in local schools. The project results show strengthened dialogue between refugees and hosts in the targeted villages, and participating women report changed perception about the representatives of the other group and better understanding of their habits and traditions.

In 2016, the project launched a new upgraded version of its “Women in Dialogue” -methodology, now putting more emphasis on the capacity development of  local women’s CBOs, hereby enabling them to function as a more sustainable link between Syrians and Jordanians, thus promoting social cohesion, women’s participation, and community resilience to future crises.