Sawa For Development And Aid

Sawa for Development and Aid is a Civil Society Organisation founded initially as a spontaneous initiative in December 2011 to respond to the arrival of the first 40 Syrian families displaced from Syria into the North of Lebanon.

This initiative 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 active individuals in their communities, and wherever they are.

Sawa sees itself as part and parcel of the society, and that it is on a continuous learning journey based on a participatory relationship at all levels with the communities that it works with, whether host or displaced, as well as with local and international partners.

Sawa believes that humanitarian, developmental and civic work has to always strive to achieve social justice, and so it aims to work with individuals and communities through holistic interventions towards a society based on democracy, pluralism, and values of citizenship and human rights.