The 'Out of the Siege' project, launched in 2015, has three objectives.
The first is to continue the work in Iraq to safeguard the cultural heritage of the many millenary minorities that make up its cultural mosaic, too often victims of violence and persecution, as their heritage is at risk of destruction. After 12 years of work with the 'Knowledge that Resists' programme to protect their immense cultural heritage, which is always at risk of destruction, 'Out of the siege' includes a specific training component for the digitisation, restoration and preservation of ancient books and manuscripts. All minority communities work together in a process that fosters mutual understanding, dialogue and trust-building.
The second area of intervention is dedicated to minority youth: with the Universities of Dohuk and Erbil, spaces dedicated to social and cultural activities will be created in order to foster knowledge and dialogue. There are in fact hundreds of thousands of displaced persons from minorities who have arrived in Kurdish territory following the advance of Daesh in the area, and it is important to work on their integration with members of the host communities.
The third area of the programme again concerns young people, but in this case Syrian refugees in Iraq and Lebanon. And it aims to train them in non-violent conflict resolution and how to create networks of activists to think together about alternatives for peace in the Middle East region.
Journalism courses will also be organised in Beirut for the creation of a network based on non-violent language and the promotion of activities related to peace issues and activism from below, thanks to the work of the Permanent Peace Movement (PMP), our long-standing partner in conflict transformation projects.
Not only emergency: this is the idea behind this new intervention programme.
We are convinced that it is necessary to build dialogue and knowledge of each other's cultures, starting from civil societies that in Iraq as in Lebanon have had direct experience of civil war and conflict, and have chosen non-violence and peace as their response.
