Protecting Children’s Rights in Syria: Ahmad’s Encouraging Initiative

Ahmad Bakdah grew up in Syria, a country torn apart by war. He and his family had to build and connect with their community from scratch.

These hardships made him realize how important peace is and how crucial it is to empower other individuals so they can one day grow and give back to those in need.

This is where and how his journey as a young activist began.

In his journey, he crossed paths with MCW Global. Today, thanks to the financial support of the Alumni Ventures Fund (AVF), he is implementing the If you see something, say something initiative.

In this initiative, Ahmad works closely with children and adults to build their capabilities and help them create a supportive and safe environment around children. The initiative also advocates for governmental entities in Syria to strengthen children’s rights and improve their services.

Because of the war in Syria, children’s rights and their protection do not receive the attention or action needed. This grass-roots initiative is already making a difference in the right direction.

One Step in the Right Decision- Raising Awareness

Through the If you see something, say something initiative, Ahmad is launching an awareness session to break the taboo and discuss children’s rights and the importance of protecting them as a priority.

He had previously launched a similar project reaching more than 200 adults and 300 children, and now is launching its second phase, in this form ensuring the continuation of his activism and work.

Ahmad further shares more on how he reaches his community and how the support gained from the Alumni Ventures Fund is being translated into the betterment of the Damascus community.

“The project's main idea is to talk and open the space to discuss the rights of children in Syria and the whole world.”

He is targeting people both formally and informally.

“I invite them for sessions with different parts of the community, and I also open these discussions with people whenever I seek the chance.”

Alumni Ventures Fund is covering some of these sessions and workshop expenses.

If you see something, say something initiative is also a way of improving the current policies in place.

“Child rights legislation was recently issued in Syria, and to help the Syrian community appropriately digest and adopt the principles of child rights and the basics of child protection, we need to talk about it.”, he says.

The project provides a space for the needed discussion while at the same time raising awareness of children’s rights.

Since he designed and created the project idea based on his pleasant and meaningful journey with MCW Global, Ahmad further dwells more on what MCW Global’s support means to him and this initiative.

MCW Global-The Place to Embrace Diversity and Leadership Skills

In Ahmad’s words, MCW Global introduced him to new methods and provided him with several tools.

“These tools helped me strengthen my project management and communication skills.”

He always carries with him the lessons learned during this engagement with MCW Global.

“I learned something from every participant during the one-year-long journey with MCW Global, which showed me how important it is to apply lessons learned from others in my work.”

For Ahmad, MCW Global is the place where he learned and embraced diversity and leadership skills.

“Indeed, MCW Global helped me engage with young leaders from all over the world, leaders from different backgrounds, different countries, and amazing cultures.”

“My mentor and other lead mentors in this program presented professional leadership skills, which I adopted in my future work.”

Furthermore, he used the Alumni Ventures Fund to support the implementation of his project and better plan and engage with the targeted group.

Ahmad leaves us with two messages for this initiative and his MCW Global community.

“If you see something, say something. Child protection is everybody’s responsibility, and we all need to work together and create a safer world for children because today’s children are tomorrow’s generation.”

“I cannot express how pleased I am to be part of such a caring and uplifting community.”

“Thank you, MCW Global! I will make sure to share your message wherever I will be.”

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Just this year, the Alumni Ventures Fund awarded nine grants totaling over $12,856.

Let’s see how the young activist Maria José Lovatón uses this support to strengthen youth advocacy in Peru.