OUR WORK

ABOUT AFS

After the incredible worldwide reaction to For Sama, we launched Action For Sama (AFS) to provide a platform from which to raise the voices of the Syrian people. Alongside partners and allies, and embedded within public engagement, AFS focuses on the following key themes: 

> Shedding light on the deliberate attacks on healthcare facilities in Syria and on the plight and challenges faced by IDPs and refugees; 

> Advocating for people who are still currently under attack, and seeking accountability for the crimes that have been occurring regularly in Syria, for over a decade. 

These macro-themes have guided AFS’s work since its inception, addressing the wider public across the globe and targeted audiences, including government representatives and policy makers in the UK, US and Europe.

OUR VISION

Our long-term vision is to create a permanent cultural space - a home - in the UK. Our “small Syria” will welcome all Syrians and non-Syrians, through togetherness, education and culture. 

This will be a special place, where people can spend their time, eat together, socialise or work, learn through workshops and language classes, a place where Syrian artists can perform or display their work, a place to celebrate Eid. 

Research and discussions are underway for us to achieve this goal, along with activities to build up to it.

Watch this space…

TIMELINE OF ACTIVITIES

AFS have delivered a high number of activities and campaigns since it’s inception in 2019. Here are just a few highlights below. (This list doesn’t include press coverage - see our media page here!)

2019

 

  • FOR SAMA broadcast on PBC (US) and Channel 4 (UK)

  • Waad is keynote speech One Young World Summit 

  • For Sama screening and talk in UK Parliament 

  • Meeting with Andrew Mitchell MP resulting in question tabled at UK parliament

  • Waad’s archive of footage submitted to IIM as evidence of war crimes on World Human Rights Day in partnership with Guernica 37

  • For Sama is shortlisted for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature

  • Waad and Hamza attend the Queen’s annual Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace

  • Further screenings, panel discussions and talks were held at various places around the globe, including: U.S Holocaust Museum, D.C, Middle East Institute, Frontline Club, Action Aid, Yale University, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Harvard University and many more.

2020

  • Public stand outside UN HQ in New York on internstional community’s failure to act for Syria, organised by AFS and a working group of NGOs, with billboard trucks stating “STOP” “BOMBING” “HOSPITALS,” (in English, Russian, and Arabic)

  • Waad attends the Oscars wearing a dress with “We dared to dream and we will not regret dignity” embroidered in Arabic

  • “Let them hear your voice!” Waad delivers powerful speech as she accepts the awards for Best Documentary at the BAFTAS (watch it here)

  • #WATCHFORSAMA - On the 9th anniversary of the Syrian revolution, in collaboration with The Syria Campaign, AFS urged supporters and partners to to tell their local MPs (UK) to watch For Sama and act for Syria

  • UK MP Alison McGovern shares references of For Sama to politicians, urging them to take action for Syrians

  • Waad is recognised in list of TIME 100s most Influential People 2020

  • Waad is featured in BBC 100 Women List 2020

  • Homemade City initiative launched by Action for Sama & Future Aleppo, where children around the world created a collective paper city from inside their own homes

  • High level advocacy tour in the US, featuring meetings with Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and with members of the US Senate and the US House of Representatives, including Representatives Stanton, Sires, Boyle and Frankel.

  • 150+ screenings (some with panel discussions) were held at various organisations featuring special events with: U.S Doctors Without Borders, IOM, Human Rights Watch, The Museum of Tolerance, The Imperial War Museum, UNICEF Germany, The Guardian, European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, The Syrian American Council, Human Rights House Voronezh in Russia

  • £80,000 raised to support the work of our partners on the ground (using Choose Love platform)

2021

  • The team at Guernica 37 work with Waad on footage reviews / witness testimonies that would support the bringing of a human rights complaint in the European Court of Human Rights against the Russian Federation for the bombing of hospitals in Aleppo

  • 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE SYRIAN REVOLUTION

    • AFS specially designed Facebook frame used by over 35K people a around the world

    • Paintings by Salam al-Atrash (For Sama subject) were sent to high profile supporters of AFS including: Emilia Clarke, Alec Baldwin, Kit Harington, Josh O’Connor, Annie Mac, Stacey Dooley and Camilla Thurlow.

  • Afraa Hashem, on behalf of Action, for Sama joined representatives of 8 UK Syrian organisations to present a joint letter to the Danish Ambassador in London (UK), to protest at Danish Government actions in withdrawing the residence permits of Syrian refugees

  • GENEVA SUMMIT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS & DEMOCRACY - Waad addresses at the 13th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy her journey from a university student in #Aleppo to an activist struggling to survive amidst the Assad regime’s war crimes

  • WORLD REFUGEE DAY 2021 - On World Refugee Day we revealed special wall murals in East London and Idlib featuring community talks/events, with the help of Dawlaty, The Syria Campaign. Families For Freedom, Violet Org and Choose Love

  • MSF JAPAN’S HUMANITARIAN CONFERENCE - Hamza speaks at the Humanitarian Congress Tokyo 2021, presenting on ‘Future of Humanitarian Actions – truly leaving no one behind’ alongside other panelists from MSF and ICRC.

  • Waad spends 2 months in Tokyo, filming for her upcoming documentary, “We Dare To Dream”

  • Afraa speaks at UN side event: “COMPREHENSIVE JUSTICE FOR SYRIA” organised by PAX for Peace and Women Now for Development

  • Waad’s speaks at the UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL: ACCOUNTABILITY IN SYRIA in New York - “Where is the outrage when your laws are broken? Where is the action?”

  • Waad and Sama join Little Amal on London Bridge for the London leg of ‘Walk with Amal’ organised by Tracey Seaward and Good Chance Theatre

  • 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DISPLACEMENT OF ALEPPO

    • AFS released a 6-part video series, sharing interviews of first-hand accounts from a range of special guests: first responders, doctors, local council members, a teacher, humanitarians and a journalist.

    • We Dared To Dream exhibition (PILOT) - Small, scale pilot exhibition at P21 Gallery, London, sharing items and stories of the For Sama families and friends, whom we shared our last days in Aleppo, including some who are no longer with us.

  • Further screenings, panel discussions and talks were held at various organisations including: Reuters, Edinburgh Feminist Society, BFI London, Boston Uni, RightsCon Conference, Guardian 200th birthday, Healthcare Leadership Academy, Women For Women International, World Extreme Medicine

  • Action For Sama registers as a legal entity, creating a Community Interest Company (CIC) under the name, ‘We Dared To Dream’

2022

  • OSCARS 2022 - Hamza and Waad attend the Oscars ceremony wearing AFS badges stating, ‘Stop bombing hospitals’ in English and Russian

  • RUSSIA INVASION OF UKRAINE

    • MEDIA - The AFS team were inundated with press requests seeking comment on the situation. Interviews included: CNN, Democracy now, Channel 4 News, The Mirror, British Medical Journal and AP News.

    • STOP BOMBING HOSPITALS - Hamza and Afraa joined a protest outside the Russian Embassy in London to demand that Russian forces “Stop Bombing Hospitals”

    • #Straightfromthefrontline - Waad joins Frontline club outside the Russian Embassy in London in support of freelance journalists on the frontline and to remember those who were lost in the war in Ukraine

    • Waad and Ed Watts take part in an online creative support session/Q&A with 96 Ukrainian Filmmakers/ documentarists, organised by Netflix UK

  • To mark International Women’s Day (IWD), AFS, The Syria Campaign, The White Helmets and Mazaya Organisation host a unique discussion, moderated by Waad

  • Special IWD event hosted by the US Embassy and The Academy featuring an intimate in-conversation talk with hollywood actor, Leslie Caron, introduced by The Honorable Philip T. Reeker Chargé d’affaires, a.i. of USA

  • Waad meets with the French Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Former Secretary of State for European Affairs of France, Catherine Colonna

  • City of London - Waad featured in special Women’s History Month London tube map reimagined by Emma Watson Reni Eddo-Lodge & Rebecca Solnit

  • SYRIAN REVOLUTION ANNIVERSARY - Waad, Hamza, Afraa and families attended a march to Downing Street in a protest organised by the Syria Solidarity Campaign with large signs replicating banners that have been used over the past 11 years

  • STOP BOMBING HOSPITALS CAMPAIGN - To mark the anniversary of the deadly attack on Al Quds hospital in Aleppo, AFS launched a month-long global campaign featuring medical workers in Syria and Ukraine wearing face masks and hold signage displaying the message ‘Stop Bombing Hospitals’

  • MP ACTION: DEPORTATION OF ASYLUM SEEKERS - Action For Sama joined TSC in a collaborative action to target the general public, asking them to email their MPs to object to the UK government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda

  • AFS US ADVOCACY TOUR - Under the guidance of TSC, attended an advocacy tour in the US, speaking to gov reps, policy makers and organisational leads in New York and Washington DC, including Congresswomen and Congressmen, plus representatives at the UN, The Clooney Foundation for Justice, the US State Department and the French, Turkish, German Missions

  • CISI Event - Waad and Hamza co-hosted a CSIS discussion - ‘Roundtable on the Upcoming UN Cross-border Vote on Syria’ featuring US government representatives

  • Members of AFS contributed to new research on disinformation - ‘Deadly Disinformation: How online conspiracies about Syria cause real-world harm’

  • Turkey Screenings - AFS launched a number of For Sama screenings and Talks in Turkey alongside Harmony Project in response to the rising racism towards Syrian refugees

  • Waad participates in ‘Dialogue against Impunity’ discussion by Assemblée Européenne des Citoyens about Russia’s actions in Syria, Ukraine and beyond

  • Oral Research Project - AFS recruited a Research Consultant to undertake 60 interviews with Syrians, inside and outside the country, to gather testimonials and data that highlight the continued impact and significance of the Syrian conflict, particularly around forced displacement

  • WE DARED TO DREAM EXHIBITION - AFS hosted a 3-day educational, storytelling exhibition in London in December 2022, to mark the anniversary of the forced displacement from Aleppo. This was a larger-scale version of the small pilot exhibition in 2021 and was opened with a special event  

  • Further screenings, panel discussions and talks were held at various organisations including: Cambridge Uni, Oxford Uni (Middle East Centre), Women For Women UK, Malvern Festival of Ideas, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung