Name of organization:
Peace of Art
Description of organization:
Established in 2016, Peace of Art is a grassroots youth-led organization that uses art and culture as tools to promote peace. Through these tools, the organization works towards an open and tolerant society where young voices engage with each other towards the democratic transformation of the North Bekaa region in Lebanon.
Context:
North Bekaa has been greatly affected by the Syrian crisis, including several attacks by ISIS which have furthered divisions in villages along religious, sectarian and political lines. In addition, the region is considered to be rural and marginalized, with little access to opportunities for government funding and community development. Youth are therefore in an environment where they do not have much contact with people of other cultural and religious beliefs, leaving them at risk of perpetuating stereotypes. In particular, the large population of Syrian refugees faces obstacles in integration due to discrimination from parts of the local Lebanese community.
Proposed project and expected results:
Peace of Art proposes to use sports, specifically through training community coaches, to build a culture of peace among Syrian Sunni and Lebanese Sunni, Shiite, and Christian youth in North Bekaa. These community coaches will encourage peer-group peacebuilding by engaging youth in activities such as basketball, football, volleyball and yoga.
By the end of the project, Peace of Art expects to:
- Train ten community coaches to facilitate peer-group peacebuilding activities.
- Engage 100 marginalized youth to take part in sports such as basketball, football, volleyball and yoga integrated with peer-group peacebuilding activities over a six-month period.
- Develop a handbook of case studies using community coaches for peacebuilding.
Project coordinator: Mehdi Houssein Yehya
Contact information: info@peaceofartlb.com
Website: peaceofartlb.com