Syrian refugees and Jordanian youth come together to celebrate art

Today in the Za’atari camp, UN Women and partners celebrated the collective work of Syrian and Jordanian artists. In late 2015, UN Women and the German-Jordanian University (GJU) supported 25 Jordanian architecture students to partner with 15 Syrian artists living in Za’atari camp to collaborate on large-scale paintings within the camp, depicting their memories and hopes for the future. On 23 March 2016, the artists, refugees, camp community members and the Government of Japan – who generously financed this work – came together to recognize and celebrate this partnership.
Led by the renowned Jordanian architect, Dr Rami F. Daher, the “Caravan Canvas” art project worked to foster understanding and cooperation between refugee and host communities in Jordan, while also offering refugees a creative outlet and an opportunity to build their art skills. Opening the ceremony, HE Mr. Shuichi Sakurai, the Ambassador of Japan to Jordan commended the success of the project.
Mr. Giuseppe Belsito, UN Women Jordan Country Representative, emphasized the benefits of the project for the camp community and thanked the refugee artists and GJU students for their commitment. “The project,” he said, “not only unified Syrians and Jordanians through the creative activity, but also made UN Women Oases a more beautiful, and more pleasant space to live in”.
During the event a Syrian artist spoke of her experience of the project, which provided a much-needed space for the refugees to express their hopes, fears, and memories. Adding to UN Women’s support and life skills services, it recognized the human need for self-expression. Through the creative process, Syrian refugees and Jordanian youth built an intimate connection in which to express themselves, thus fostering better mutual understanding and relationships. The event celebrated their commitment and the creative union between them by awarding them certificates in recognition of their work.
Background
UN Women runs three Oases – safe spaces for women and girls – in the Za’atari refugee camp. Through those spaces, it seeks to address gender-based violence (GBV) by providing economic empowerment opportunities, life skills, protection referrals, and awareness-raising on GBV and women’s empowerment. A recent UN Women report shows that this support results in significant reduction of GBV amongst its beneficiary population, while also increasing household income by an average of 1450% per month and making 91% of the beneficiaries experience a greater role in household and community decision-making.