Channels of Hope project meeting

St. Ephrem Patriarchal Development Committee (EPDC) held a meeting for spiritual fathers and religious leaders who implemented initiatives of the Channels of Hope project, which has been executed by EPDC for the second consecutive year. The project focuses on protecting children from potential harm in the places they frequent and raising awareness about children’s rights, ensuring they have a safe and healthy childhood and a secure future.

The project included several meetings for caregivers and a series of training sessions, resulting in 9 initiatives in various cities in Syria. These initiatives targeted caregivers, children, and adolescents, in collaboration with different denominations and archdioceses in Aleppo, Homs, Dara’a (Khubb and Izraa), Latakia, Damascus, Safita, and Suwayda.

The Executive Director of EPDC, Mr. Hisham Saad, attended the meeting along with the administrative team. Each team provided an overview of the initiative they had implemented and the achievements in child protection.

An open discussion took place regarding the challenges and difficulties faced and how to overcome them for better project implementation in the coming years. Certificates were also distributed to the attendees.

Present at the meeting were a group of religious leaders and caregivers from several religious education centers in Damascus, Sadad, and Dara’a (specifically the town of Izraa). Discussions centered around exploring avenues for collaboration and coordination between these centers and EPDC to support child protection projects.