Ahel For Community Organizing
The word Ahel in Arabic means a family that is not necessarily blood related. It is mentioned in a verse in the Quran twice, each time with a different meaning: the first time it means “most deserving” and the second time it means “most capable”. Ahel believes that the people of the cause or the constituency of a place are the most deserving and the most capable of bringing about the change sought. It believes that the people themselves have to lead their collective action and advocacy and be their own organized voice.
Ahel supports community groups and organizations that lead collective action to bring about change for freedom, justice and protection of human rights. We coach and train leaders and organisations interested in leading collective action to bring about the change they need and build their people power. Our main objective is to introduce and coach leaders in community organizing, shared distributed leadership and collective action so as to run successful community organized campaigns and grassroot action for change.
Where we work
Registered in Amman since 2011 and works primarily in Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon. Ahel teaching online and offline is offered to all Arab countries.
Achieving Mission
We build leadership, build organising capacity, coach grassroot campaigns and movements for social and political change, and create knowledge
Four main paths of work
Community Organizing
Introducing civic organizations to community mobilizing and organizing. Ahel does that by introducing mobilizing and organizing practices to organizations and aims to build their in-house coaching team. This is to help community based organizations go beyond community engagement to building real community power by organizing and mobilizing constituencies
Documentation and Knowledge
Develop Arabic material and knowledge on lessons learned, case studies and good practices related to collective action for change, distributed leadership and building people power
Campaign Coaching
Supporting campaigns, community change projects and movements that are pursuing specific change. Ahel supports them by nurturing leadership through training and coaching on community organizing and movement building. We train and accompany campaigns/movement leaders as needed and focus them on: narrative, strategy, team structure, tactics, recruitment and expansion, and leadership culture
Leadership Capacity
Building the leadership and organizing capacity of motivated individuals. Which individuals? Those who are change agents, take initiative and understand leadership as a shared practice of enabling each other
