“Stand Up with the Teachers” Campaign

The “Stand Up with the Teachers” campaign continues to stand strong in its fight for fair working conditions for teachers in the private sector. This year, we worked closely with the campaign, providing targeted support that aligned with its current phase—focused on mobilizing teachers within schools, reinforcing their collective strength, and advancing shared demands for better labor rights.

“24/24” Campaign

After persistent efforts by community members, the “24/24” campaign successfully pushed the Ministry of Health to renovate and reopen the health center in Ghor Al-Mazra’a. In response, the Ministry worked with Himmetna to carry out the renovations, resulting in a fully equipped, operational facility that now provides essential medical services to local residents.

This victory highlights a core principle of community organizing: those most affected by an issue are the ones best positioned to drive real change, as long as they continue asserting their rights. The people of 24/24 refused to back down, holding the Ministry accountable until it found a solution.

“Mish Shari” Carrefour Boycott Campaign

We celebrated the success of the “Mish Shari” campaign, a BDS led boycott campaign targeting Carrefour in Jordan. Ahel supported BDS Jordan in thehe campaign as it gained traction, leading to the announcement by Majid Al Futtaim Group that it would cease Carrefour operations in Jordan and shut down all its branches. This was a powerful moment that reaffirmed the impact of organized economic resistance.

These stories are just glimpses of the organizing efforts that unfolded this year—testaments to the power of people coming together to claim their rights, demand justice, and stand firm against oppression in all its forms.

Building Leadership and Organizing Capacity

The eagerness to learn and take strategic action reflects the strength of those ready to make a real impact. In 2024, we saw this drive across the Arab region—individuals and groups sharpening their leadership and organizing skills, turning knowledge into action. Here are some key moments from our work with them.

In June 2024, we celebrated the sixth cohort of our “Leadership and Organizing for Action” course (Masaq), which equipped 65 organizers from nine different countries with the tools to drive change in their communities. Participants engaged in an intensive journey of learning—combining lectures, assignments, and on-the-ground organizing to make tangible progress in their causes. Despite challenges, particularly the painful absence of colleagues from Gaza and Sudan, the urgency of the moment reinforced the necessity and power of organizing.

By the end of the program, participants had expanded their teams to 128 leadership groups, bringing together more than 700 organizers who collectively mobilized around 1,500 people on issues that affect them and their communities. Their efforts tackled diverse struggles, including labor rights for agricultural workers in Tunisia, the protection of cedar forests in Lebanon, increasing youth civic engagement in Palestine and Morocco, and securing workplace rights for cancer survivors in Jordan. The year ended on a high note with the success of the “Second Chance Schools” campaign in Tikrit, Iraq, which achieved its goal of enrolling 250 young adults—including displaced Iraqis and returnees—into literacy centers in underserved areas, after completing its journey in Ahel’s Coaching Clinic, a program that supported them in jumpstarting their work on the ground after finishing their learning journey in Masaq.

In November 2024, we introduced a new program designed to cultivate feminist leadership in organizing. 24 women leaders from across Jordan graduated from the first phase of the “Leadership, Organizing, and Feminism” program in 2024. Over five months, participants deepened their understanding of community organizing and began shaping their own campaigns. In 2025, they will continue working alongside trainers and mentors from Ahel to advance their organizing efforts in different stages.

As we do every year, we designed and focused community organizing workshops to provide structured opportunities for leadership development. This year, 38 organizers from across the Arab world graduated from the annual “Forsa” workshop, which centers on the five core organizing practices. In addition, we conducted tailored training sessions for groups based on their specific needs and requests.

In 2024, we also launched a self-paced online learning course dedicated to the skill of 1:1 coaching meetings, drawing from the community organizing methodology. While we have long worked on developing the skills of organizers through dedicated training programs, this time, we designed an innovative self-learning experience—allowing organizers across the region to strengthen their skills at their own pace. In its pilot phase, 20 organizers completed the course and returned to their campaigns equipped with new tools to expand their impact and nurture leadership within their campaigns.

Strengthening the Resilience of Organizers and Their Campaigns

ople’s power is not only measured by their ability to create change—it is also reflected in their resilience, their unwavering presence, and the solidarity that strengthens their bonds. Through our work with organizers across different campaigns, as well as with the Athar Network for Community Organizing in the Arab World, we have witnessed how the convergence of wills can generate a pulse of energy that fuels collective action and opens new pathways for change.

Building on past efforts, in 2024 we expanded spaces that foster solidarity and shared learning, ensuring that organizers have the support they need to navigate challenges and sustain their work for change.

Expanding the Athar Network

By the end of 2024, the Athar Network for Community Organizing in the Arab World had grown to 220 members from seven countries, actively engaged in campaigns tackling a wide range of issues across the Arab region. The network continued to strengthen solidarity and facilitate participatory, volunteer-led programs in several key areas:

• Individual and Collective Learning: The network launched a Learning Grants Program, designed to empower members by assessing their needs and connecting them with specialized learning opportunities. This initiative strengthened leadership and organizing skills while fostering peer-to-peer learning. Additionally, Athar introduced a political education series under the title “National Liberation Movements”, delving into the concept of liberation struggles through real-world case studies. The program offered a comprehensive exploration of the relationship between international law and liberation movements, the challenges they face, and the victories they have achieved. The network also conducted digital security training, recognizing it as a critical skill in today’s landscape.

• Contextual Knowledge and Political Awareness: Throughout 2024 and into 2025, national teams within the Athar Network worked to deepen members’ understanding of political contexts—both at the country level and in issue-based campaigns. The network also facilitated knowledge-sharing through inspirational sessions, such as “Art and Politics in Dialogue,” which highlighted the role of art in documenting resistance and sustaining hope in Syria, and “Digital Campaigns: Movement or Stagnation?”, which explored the effectiveness of online activism in the Palestinian struggle. These conversations encouraged participants to think critically about innovative and impactful strategies.

Fostering Collective Strength Through the “Campaigns Forum” (Multaqa)

As a vital space for solidarity and shared learning, we continued to organize the Campaigns Forum (Multaqa), a participatory gathering that strengthens the resilience of organizers and reinforces their sense of belonging to a community of changemakers. Participants use this space to exchange updates, share learnings, discuss challenges, and explore strategies for overcoming obstacles in their work.

What makes the Campaigns Forum unique is its reliance on the collective organizing experiences of campaign leaders themselves. Each session features organizers sharing real-world lessons on topics selected based on the evolving needs of campaigns, identified through ongoing engagement with campaign teams.

The first regional Multaqa, held online, focused on practical steps for building a campaign’s grassroots base, from laying the foundation to mobilizing people for collective action. The insights from this session were documented in articles added to Ahel’s Resource Library for long-term accessibility.

The second regional Multaqa, also online, addressed the importance of building strong alliances in the face of efforts to weaken collective organizing. Participants reflected on the experience of the Truth and Justice Charter Coalition, discussing strategies for relationship-building and ensuring the sustainability of alliances through strengthening coalition members.

The third Multaqa, held in person in Jordan, brought together 13 campaigns and 50 organizers in a hands-on space to explore popular education as an organizing tool—one that helps recruit new leaders and equips them to drive change. This gathering also provided an opportunity to discuss the role of popular education in building strong organizing structures, reinforcing participants’ commitment to their campaigns while strengthening connections through direct, in-person knowledge exchange.

Our Work with Civil Society and Community-Based Organizations

As part of our commitment to building people power and strengthening their impact within their communities, we focused on working with civil society and community-based organizations, equipping them with community organizing tools and approaches. In 2024, we advanced this effort through several key initiatives:

We held three specialized workshops for civil society and community-based organizations in Tunisia, Palestine, and Jordan—a significant step toward expanding the reach of community organizing. These workshops were specifically designed for civil society professionals, helping them understand this approach and compare it with other change methodologies, with the aim of encouraging some organizations to integrate it into their work.

Community Organizing Workshops Across the Region

• Tunisia: We held two workshops to support civil society efforts. The first, hosted at the Arab Institute for Human Rights, focused on community organizing as a change methodology, introducing organizations to its principles and how they can apply them in their work with communities. As a result, three community centers in Sidi Hussein, Tunisia, received training on developing strategic campaigns, positioning themselves as key stakeholders in their causes.
  The second workshop, held in partnership with Oxfam Tunisia, focused on the public narrative framework, equipping Tunisian organizers and leaders with the skills to craft and deliver “Self, Us, Now” stories effectively, strengthening the role of civil society in driving change.
• Palestine: In collaboration with the Women Against Violence Association, we trained 30 individuals from community-based organizations across Palestine on community organizing. This training led to several initiatives, including a campaign advocating for safe spaces for women to express themselves, led by Women Against Violence Association, and continued support for the Tamra campaign against organized crime. Additionally, we provided targeted coaching sessions for other organizing groups in Palestinian communities inside the 1948 territories.
• Jordan: A workshop brought together leaders from 12 Jordanian civil society and community-based organizations working closely with their grassroots bases to drive change on various issues. As a result, participants gained deeper insights into community organizing, and some organizations went on to engage in learning spaces with grassroots campaigns and organizers. The workshop also led to the nomination of women leaders from these organizations for the “Leadership, Organizing, and Feminism” program, opening doors for future partnerships and reinforcing the impact of these workshops in advancing collective action for social change.