The Amal Initiative

“The sessions have begun. We finally felt understood, and that someone understood that at this point in our life, we wanted to explain the new things that had happened to us, such as giving birth or adjusting to a new environment.” Reflected one of the women in the Amal Initiative Center’s mothers club program in Sarmada, Northern Syria.

Adolescent Mothers Against All Odds (AMAL Initiative) was designed to meet the immediate needs of pregnant adolescents and first-time mothers in crisis settings while addressing community consciousness around gender, power, and social norms.

The weekly program consists of both psychosocial support and reproductive health and creates a safe, inclusive and non-judgmental environment for these mothers to find support and sisterhood. The program was developed by SRD, CARE, and UNFPA.

In 2021, SRD provided safety and empowerment services to 170, 892 people through our 10 community centers and child-friendly spaces, 4 Women/Girls Safe Spaces, 19 GBV & Protections Mobile Site, and 7 GBV & Protection Fixed Sites.