Translated from the German original. Diese Seite auf Deutsch
Förderverein Relief and Reconciliation Deutschland e. V.
Reconciliation, education, solidarity with young people on the Syrian border
Support the work of Relief and Reconciliation International in the Peace Centres in Akkar in the north of Lebanon and in Kadesh in Syria. In the 2025/26 school year, around 500 Syrian and Lebanese children and young people learn there every day. Every cent helps!
Account holder: Förderverein Relief and Reconciliation Deutschland e. V.
IBAN: DE60 4306 0967 1291 2197 00
BIC: GENODEM1GLS
Bank: GLS Bank
Payment reference: Spende (donation) + full name* + full address*
* details required to receive a donation receipt
Please never write “Syria” in the name or the payment reference of your transfer. Banks automatically reject such payments.
Further down this page you will find more information about the work of the international aid organisation Relief and Reconciliation and about our supporters’ association in Germany.
Stay up to date on our activities in the Peace Centres and the latest developments on the ground with our R&R Deutschland newsletter (3 issues per year).
Help us make the work of our organisation visible. We have put together the key facts in this information brochure.
For further information, please get in touch with us: berlin@reliefandreconciliation.org
Losing our shared humanity?
Solidarity Across Borders in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and Berlin.
Under this title, our supporters’ association held its first panel discussion in Berlin on the Day of German Unity 2024. During their stay in Germany of only a few days, Friedrich Bokern and Jackson DeConcini discussed with the Syrian activist Yasmine Merei the struggle for cross-border solidarity in times of war and displacement. The panellists shared their very personal experiences and impressions from their humanitarian missions in Lebanon and Gaza and from their engagement in Germany, respectively. With a view to solidarity and humanity, they explored possible paths to change at home and abroad.
We would like to make a recording of the event, which was held in English, available here for the members and friends of our organisation to listen to. The recording was made with the consent of the speakers who can be heard and has therefore been slightly shortened.
We would like to thank once again everyone involved, the WEG Spreefeld and all guests, with whom we were able to create this safe setting for exchange in unsafe times. We hope that it will soon be followed by further panel discussions and events at which we can talk with you. You will find information about them in our newsletter.
On the panel:
Jackson DeConcini, member of the Gaza response team of MedGlobal in Gaza, foreword to The Israeli–Palestinian Peace Process. A Personal Insider’s Account. by Yair Hirschfeld
Yasmin Merei, journalist and human rights activist, founding member of the Syrian Women’s Lobby, director of Women for Common Spaces e. V. and editor of the magazine Female Voices In Exile
Friedrich Bokern, founder and chair of Relief and Reconciliation International AISBL
Ina Hoppe, chair of the Förderverein Relief and Reconciliation Deutschland e. V.
Part 1
00:00 - Welcome and introduction of guests and hosts 14:45 - The effect of growing violence and fear towards “the other” on individual engagement in humanitarian aid and personal experiences since October 7 (15:30 - Yasmine on her experiences in Berlin; 23:05 - Friedrich on developments in Lebanon; 42:33 - Jackson on his observations in Israel and Gaza)
Part 2
Losing our shared humanity_part 2 - R&R Deutschland
00:00 - The importance of stories being heard and their representation in current debate (00:31 - Yasmine about her experiences in Syria and Berlin and the importance of telling stories; 10:58 - Friedrich on the importance of seeing all sides of moral responsibility; 16:14 Jackson on shaping political debate by sharing experiences and coalition building, and on the role of women)
Part 3
Losing our shared humanity_part 3 - R&R Deutschland
00:00 - Opportunities for solidarity and humanity (00:20 - Yasmine on the importance of debates like this; 01:45 - Friedrich on the power of solidarity of people on the ground and on sharing privileges) 12:05 - Questions from the audience:
- 12:38 - Do you see a chance for dialogue between the opposing parties? - Jackson and Friedrich on the role of education and hospitality
- 20:20 - How could we get out of the spiral of violence started by men with the soft power of woman? - Yasmine on changing the ideology by a female approaches and the importance of safe spaces, Jackson on women bearing the burden of war, Friedrich on the challenges for change in patriarchic power, colonial power and prejudice, Jackson on empowerment of women in all levels of hierarchy
- 31:00 - What can be done to forster a bridge of understanding, going further than sharing the stories? - Friedrich on the dangers of betraying our values and the loss of German credibility
34:10 - Final remarks from our audience and words of farewell
Our Peace Centres in the north of Lebanon
At the beginning of July 2013, our initiative opened the first Peace Centre of the international aid organisation Relief and Reconciliation (R&R) in the northern border region of Lebanon. In a safe and natural environment, we were able to give traumatised children and young people from Syria a chance to breathe here. Since then, we have been able to extend our work in the Lebanese governorate of Akkar to four further sites, where experienced educators, psychologists and social workers offer individual and social activities, skills training, courses and material support.
All our Peace Centres welcome children and young people of different confessions and groups, from Syria as well as from Lebanon. Peace is the overarching goal of our work, which rests on three pillars of daily work: educational support, psychosocial support and emergency relief. These are put into practice in the following operational programme lines:
- The Education Programme comprises accelerated courses and tutoring in the foreign languages French and English, in which Syrian refugees are prepared for the Lebanese curriculum and accompanied through the school year. Our Education Programme also includes basic education in reading, writing and arithmetic. Life-skills modules (non-violent action, environmental awareness, hygiene and computer courses) are integrated into all courses.
- The Psychosocial Programme comprises regular visits to refugee families and host communities as well as the organisation of daily and weekly recreational, cultural and sports activities for children and adolescents. With the help of international Project Volunteers, we also hold workshops and annual events.
- The Humanitarian Programme provides material aid to young people and their families. In close cooperation with national and international organisations, we try to respond to the needs that have been neglected by the large-scale aid programmes of the UN and other associations. Within this programme, we also respond to individual emergencies.
Peacebuilding is fully integrated into the daily work. In addition, all our activities are decided in a co-decision procedure between us and a local Steering Committee, which is made up of relevant moral authorities from all local communities and thus reflects the various structures of Syrian civil society. Our aid is impartial and is not based on nationality, race, religion or political affiliation; it is based on need alone.
Relief and Reconciliation - united in diversity
For us, Syria is more than a country. Syria is the place where the fate of the twenty-first century is being decided: as a century of freedom and prosperity for all of humanity, or as a century of oppression and war.
We are a group of simple citizens from Syria, Europe and a range of Arab countries who felt compelled to act when millions of Syrians were killed or had to flee their homes. As a genuine expression of the emerging civil society on both shores of the Mediterranean, we unite Muslims, Christians, Jews and others in a common cause: we want to stand in solidarity with the Syrian people and send a message of hope to the world. United in our diversity, we are committed to the principle of spiritual solidarity, which transcends borders in the search for the common good.
Relief & Reconciliation International AISBL is an independent non-profit organisation under Belgian law, based on the individual membership of dedicated men and women who work for our cause as unpaid volunteers. Today we count more than 550 members from all over the world who are committed to peace and justice in Syria and the entire region. We follow a specific methodology that combines conflict transformation with humanitarian aid under the co-decision of the local communities.
As a peacebuilding initiative, we are politically neutral and belong to no government or party. Neither the values we stand for nor the goals we work towards are neutral, however. We are committed to a free and inclusive Syria based on democracy and human rights.
Our supporters’ association in Germany
Our Förderverein Relief and Reconciliation Deutschland e. V. is recognised under German law as a non-profit association and, as such, forms the German branch of R&R International AISBL, whose values and concerns we are committed to. We founded our supporters’ association in 2021 with the aim of supporting the peace and education work of R&R International AISBL in the long term and sustainably. To this end, we strive:
- to inform about the situation and living conditions of the people we support,
- to make the work of R&R International AISBL visible in Germany,
- to build a network of supporters at national level,
- to be available as a point of contact for supporters from Germany,
- to handle donations reliably and transparently
In our supporters’ association, people of the most diverse world views work together as volunteers in the service of the cause. With administrative costs of under 5 per cent, we guarantee our supporters that their help arrives where it is needed.
Contact
Förderverein Relief and Reconciliation Deutschland e. V.
Tharauer Allee 4
14055 Berlin
berlin@reliefandreconciliation.org
Our donation account at GLS Bank*
IBAN: DE60 4306 0967 1291 2197 00
BIC: GENODEM1GLS
* When donating to our association’s account, please always state your name and address in the payment reference, so that we can issue donation receipts promptly and correctly (each in the first quarter of the following year). Thank you very much.
The Executive Board
Ina Hoppe, Chair
From 2014 to 2016, Ina worked as a lecturer and head of the DAAD Information Centre in Beirut, where she first became aware of the work of R&R International. On numerous visits to the Peace Centre in Akkar, she experienced how international solidarity, peace work and humanitarian aid send a powerful sign of hope to the Syrian people. She has been working for this as a volunteer since 2021, as a founding member and chair of the Förderverein R&R Deutschland. Ina lives in Berlin and works full-time as a freelance lecturer in German as a foreign language at various universities across Germany and at the Berlin adult education centres (Volkshochschulen).
Anna Bortolin, Vice-Chair
Anna Bortolin is an orchestral musician and has been convinced since the beginnings of R&R International of the organisation’s work to help people in need in crisis regions and to improve their living conditions sustainably. Her connection with Friedrich Bokern goes back to her student days in Berlin. As a founding member of the German supporters’ association, she now contributes actively and is committed to the projects and goals of R&R International.
Sebastian Askar, Treasurer
Sebastian got to know Syria and Lebanon in 2008 and, partly through personal contacts, feels very attached to the region. He too has supported the work of R&R International for many years. Sebastian completed his studies in European Administrative Management and currently works at the Berlin Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises. As a founding member and treasurer of the Förderverein R&R Deutschland, he keeps a watchful eye on making sure that donations arrive where they are so urgently needed - promptly and reliably.
Legal notice
reliefandreconciliation.org/germany is an information page about the Förderverein Relief and Reconciliation Deutschland e. V. and about the work of Relief and Reconciliation AISBL.
Responsible: Förderverein Relief and Reconciliation Deutschland e. V.
Tharauer Allee 4 | 14055 Berlin
Contact: berlin@reliefandreconciliation.org
Register of associations: Amtsgericht Berlin-Charlottenburg (Local Court of Berlin-Charlottenburg)
Register number: VR39552B
Chair with power of representation: Ina Hoppe