Dana Halabi launches Al Halabi Foundation in support of children affected by Arab Spring

Lebanese artist Dana Halabi announced the launch of Al Halabi Charity Foundation, which aims to provide support to children affected by the Arab Spring crises.

The foundation will create programs to provide free training in hobbies and crafts for the affected children and improve the children\’s skills at their crafts, which could in turn become a source of income that could help support them and their families in the future.

Dana Halabi said, \”The region is undergoing radical changes and children are being subjected to scenes of extreme violence every day, with great detrimental impact on their intellectual and social life and development, as well as their future ability to integrate into civil society.”

“Through this foundation, we seek to help children who lost one or more of their first degree relatives during the Arab Spring uprising to integrate in society by developing and nurturing their talents, and thereby making these talents, be they art, music, or any other, important tools that can be used in shaping their future. If developed properly these talents also have the potential to become a source of income for these children and their families, particularly the affected families which are usually unable to provide financial and technical support needed to fully develop their children’s abilities,” she added.

SAHARA Communications will be managing the charity foundation based on its exceptional track record in managing social responsibility and charity programs locally and internationally.

Dr Ahmed Samerai, president of SAHARA Communications, said, “We are delighted to be assigned the management these programs and we will be utilising both our expert knowledge and extensive international network to ensure that that they receive maximum exposure. We believe it is vitally important to integrate the affected children back into everyday society. By giving them skills and hobbies that they can use to make a positive impact on their lives we can minimise the impact of the painful memories of what they have been.”

During this first phase of its operations the foundation aims to launch programs to provide talent development opportunity to 1000 children affected by the Arab Spring unrests. The training and talent development centres will be established in several countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon and the UAE. Registration will be taking place online through the foundation\’s social media channels.

The foundation will organize free courses led by experts in fields such as illustration, music, acting, sculpture and photography. The foundation\’s headquarters is located in Lebanon, and it aims to organize numerous activities and training courses to spread public awareness on the necessity to care for the community and support volunteering and civil activities.