Partnership event with Finnish-Syrian Friendship association held at the Peace Center, Helsinki Finland.
The event was opened by Päivi Yoshizumi from WFWP. She expressed how important it is to
ponder on the topic of trying to understand people from different nationalities and who are from different faiths in Finland. We have a new government, and there has been a lot of concerns on the government’s policies towards immigrants, how they might create fears among immigrants not being accepted as a citizen and a member of the society. We were happy to have a guest speaker
from Syrian background. Group activities’ coordinator Nosaiba Ahmad from Finnish-Syrian friendship association gave a presentation on topic of Inter-Religion communication and how it builds stronger women bonds. She shared her own experience of being invited by her Finnish neighbour to join Christmas party and vice versa inviting this Finnish lady to celebrate Ramadan at her home and how that made her feel more home in Finland and more importantly find a friend.
She captured so nicely what harmony and co-operation of women can achieve: “So women can unite to, address common challenges, support for social justice, and create a fairer society. When women from different
religious backgrounds work together, they become a powerful force for positive change. For example, a group of women from different religious backgrounds come together to support a women’s empowerment campaign.”