In an effort to keep public attention on the ongoing needs of millions of Syrian refugees, International Medical Corps and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation are launching The Things We Carry, a campaign featuring the children, men and women who have fled six years of war in their country – and what they carried with them to safety.
The campaign, which will roll out across media platforms, includes an interactive tool for viewers to choose what they would carry with them if they were suddenly forced from their homes – and to explore the stories of twelve Syrians who faced that agonizing choice.
“While this war has been grinding on for nearly six years, and global attention has ebbed and flowed in that time, the Syrian people continue to endure tremendous suffering, and we must not forget them,” said Rebecca Milner, Vice President of Institutional Advancement for International Medical Corps. “Our goal with this campaign is to help people imagine what it’s like to have to flee your home at a moment’s notice, to save your life or that of your family – and to be able to take only one thing with you. What would that one thing be? For these refugees, leaving their homes and everything they know is not a choice, but a matter of life and death.”
“While the suffering of Syrian refugees continues, international humanitarian response increasingly falls short of what is needed to address their growing needs,” said Shaheen Kassim-Lakha, Director of International Programs for the Hilton Foundation. “With millions of refugees rapidly turning into a lost generation, it is vital to develop innovative communications campaigns such as this to bring more attention to the crisis.”
International Medical Corps operates in Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, delivering lifesaving medical relief and training programs aimed at helping people recover, rebuild and become their own best first responders. The Hilton Foundation has been supporting International Medical Corps’ programs for Syrian refugees in Turkey since 2013.
To participate in the campaign, visit The Things We Carry website.
About Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation was created in 1944 by international business pioneer Conrad N. Hilton, who founded Hilton Hotels and left his fortune to help the world’s disadvantaged and vulnerable people. The Foundation currently conducts strategic initiatives in six priority areas: providing safe water, ending chronic homelessness, preventing substance use, helping young children affected by HIV and AIDS, supporting transition-age youth in foster care, and extending Conrad Hilton’s support for the work of Catholic Sisters. In addition, following selection by an independent international jury, the Foundation annually awards the $2 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize to a nonprofit organization doing extraordinary work to alleviate human suffering. In 2016, the Humanitarian Prize was awarded to The Task Force for Global Health, an international, nonprofit organization that works to improve health of people most in need, primarily in developing countries. From its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than $1.5 billion in grants, distributing $109 million in the U.S. and around the world in 2016. The Foundation’s current assets are approximately $2.6 billion. For more information, please visit www.hiltonfoundation.org.