1. Reflection rapport Shelter City Zwolle 2021

SHELTER CITY ZWOLLE 2020

CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 2 OUR GUEST ............................................................................................................................................. 2 THE PROJECT TEAM ........................................................................................................................... 2 STAKEHOLDERS ................................................................................................................................ 3 EVALUATION ACTIVITIES .................................................................................................................... 5 EXHIBITION & KICK-OFF............................................................................................................................. 6

HIGHLIGHTS ............................................................................................................................................ 6 IMPACT OF SHELTER CITY ZWOLLE ............................................................................................................... 8 CHALLENGES ................................................................................................................................. 10 COVID-19............................................................................................................................................. 10 OTHER CHALLENGES ............................................................................................................................... 11 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NEXT YEAR .................................................................................................. 12

INTERNAL STRUCTURE AND COMMUNICATION ............................................................................................. 12 EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPARENCY ....................................................................................... 13 INCREASE FOCUS ON CULTURAL ASPECTS .................................................................................................... 14 MATCHING ‘WANTS’ AND ‘NEEDS’ BETWEEN HRD AND SHELTER CITY ZWOLLE ................................................. 14 BUDGET ....................................................................................................................................... 16 SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................... 16

APPENDICES.................................................................................................................................. 17 APPENDIX A: ACTIVITY OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................ 18 APPENDIX B: WEBSITE RESULTS ................................................................................................................ 19 APPENDIX C: PERSONAL STATEMENT MARTIN VOSJAN ................................................................................. 21 APPENDIX D: BUDGET OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................. 24 APPENDIX E: SHELTER CITY- IMPACT THROUGH LOCAL ENGAGEMENT ............................................................. 26 APPENDIX F: PARTNERS SHELTER CITY STEDEN............................................................................................. 36

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report states the final reflection of the Shelter City program of 2021. From April until July this year the executive team of nine motivated Windesheim students under the guidance of the Windesheim Honours College (WHC) Coordinator Marike Scholten hosted the human rights defender (HRD) Sohail Emmanuel from Lahore, Pakistan. Shelter City is a program by the Dutch human rights organisation ‘Justice & Peace’ that offers a safe haven for HRDs from all over the world. Due to a wrong accusation and the fact of belonging to the Christian minority in Pakistan, Sohail spent ten years of his life in prison. After his release, he committed himself to fight for the rights of prisoners, helping ex-prisoners to re-socialize and advocating against blasphemy in his home country. In his three-month stay in Zwolle, Sohail got to know the Dutch way of living and extended his network concerning his profession. He visited the local prison, got to know organisations working in the field of reintegrating ex-prisoners, and told his stories in front of various audiences. Next to the hosting of Sohail Emmanuel, an outside exhibition was part of this year's Shelter City program. On five locations around the city of Zwolle, huge frameworks were placed exhibiting human rights defenders, which were part of the program at that time.

The exhibition was opened on the 27th of May, kicked off by a guest lecture of Sohail and David, a human rights defender from Mexico who stayed in Utrecht the same time Sohail visited Zwolle. As the Shelter City program was organized and ran during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the executive team and Sohail faced various challenges. For example, Sohail had to be quarantined for ten days at the beginning of the program and one of the trainings organised by Justice and Peace had to be held online. In general, the restrictions didn’t allow much physical contact between Sohail and the citizens of Zwolle. However, by connecting with various volunteers, becoming involved with a local church and having his story told in multiple newspaper articles, Sohail got known by many of them. In general, this year's program was seen as a success by the executive team, as well as its stakeholders (e.g., steering committee, house lord of Sohail, coaches, etc.). Even though the program faced a very unfortunate situation (Covid-19) and was run in a different structure as the years before (extracurricular team of Windesheim students), the outcomes were of great value to both the human rights defender Sohail and the municipality of Zwolle.

It is to say that not only Sohail learned a lot for his future activism, but also the team around Marike Scholten gained insights on how to run this program in the future. The team received a lot of feedback (e.g, better communication towards steering committee and municipality) which is included in the following report and will serve as a point of reference when planning the next stay of an HRD. Lastly, the costs of the program are to mention. In total, an amount of 14,873.72 € was spent for the entire program of which 9,000€ were used for the outside photo exhibition (3,000€ of that amount were given by ‘Justice & Peace’). Therefore, the budget of 16,500€ was not exceeded, because the pandemic situation didn’t allow it.

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INTRODUCTION Shelter City is a program by ‘Justice and Peace’, a human rights organisation based in the Hague. Human rights defenders at risk from all over the world can apply for being hosted in the Netherlands for a period of three months. Throughout this time, the defenders can find rest and a secure environment to energise and network. In the Netherlands, eleven cities are part of this program and since 2016 Zwolle is one of them. Since 2012, 126 human rights defenders have been hosted throughout the Netherlands. From April to July 2021, the Shelter City Zwolle team hosted Sohail Emmanuel, a human rights defender from Pakistan. In this report, the team will look back at the time with him and reflect on the key learnings and challenges. In the following section all important people, including Sohail, the project team, and stakeholders, will be introduced. After that, some insights will be given into what Sohail’s program over the three months looked like. In a narrative form, the highlights will be presented, but also a detailed list of all activities will be provided in the Appendices. In the next section, the major challenges of this program will be shared. In the final section of this document a budget overview will be presented, including all costs and expenditures of the entire program.

OUR GUEST The third guest of the Shelter City Zwolle program (existing since 2016) was Sohail Emmanuel (see picture on the cover page) from Pakistan. He belongs to the Christian minority in Pakistan, which also caused his wrongful imprisonment. After being incarcerated innocently for around ten years, he decided to devote his life to the activism for prisoners’ rights and the reintegration of ex-prisoners into the Pakistani society. Nowadays he is working for the ‘Justice Project Pakistan’ shortly JPP and also setting up his own organisation called ‘Redemption’. The goal of Redemption is to build a healing centre for former prisoners, where workshops and other forms of training can happen. Therefore, Sohail participated in the Shelter City program to enlarge his network and learn from the Dutch approach to reintegration. In addition, looking for funding was also a primary goal, but through feedback and numerous meetings, Sohail realised it was best to focus on improving his knowledge and increasing his network.

THE PROJECT TEAM Unlike most other Shelter Cities in the Netherlands, the Shelter City Zwolle team mainly consists of students. This is the case because of the partnership between the municipality of Zwolle and Windesheim University of Applied Science. The team consists of nine students led by Marike Scholten, who is a recruitment officer at Windesheim Honours College of Windesheim University of Applied Sciences.

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Together with the three students Florence Leijen, Leona Klein, and Eiko Saathoff, they formed the coordinating team of the program. Their main task was to steer the direction of Sohail’s stay, plan the program with him and stay in close contact with Justice and Peace. The coordinating team is supported by a bigger team of another six students, which took over smaller executive tasks, like preparing a welcome and goodbye gift for Sohail or organising his birthday party. In weekly (and later biweekly) meetings, the group was updated by the coordinators and the next steps were discussed. Additionally, the Shelter City team acquainted several volunteers from all different parts within Zwolle. The volunteers kept Sohail company and helped him with his day-to-day activities, like visiting the city centre, grocery shopping, or meeting interesting people to enlarge his network. The communication with the volunteers worked via a WhatsApp group, through which the activities were planned, and important news were shared.

STAKEHOLDERS In this section, important stakeholders of the program will be introduced. STEERING COMMITTEE The Steering Committee exists of: Jan Nabers, Klaas Sloots, Marijke de Boer- Boekhorst, Astrid Vrolijkde Mooij, Liesbeth Rijsdijk, Marike Scholten and a recent new member, Eline Ploegman, from Hart voor Zwolle. Throughout the year Klaas Sloots left as Alderman and Dorrit de Jong has taken over, who will also be the main responsible stakeholder from the municipality. Also, Marijke de Boer-Boekhorst left. Willemien Wiegersma became the municipality’s contact person in her place. Each member of the committee has an extensive network within and outside the community, which is called upon throughout the stay of the human rights defender. THE MUNICIPALITY The Shelter City program is a collaboration between Windesheim Honours College (WHC) and the municipality of Zwolle. The municipality provides the budget to cover the costs which come with the execution of the program, but also it provides a huge and valuable network to the human rights defender. Already at the beginning of the program, Sohail met with the new alderman Dorrit de Jong and part of the city council (online). After his presentation, various attendees referred him to interesting people. For example, Sohail got a contact from the local prison, which he visited shortly after.

Here to mention is a great ‘thank you’ to Jan Nabers who initiated the contact for this as well as with the local newspaper ‘De Stentor’. In the process of designing and executing the idea of an outside photo exhibition, the municipality also really supported the executive team. Due to its engagement, the team was able to build the billboards in a four week time period. WINDESHEIM The Windesheim University of Applied Science can be seen as the executing partner of the Shelter City Zwolle program. The Windesheim Honours College, a department of Windesheim, takes over the role

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of planning and fulfilling the actual hosting of human rights defenders. The management of Windesheim is involved in the decision-making process regarding the confirmation of a proposed human rights defender. Justice and Peace propose a candidate to Shelter City Zwolle and ask if there are any strong objections. For example in 2020 the HRD Mohammed had a sensitive background which needed to be double checked if this was a right match. So far there has not been any objections with any of the proposed candidates and also with Sohail Windesheim looked forward to hosting him. As explained in the section “Project Team”, all members of the Shelter City Zwolle teamwork or study at Windesheim. The student team have a Shelter City handbook provided by Justice and Peace and an ‘internal’ handbook that is used amongst the students themselves. Both handbooks include tips and tricks but also contact details of the Coaches and a list of organisations that can be contacted for an HRD. In addition the handbook provides clear guidelines on when to start looking for housing, book meetings and how to handle the arrival of the HRD. The handbook is updated yearly with new tips and tricks based on the experience of the specific year. Throughout Sohail’s stay, Windesheim provided him not only with a place to work (at the WHC office), but also needed material (e.g., a laptop).

Unfortunately, this laptop got stolen (amongst other things) during one of his train rides. During his stay Sohail was in close contact with the WHC community, as many students were, for example, accompanying him as a volunteer. In a ‘normal’ setting without Covid-19, the HRDs are invited to share their story in an internal guest lecture. But as many students were not able to visit the campus and the rules by the government also didn’t allow it, it didn’t happen this time. Instead, all students were invited to the online opening of the exhibition. MARTIN VOSJAN Through Martin Vosjan, Sohail’s landlord, the Shelter City Zwolle team was able to quickly find suitable housing. Martin was already involved in last year’s Shelter City program (which got cancelled last minute because of COVID-19). The team was very grateful that last year’s experiences didn’t affect Martin’s passion for the program and that he again offered accommodation for Sohail. More than that, throughout the entire three months, Martin wasn’t only Sohail’s landlord, but also a helping friend; he organised many leisure opportunities and was also a very valuable connection for Sohail’s work. JUSTICE & PEACE Justice and Peace (J&P), as Shelter City’s central organiser in the Netherlands, was an important contact point of the Zwolle team. The staff of J&P, e.g.

Maartje Scheijen, Suzan Goes and Aisha North, supported the team with all necessary background support. J&P organised Sohail’s arrival and departure, but also accompanied him during his stay. In a total of three training sessions (one online, two in the Hague), Sohail learned about security measures as well as practical tools to continue his activism. Each training consisted of several full days in The Hague. Usually this is limited to two training, due to COVID 1 extra training was also facilitated online. COACHES PAULINE AND PAUL An important part of each human rights defender’s stay is having a personal coach. He or she can be of support in a variety of topics, but mainly for the HRD’s mental health. Pauline Fellinger and Paul Verschuur are both coaches at Windesheim. Pauline also supported the HRD Rose in 2019 and they both have international experience. Sohail met with both coaches on different occasions.

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EVALUATION ACTIVITIES Throughout Sohail’s stay, various activities were planned. In Appendix A an overview of the planned activities can be found. Due to COVID-19, most of the activities took place online, however towards the end of the project the team tried to aim for offline meetings and appointments. Sohail did not only have professional activities but also met frequently with volunteers to explore Zwolle and its surroundings and/or to learn more about the Dutch culture. For example, he visited the dyke and its windmills with his landlord Martin and went for walks around the city centre to learn more about the history of the Netherlands with volunteer Olaf. Next to that, Sohail visited other cities, for example, the Hague for his two-week training from Justice & Peace, and Groningen for his appointment with an organization that works for the same cause as he does. For his personal development, Sohail was planning on participating in swimming classes, a Spanish course offered by Windesheim, and he met with his Coach Pauline on a weekly basis. Most of the planning was done by the Coordinating team of the Shelter City group consisting of Marike Scholten, Eiko Saathoff, Leona Klein, and Florence Leijen. They reached out to volunteers and/or organizations to arrange meetings for Sohail.

All these appointments were put into a shared Google Calendar to which the coordinating team and Sohail had access. This way everyone had an insight into the planning. Before appointments were put into the agenda, Sohail was informed about them and an agreement had been made between him, the person he was meeting with, and one of the coordinators. However, on multiple occasions, appointments were overlapping and as miscommunication arose, appointments got cancelled and/or forgotten about. This resulted in frustration from all sides: Sohail, the SC Zwolle team, Martin and the involved organisations. In the recommendation section, the learnings from these occasions are discussed. Sohail came with the goal to work on his organisation ‘Redemption’ and set up a healing centre in his hometown Lahore. Even though it was discussed upfront that seeking funding for this project should not be a priority, it was something Sohail was pressured to do from his organisation in Pakistan. Thus, fundraising became his primary goal for the majority of his stay. This resulted in some of the scheduled meetings being less fruitful and effective than he had hoped. Throughout his stay, Marike and J&P discussed this issue with Sohail multiple times to make sure his stay would be valuable beyond that goal. Martin Vosjan and Sohail’s coach Pauline also had this conversation with him numerous times.

In addition to that, Sohail’s organisation ‘Redemption’ was not fully set up. The support Sohail was looking for (a permanent board member and registration in the Netherlands or Europe) was therefore challenging to achieve. Due to worldwide and Dutch legislation for/against Pakistani organisations, getting support is very challenging. Overall Sohail reflects very positively on his stay in the Netherlands, even though he did not obtain the financial support he was looking for. Shelter City Zwolle has provided him with a network and contact information for the next steps which are promising for the future. In his words, he is “very grateful” for all that has been provided for him.

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EXHIBITION & KICK-OFF To increase the awareness of the citizens of Zwolle, an exhibition was set up in Zwolle to raise attention for Shelter City Zwolle and the work that Human Rights Defenders (amongst others, Sohail) do. The exhibition was a collaboration between ‘Justice & Peace’, the municipality of Zwolle, the Shelter City Zwolle team, Windesheim and the Nationale Postcode Loterij. It consisted of five billboards that were spread all over Zwolle and displayed different HRDs and their stories. A website with extra information about the HRDs in English and Dutch, as well as the Shelter City project overall, was created in addition to the project. The website can be found by clicking the following link: https://en.sheltercitytour.com. The website was also an extension of the exhibition to see what impact it had in the city of Zwolle, asking the main question: Are citizens engaged? Each board was placed in a central position in Zwolle where people would pass by regularly. Also, on each board, a QR code was printed that referred to the website automatically. In “Appendix B” an overview of engagement numbers in regard to the website can be found. The project was a great success and will continue to travel to other Shelter Cities in the Netherlands throughout the upcoming months.

To introduce Sohail, Shelter City, the importance of human rights and the exhibition, the team organized an online kick-off event for all stakeholders involved. This online event took place on Thursday the 27th of May and drew about 50 participants. The kick-off was opened by Zwolle Alderman Dorrit de Jong and Dutch Ambassador for Human Rights Bahia Tahzib-Lie. They talked about Zwolle as a Shelter City and human rights defenders in general. After that David and Sohail, who were residing in Utrecht and Zwolle, shared their experiences with Shelter City and their challenges as HRDs. In their home countries. At last, there was time for all the participants to ask questions. The event went very well and the feedback that the team got was very positive.

HIGHLIGHTS One of the highlights of the Shelter City 2021 project is definitely the fact that the team was able to host someone despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We tried to make the best of it and to arrange as many offline events as possible for Sohail. We are proud of what we have achieved and together with a big team of students, volunteers and experts, we made Shelter City 2021 a success. Below is a short list of activities and projects we are the proudest of. 1. QUARANTINE Sohail spent the first eight days of his stay in quarantine at his new home. In terms of providing him with groceries and meeting new people, this was quite a challenge. But with the help of a big network of volunteers, we managed that twice a day someone went by his place, bringing him a freshly cooked meal and having a small chat with him. This worked very well and a plus was that Sohail was able to meet a lot of people even though he had to stay in his house. 2. BIRTHDAY On his birthday, which was in the second week of his stay in Zwolle, the team and some volunteers celebrated Sohail’s birthday in the Wezenlandenpark (conforming to the pandemic’s measures). We were happy to do this for Sohail who was very surprised and excited.

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3. KICK OFF-EVENT & BILLBOARDS As mentioned before, an online kick-off event was organized to announce the billboard project whereby five Shelter City guests were shown all over Zwolle. We were very happy with the number of participants and, based on the feedback we received, believe that this project made a positive impact on the local community. We are excited to see it travel through other Shelter Cities as well. 4. BIG NETWORK OF PEOPLE During his stay, Sohail worked very hard to meet new people and build connections. We were very glad about the network he built and the number of volunteers and students who were able to help during his stay and spend time with Sohail. 5. GAINING FAME THROUGOUT ZWOLLE The last weeks of Sohail’s stay he got more and more attention from local newspapers and as can be seen in the next section he was featured in more than 5 newspapers and magazines. Due to this media attention Sohail was recognized on the streets by other citizens as well. This happened on the farmers market during the weekends but also on his daily walks in the city center. More information about this can be found in the next section. 6. VISIT LOCAL PRISON Sohail was able to visit the local prison of Zwolle and join in on a special training that helps prisoners with re-integrating into society.

Sohail has stated that this visit was very valuable for his work and made a big impact on him. 7. HAVE TWO COACHES WHO WERE OFTEN AVAILABLE During his stay, Sohail got supportive help from his two coaches Pauline and Paul who helped him with his personal growth. Both Paul and Pauline were very calm and patient which was exactly what Sohail needed. He grew quite close with Pauline and called her a real friend with whom he will stay in contact for a long time. 8. COVID-19 VACCINE We are very glad that Sohail was able to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine before he left for Pakistan. Sohail himself was also very happy with his and felt a lot safer, especially considering his health profile.

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IMPACT OF SHELTER CITY ZWOLLE Shelter City Zwolle has the following goals: Supporting the HRD to achieve personal goals Provide a safe haven for a limited time for the HRD to recharge and find a new balance Create local impact in the community to show the challenges HRDs have In the previous chapters, we highlighted the main points of Sohail’s stay and the activities he had. Overall, he was very pleased and thankful for all that he was able to do. Specifically, this also included the coaching and Martin Vosjan’s support that meant a lot to him. When looking into the impact Sohail had on the community of Zwolle, we can confidently say that he touched and reached many people. After his story’s publication in the local news, he could not walk across the farmers’ market without being approached and talked to. When a few weeks later the exhibition board with his profile was placed, he was again recognized by the citizens of Zwolle a lot. They shared words of encouragement with him and showed him their support. While the impact he left on the citizens is difficult to be measured by numbers, their personal testimonies prove how valuable this experience was for them. Martin Vosjan, for example, took the time to write a personal reflection on getting to know Sohail.

Martin already expressed that he wants to stay involved and support Shelter City Zwolle in the future, and reflects how, while he was happy to help, it also was “very special to get to know Sohail” (“Et was heel bijzonder om met hem kennis te maken, gedurende een langere periode met hem gesprekken te voeren, en zo te horen over zijn achtergrond en missie ten behoeve van de gevangenen in Lahore, Pakistan.”) Martin’s full statement can be found in Appendix C. Even though the website did not attract a great amount of visitors in Zwolle, we are confident that the number will grow as it travels to other cities and will be seen by many more people (see Appendix B, for details). The website and exhibition are still ongoing which gives Shelter City Zwolle and HRDs continuous exposure throughout 2021 but also continuing into 2022. Sohail also had several visits and various contacts with volunteers from Hart voor Zwolle. Here, Eline Ploegman (Steering Committee Member) mentioned that about 20 volunteers came back to her voicing their positive experiences and hope to be involved in a similar project as Shelter City in the future. The student team started with a volunteer group of over 20 students from different programmes of Windesheim and volunteers from Amnesty International Zwolle.

When due to COVID the students were less available the additional volunteers of Hart voor Zwolle were very helpful in supporting the Team and Sohail in the various activities. Where a number of volunteers like Maria and Sanne had a very strong relation to Sohail and accompanied him in many activities. In addition, thanks to Martin Vosjan (Sohail’s landlord) and Martin Jans (Windesheim Pastor), Sohail created a valuable connection with the Christian community. He spoke twice at the Oosterkerk (which was at full capacity these days). Through the church’s network, has was interviewed twice which resulted in three publications. ‘Klankbord’ is a magazine for people from the ‘Advententskerk- en Oosterkerkgemeente’. The Magazine ‘Gaandeweg’ is for all members of: ‘Protestantse Gemeente Zwolle, de Evangelisch-Lutherse Gemeente Zwolle, de Protestantse Gemeente ‘De Hoofdhof’ te Berkum en voor abonnees en relaties’ and counts 5500 copies. Niew Wij is a platform where articles, interviews and a variety of national cultural topics are shared with people from all religious backgrounds. In 2020, they had an average of 50.000 unique visitors per month and 3800 subscribers for their newsletter.

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By following the links, you can read the published articles: Article local newspaper de Stentor: Sohail zat 10 jaar onterecht in Pakistaanse cel en strijdt nu voor mensenrechten (even) vanuit Zwolle | Zwolle | destentor.nl Article in ‘De Peperbus’: De Peperbus - 23 juni 2021 Magazine 'Klankbord' page 14-15: https://www.oosterkerk.nl/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/opmaak-klankbord-augustus-2021.pdf Magazine 'Gaandeweg' page 6-7: https://pknzwolle.nl/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/gaandeweg2021_4.pdf Website 'Nieuw Wij' https://www.nieuwwij.nl/interview/sohail-yafat-wil-ex-gevangenen-in-pakistan-helpen/

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CHALLENGES Even though many things went well during the stay of Sohail, the team encountered several challenges. Some of these were more personally related, others more circumstantial. When challenges arose, it was helpful that Justice & Peace had numerous staff members to help as a sounding board or to offer advice. Maartje Scheijen, Suzan Goes and Sebastiaan van der Zwaan all reached out to Sohail when he was in The Hague to discuss some of the risen personal challenges.

COVID-19 The COVID-19 situation and its lockdown had a big impact on the project overall. Not only did many activities take place online but Sohail was also not able to meet many people during his first week in Zwolle as he was in quarantine for about eight days. As mentioned above, to deal with those, volunteers provided him food and checked in with him daily; but as soon as his quarantine ended, he no longer needed this help. ‘Justice & Peace’ planned three training weeks for all the HRDs in the Netherlands. While, due to the circumstances, the first training week was done online, the second and third one luckily were luckily able to take place offline. It went very well and Sohail was very excited after it. Next to that he wanted to visit friends in Switzerland and Ireland but due to the ongoing lockdown measures and in addition his visa was not sufficient for travelling to other countries due to his Pakistani nationality, this also could not be realized. However, when measurements were lifted the team aimed more and more for offline appointments and meetings with volunteers and soon, Sohail created a big local network of people around him. Next to that Sohail was offered a workplace at the Windesheim campus where he could work together with lecturers and meet new people as well.

Unfortunately, due to the governmental advice of working from home, he did not meet many lecturers though. Another challenge that arose due to COVID-19 was the insecurity about the kick-off event and the exhibition. In the planning phase of this event, we were not sure if we were able to execute it due to strong measurements in combination with budget issues and unexpected costs. In the end, it all turned out fine, but the team would have wished to have done more offline activities with Sohail and shown him more of the Netherlands and Europe. Other COVID-19 related challenges include having fewer volunteers available since students from the Windesheim Honours College programme travelled back to their home country. Then, many people were less interested in online events due to their current mindset and situation around the pandemic. Therefore, more work came back to the core team and on numerous occasions, coordinator Marike had to step in to find solutions for issues around appointments. One thing that is very fortunate is that in the week before Sohail left he was able to obtain a Janssen vaccine at the GGD in The Hague (through Justice & Peace). Sohail was very happy with this and felt highly relieved to get the vaccine. We are very glad that this was provided for him.

At last, the pandemic and restrictions coming with it also had one positive consequence for the Shelter City program: the team was able to set aside parts of the budget that would have been needed under normal circumstances, and finance parts of the exhibition with it. This way, we tried to make the best out of the conditions and also fulfill our aim of engaging Zwolle’s citizens with human rights.

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OTHER CHALLENGES Throughout the project we noticed other problems also arose. Together with Sohail, the Team encountered communicational challenges during his stay. While the team could not determine the reasons for these problems for certain, it believes that these miscommunications and approaches of Sohail were not made on purpose, but happened indirectly due to differences in culture as well as his background and everything he has been through. The team prepared for this in advance by reading up on the background of Sohail, but of course he also suffered severe traumatizing events that are challenging to address in a short time frame or address at all. On top of this he has been incarcerated for ten years, which reasonably comes with a lot of challenges when returning back to society, never mind a different cultural and country on the other side of the world. For example, appointments were scheduled by Sohail without notifying the team, or he forgot about other appointments or even did not show up at all. As a team, we discussed this with him in different ways. We had a shared calendar to avoid making double appointments, and all arrangements were additionally confirmed via WhatsApp. After being several weeks in the program, Sohail had not attended any swim classes, did not show up for his Spanish course and cancelled appointments in the evenings.

Therefore, the team discussed this with Sohail and both sides agreed that he was now in charge of his own calendar and that the team would not make any additional appointments anymore. After two weeks Sohail came back to this agreement and reached out for more support. Following this, the team scheduled meetings with new organisations and other personal appointments. But this second time the same challenges arose as well, and agreements were not honoured. Since there were just 3 weeks left in the program the team tried to manage the relations with the organisations as much as possible.

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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NEXT YEAR Based on the challenges the team faced this year, we made a list of recommendations for the upcoming year(s). Each section explains the most pressing issues that the team experienced and, reflecting on them, how we as a team would suggest addressing them in the future. For most of them, a recommendation for Justice and Peace follows. The COVID-19 situation has been discussed separately in the previous part as most likely it was the driver that altered Shelter City the most. While we tried to adapt to this external challenge as well as possible, some of the pandemic’s implications just diminished the program’s quality. These aspects could not be influenced by the team which is why we cannot give constructive suggestions here. Moreover, we hope that the pandemic will not remain that present and thus influential in the future. Below you can find an extensive overview of recommendations, of which most important are: Rethinking of structure o Most of the work was done by either the coordinator or coordinating team which was too demanding Activation of network o Due to the workload, the network was not always involved or contacted as much as desired o The network can support sufficiently more in creating a larger impact in the community Match between HRD and Shelter City team

INTERNAL STRUCTURE AND COMMUNICATION Last year, SC Zwolle was organized with multiple sub-teams responsible for wider thematic areas such as budget, event planning etc. This structure was recommend in the student Handbook which has been used since 2019. This year, the program was mostly organized online which is why some usual parts of it, such as live guest lectures, were missing or reduced in their scope. As a result, the previous structure did not seem feasible and efficient. There were also fewer team members than before since at this time, all courses and events were held online; this made recruitment way more difficult since it was way harder to get in touch with students. Many of them also stated that having online classes all day was overwhelming, and in addition, many of the team members stated from the beginning that next to their other obligations, they couldn’t commit lots of time to the project. Thus, the coordinating team structured the project by presenting and assigning the current tasks to the rest of the team in weekly meetings. While this had the advantage that the task division was clear and the team was not pressured in fixed roles, it sometimes had the consequence that the coordinating team took over quite a lot of work. This was mostly because of team members’ time issues and not lack of motivation.

Yet, this way the lines between team members and volunteers also blurred sometimes, as some volunteers supported the program very much but did not receive any compensation as the team members did. One wish from the team was, however, to have the main coordinator

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join more often. While mostly, it was most efficient to have the coordinating team in between, sometimes team members needed to consult with Marike on specific tasks which would have been easier in direct contact. In retrospect, the chosen structure was perhaps best suited to the circumstances. Compared to previous models of organization, we think that having a smaller, but fully committed team of coordinators (like 3 people this year) improves the project’s communication and efficiency. RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE STEERING COMMITTEE JAN NABERS, ELINE PLOEGMAN AND THE MUNICIPALITY As an example for other Shelter Cities programs, a solution can be to get a younger and older (retired) volunteer involved for daily activity and personal guidance. Hereby the team can focus on the relation with the community and the network. The steering committee also agreed that the name ‘Klankbordgroep’ covered the term better in stead of Steering Committee and in addition would like to have a more involved role next time around. This has already been planned to be discussed in a new meeting which is scheduled for end of October 2021. Next to this the frequency of meetings will be increased so that regular meetings occur and the network can be involved more sufficiently.

Also the student Handbook will be available for the members, so that a more coherent and integrated approach can be developed for the next year. Recommendations were: Get Schools more involved in guest lectures and human rights activities (Hart voor Zwolle has a great network in this). Use Public Podia for speaking. Shelter City Zwolle already has a spot a Liberation Festival 2019 and 2021 that might be open again in 2022 (2021 was cancelled). Connect more with organizations for company activities. Try to find the best match of goals and needs between the HRD and citizens of Zwolle. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR JUSTICE & PEACE To improve our internal structure and communication practices, Justice and Peace could support us by facilitating more interaction among all the Shelter City teams. In many ways, we think that the whole program would benefit from an exchange of knowledge. Currently, there are network meetings for all partners once or twice a year. To improve here, meetings could be held more frequently and perhaps even more with sub-groups. Even more simple, setting up a group chat or forum with the cities’ coordinators might be useful for exchanging information.

EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPARENCY External communication now found place on ad hoc circumstances with help of Jan Nabers. Even though included in the handbook the local media should be involved more regularly and approached in advance. In stead of an ad hoc task it should be considered and noted in the handbook as a priority. This is not only the task of the student team, but can also be supported by the communication team of the Municipality and Justice Peace. A good example is the Exhibition which had limited publications, but had potential for much more when using the proper channels in the right way.

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The coordinating team has an intermediary role as it stands between the HRD and the outside. Thus, it is important to find a good balance between being transparent with the involved key stakeholders but also ‘keeping private things private’. Especially us coordinators take part in the HRD’s life very much and are his first contact for his concerns which sometimes are relevant to the rest of the team and stakeholders, and sometimes not. The team’s feedback was that the coordinators found a good balance here while the HRD’s landlord, who was very much involved this year, would have liked to have a clearer picture of our considerations and internal organization. Thus, we recommend the future teams mainly to be very aware of this aspect and reflect on it on an ongoing basis, for example by proactively asking stakeholders about their perspectives; but also double-checking with the HRD and each other what can be shared and what not.

INCREASE FOCUS ON CULTURAL ASPECTS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SC ZWOLLE To prepare and get a better understanding of our guest’s background, we dedicated one of our team meetings to learn about different aspects of Pakistani culture. During this ‘Pakistani evening’, each team member presented their research on one aspect such as ‘food’, ‘religion’ etc. to the others. As this was beneficial both in a sense of learning as well as team building and motivation, we recommend continuing with this or similar activity. However, we strongly recommend taking the cultural learning further than this rather superficial glance. For both the team and the HRD, the program can be a huge cultural shock and in retrospect, the team often understood where cultural differences were at play and caused certain situations and misunderstandings. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR JUSTICE & PEACE Following on the previous point, we recommend Justice & Peace to get involved more actively here. First, this could happen by offering team members some sort of intercultural training before the HRD’s arrival. J&P had offered webinars on topics such as (digital) security and accompaniment/ well-being of HRD’s in advance, which the team found very helpful. Therefore, training on intercultural awareness could be a relevant addition to that. The team experienced that cultural awareness on both sides was a challenge.

Along with this, we suggest J&P assist the HRD in preparing his or her stay abroad as well. It should not be forgotten what a big cultural shock it can be to move to a country that is very different, as is the case with Pakistan and the Netherlands. Especially in addition to the other sources of stress and sometimes trauma that the HRD faces, a smoother arrival could improve his wellbeing considerably.

MATCHING ‘WANTS’ AND ‘NEEDS’ BETWEEN HRD AND SHELTER CITY ZWOLLE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SC ZWOLLE One big challenge for the team arose from the age difference between us and our guest: while he is 44 years old, we are all students. Therefore, it was sometimes difficult to find a balance between assisting him wherever it was needed (and sometimes anticipated more from our side than his) but at the same time, not give him the feeling of being ‘parented’. Moreover, our team was mostly female. While this was never evidently a problem, we saw that in contrast, our guest’s landlord (sharing the

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same age and gender) could address some issues with having a bigger impact than when we did. While this could also be due to the personal connection and sympathy between both, one shouldn’t neglect the importance of factors like age and gender, especially depending on the culture. The same applies to the environment for the HRD, Sohail came from a big capital city. Whilst Zwolle is relatively large city from Dutch Perspective, it was a bit too quiet sometimes for Sohail. Which was both what he requested but he also underestimated what the effect was of this. Thus, we recommend being very aware of this aspect and, if possible, approach it by having a diverse team. Justice and Peace, for example, advises making the team as diverse as possible in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, cultural background etc. We recognize the point of this by considering that the landlord’s involvement was a huge help and value-addition. It’s clear that the more of a match there is between the HRD’s needs and goals and the team/involved people of Zwolle, the better the experience for both sides which was also feedback given by Jan Nabers (see above). While this cannot always be achieved fully, this aspect may be good to keep in mind for all the involved parties. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR JUSTICE & PEACE For Justice and Peace, we mainly want to recommend considering this aspect of matching as well.

We are not involved in the (probably difficult) process of matching the HRDs with the different cities, which is why we do not want to criticize it or make any specific suggestions. However, regarding this recommendation, we were pleased to hear that Justice and Peace did change their intake documents in regards to health issues an HRD might have. Since Sohail had an extensive medical background with many risks but did not mention this in any shape or form to Justice and Peace, this was a surprise when he arrived in Zwolle and could have had more severe consequences.

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BUDGET As the last part of this report, the budget overview will be laid out. In preparation for this project, the Shelter City Team applied for 16,500€ from the municipality. In Appendix D, an overview can be found of the initial budget overview, changes made due to COVID-19 (first table) and the budget overview of the actual spending. Looking at the actual expenditure, it is to say that the team properly dealt with the given budget. The biggest expenses are the outside photo exhibition, which cost 9,000€ of the budget (of which 3,000€ provided by Justice and Peace) and the living expenses for Sohail. As the pandemic did not allow too many activities in person, the team saved money on the travel expenses side. In addition, many opportunities given to Sohail were given at no cost. The swimming lessons and Spanish courses were both offered for free which saved the team money. Although the budget of Living Expenses and for Events was exceeded, on other parts there were no expenses. This made that we spend 14,873.72 €, received 3,000€ from Justice and Peace and ended with 5058,23 not spent.

SUMMARY Overall, the Shelter City project 2021 was a success, despite the mentioned challenges. Human Rights Defender Sohail had a pleasant stay in which he could find peace and safety. Sohail was also able to build a strong network and increase his relation with different organisations in the region of Zwolle and nationally in the Nether-lands. Also due to several interviews and publications in local newspaper and magazines Sohail and Shelter City had an impact on the region. The Exhibition had a successful start in Zwolle and continues to draw attention to Shelter City Zwolle by travelling though the Netherlands to other Shelter Cities and continuing with the website www.sheltercitytour.com . The made recommendations were: -

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Improving the structure of the team and steering committee Regarding internal and external communication: o The handbook should prioritise: ▪ tasks that are focused on connecting with the community and the local network. ▪ communication channels for local and national media with the Municipality and Zwolle. Improving awareness of Cultural Differences withing the Team, Justice and Peace and the HRD Matching the ‘wants/needs’ between the HRD and Shelter City Zwolle

Additional recommendations and tips by Justice and Peace are added in the Appendices E and F. These recommendations and the improved handbook, will all be included in the activity plan of 2022 when the request for new subsidies will be made.

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APPENDICES

Appendix A: Activities Appendix B: Website Results Appendix C: Personal statement Martin Vosjan Appendix D: Budget overview Appendix E: Impact through local engagement Appendix F: Partners of Shelter Cities

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APPENDIX A: ACTIVITY OVERVIEW

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APPENDIX B: WEBSITE RESULTS Traffic over time The website went live in the beginning of May. Sohail left on Tuesday July 6. In this time frame there were 491 site visits with 275 unique visitors (56%). On overage there were a handful visitors each day with high numbers around the launch of the exhibition on May 27, with a spike of 67 visitors. Of the 491 site visits 256 were from a desktop and 235 were from a mobile device.

Top traffic resources

The majority of visitors came directly to the website by typing www.sheltercitytours.com. This can mean numerous things. The website url is easy to remember and re-type when people have seen this on the boards, in the (social) media or mentioned or was mentioned by others or they came through the QR code provided on the boards. 40 visitors clicked through on the website and 23 came through the Instagram campaign either by

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Justice and Peace or Windesheim Honours College. Other visitors came through Justice and Peace Website and other websites the exhibition was mentioned. Most visitors stayed on the homepage where the other most frequently visited pages were the webinar then the Exhibition, Sohail’s story and the story of David.

Session per Country Most visitors came from the Netherlands, which make sense due to location of the exhibition. Surprisingly other locations worldwide showed up as well. This could be explained through the international character of followers from Justice and Peace and Windesheim Honours College, where those interested in the topic also engaged in the website.

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APPENDIX C: PERSONAL STATEMENT MARTIN VOSJAN Martin Vosjan sent us the following reflection on his and his son Daan’s experience with Sohail, including some photos for illustration.

Soheil Yafat bij ons te gast in Assendorp Van medio april tot begin juli 2021 was Soheil Yafat te gast bij ons thuis aan de Begoniastraat 15 in Zwolle. Het was heel bijzonder om met hem kennis te maken, gedurende een langere periode met hem gesprekken te voeren, en zo te horen over zijn achtergrond en missie ten behoeve van de gevangenen in Lahore, Pakistan. We hebben Soheil ervaren als een vriendelijke, open en dankbare persoon die goed gezelschap was in ons huishouden. We met veel plezier wat excursies in de omgeving van Zwolle met Soheil gemaakt en hem aan personen in mijn netwerk voorgesteld die geïnteresseerd waren in zijn levensverhaal en missie (bijvoorbeeld wethouder Michiel van Willigen, Oosterkerkgemeente). Soheil was daar dankbaar voor. Het was ook interessant en waardevol om te zien hoe hij Zwolle en Nederland bekeek en ervaarde. Het was duidelijk een heel andere omgeving dan waar hij vandaan kwam. Hij moest bijvoorbeeld wennen aan de rust in Zwolle die zo anders was dan de hectiek in Lahore. Soheil werd goed begeleid door een groep studenten van het Windesheim Honours College die praktische zaken voor hem regelden en hem vaak bij mij thuis bezochten voor gesprekken of anderszins. Voor ons was het erg prettig om te merken dat hij goed begeleid werd en dat we voor vragen omtrent zijn verblijf en programma bij zijn begeleiders terecht konden.

Het was de eerste keer dat we iemand onder het Shelter City Program in Zwolle hebben mogen huisvesten. Dit is ons goed bevallen, mede door de goede organisatie en begeleiding door Marike en de studenten van het Windesheim Honours College.

Martin en Daan Vosjan Photo 1: Met wethoulder Michiel van Willingen

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Photo 2: Kampen per boot

Photo 3: Tulpen in de Noop

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Photo 4: Pakistaanse keuken aan huis

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APPENDIX D: BUDGET OVERVIEW

Budget Overview Shelter City Budget Overview 2021 Type

Explanation These are the travel expense for work. Private Travel costs in NL cost come out of the living fee account. The HRD has an intake in the first couple of Intake GP weeks with the GP, the 'huisarts'. Additional costs get paid out of this account. When using the GGZ psychologist this money can Psychologist be used Living expenses - bank The HRD receive €350 per 15 days to pay for card expenses. Rent Rent, internet, gas, water & electricity. If the HRD wants to follow any courses or training Training programs. Support from WHC

Budget for events Other costs Total

Payment to WHC for executing this project 2400 for student compensation. 2000 for unforesoon circumstances For events

€ per month 250.00 €

Total

On Hold

750.00 €

Changes € 750.00

600.00 € € 600.00 3,000.00 € 700.00 €

2,100.00 €

1,000.00 €

3,000.00 €

€ 2,100.00 € 3,000.00

1,500.00 €

2,400.00 € 2,000.00 € 3,000.00 € 1,150.00 € 16,500.00 €

€ 500.00

3,000.00 €

€ 2,400.00 € 0.00 € 6,000.00 € 1,150.00 € 16,500.00

The budget consists of 16.500 euro provided by the Municipality of Zwolle and 3000 euro for emergency funding. Due to the expected costs of the exhibition changes were made in how the money was divided in different sections (see column with changes).

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Summary Overview of spend/not spend Below overview shows how the money was spent. Below overview is based on personal calculations and tracking the expenses. Below is visible that the Exhibition was 9000 euro of which 3000 euro was sponsored by Justice and Peace to support the event. Also, below can be seen that the living expenses went over budget but since overall, the budget stayed within the limits. However, this should be closely monitored for the next visit of an HRD. Also, since it was clear in an early stage that the Travel Budget would not be used and Training opportunities were offered for free, the budget stayed within the limits. *The costs of the GP have been unclear. The GP has not sent any bills to Sohail and medication was paid for from the budget of ‘Other Costs’ since students helped with this. Students who made expenses could use an expense form within Windesheim which was connected to the Shelter City Budget. Current Budget Shelter City Type

Explanation

Starting budget

Amount spent €

Amount left over (€)

Travel costs in NL

These are the travel expense for work. Private cost come out of the living fee account.

750

96,36

653,64

Intake GP

The HRD has an intake in the first couple of weeks with the GP, the 'huisarts'. Additional costs get paid out of this account.

600

When using the GGZ psychologist this money can be used Living expenses - The HRD receive €350 per 15 days to bank card pay for expenses. Rent, internet, gas, water Rent & electricity.

600

Psychologist

Training

Support from WHC

If the HRD wants to follow any courses or training programs. Payment to WHC for executing this project 2400 for student compensation. 2000 for unforesoon circumstances

Budget for events Other costs Incoming cost Total

On Hold

3000 2100

0

2100

3000

2550

450

500

0

500

2400

2400

0

6000

9431,95

-3000

1150

395,41

754,59 3000 5058,23

Justice and Peace collab on Exh. 16500

14873,72

3000

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APPENDIX E: SHELTER CITY- IMPACT THROUGH LOCAL ENGAGEMENT

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Impact through local engagement While Shelter City allows human rights defenders from around the world to reenergise, develop their skills, and continue their work more effectively, it also presents a unique opportunity for host cities to stand up for human rights globally, and for their citizens to meet activists and learn more on human rights issues. This document provides an overview of the way Shelter City reaches and involves citizens throughout the Netherlands in human rights protection and global issues.

Benefits and impact of being a Shelter City: 1. Firstly, being a Shelter City means being an important and necessary safe haven for human rights defenders at risk. Host cities offer a life-saving and life-changing opportunity to peaceful change makers that directly benefits the communities they come from. 2. Engaging with local allies is one of the most important parts of Shelter City, not only for the human rights defenders but also and equally for local residents. It is a two-way street, with local residents having the opportunity to learn more about human rights issues and human rights defenders to connect local policy makers and citizens. Interactions can take place through public events with Shelter City guests, such as lectures, film screenings, and interactive events, through local media and press, educational outreach, and through interactions between volunteers and local Shelter City teams. Students that meet with human rights defenders are often inspired to develop research projects or become an active volunteer for the project. 3. Furthermore, joining the network of Shelter City offers municipalities the possibility to position themselves nationally and internationally as promoters of human rights.

By providing a safe space for human rights defenders at risk, a city does not only contribute to the empowerment of human rights defenders worldwide, but also shows their commitment to international human rights protection.

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Examples of past events and local engagement in Shelter City: Educational programmes Through lectures at schools and universities, human rights defenders contribute to raising awareness about human rights among the citizens of the Shelter Cities. They get first-hand information, testimonies, and knowledge on human rights in different countries around the world through direct interactions with the human Alexéy gives a lecture on LGBTQ rights in Russia. Groningen, 2017. rights defender. In that way, the Shelter City Initiative contributes to the building of an open and critical society, while encouraging international solidarity. Students often comment that they found the interaction with the human rights defender inspiring, and that it helped them to understand how human rights work in practice. The local Amnesty International group in Nijmegen, who is an active partner of Shelter City Nijmegen, has for instance created educational materials for secondary schools. These materials include general information on what human rights are and what the Shelter City programme does. They also contain information about current Shelter City guests and their human rights work. New materials are prepared for every Shelter City guest. The Shelter City guest gives multiple lectures to students at different secondary schools in Nijmegen.

With its educational programme, Shelter City The Hague is also able to reach a large number of students in The Hague, but also in surrounding cities such as Leiden, Rotterdam and Zoetermeer. Shelter City The Hague has created a network of secondary schools, high schools, MBO schools, HBO schools and universities and is thus able to reach many students with different backgrounds. PreCOVID the educational programme reached approximately 800 students a year. Moreover, before the COVID-19 pandemic Shelter City The Hague also regularly received groups of international university students in their office. The educational programme gives students a good understanding of the Shelter City programme and the human rights work of the Shelter City guests.

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Press and broadcasts In 2019, the Dutch television programme KRO Kruispunt broadcasted a 30-minute documentary “Schouder aan Schouder”1 about three Shelter City guests. That same year, on International Human Rights Day (December 10th), another Dutch programme EenVandaag broadcasted a documentary2 about a Shelter City guest from Mexico and the volunteers in Shelter City Haarlem. Together these broadcasts reached around two million viewers in the Netherlands. Furthermore, Shelter City guests often give interviews to various (local) media. For instance, in 2020, the Dutch radio channel NPO Radio 1 broadcasted an interview3 with the Shelter City Haarlem guest from Burundi. In 2021, Algemeen Dagblad published an interview4 with the Shelter City Utrecht guest from Mexico, De Gelderlander5 with the Shelter City Nijmegen guest from Kyrgyzstan, and Omroep Tilburg6 with the guest from Zimbabwe residing in their city. Volunteering Volunteers constitute a major part of the Shelter City programme and its successful implementation. As citizens of Shelter Cities, volunteers get to meet and socialize with the human rights defender staying in their city and gain knowledge on global human rights. This network of volunteers creates a strong and active support system of committed individuals who are in direct contact with the human rights defender.