Little Amal’s Impact

Little Amal’s journeys seek to change the narrative surrounding refugees and migrants, towards the contributions and potential they carry within them, including the hope they bring as they build a new life and livelihood, enhancing communities as they do so.

Since she began her journey in 2021, Little Amal has met 2 million people and her story has reached many millions more online. By placing Amal in powerful places with high visibility, we challenge the notion that vulnerable, marginalised individuals and communities are to be feared, and instead invite communities to embrace and honour them.

“We left with significant pride being part of this project and feeling that our voice is truly in the hands of Amal. We were confident she would represent us well.” (Bilal at Karam House, Gaziantep)

“A woman was crying watching Amal and said ‘I didn’t know that was her story; that is my story.'” (Audience member, Cologne)

Raising funds

Half of all refugees are children. Half of all school age refugee children have lost their opportunity of a formal education. Today tens of thousands who have fled war and persecution are urgently in need of support.

To help these children, we’ve launched The Amal Fund with Choose Love.  Since Amal has started walking, she has raised $1,000,000 to provide urgently-needed support for refugee and displaced children all over the world.

Donate today HERE  to help us provide education, food, shelter, emergency medical care, legal assistance and much more for children like Little Amal.

Facts and figures

Keeping in mind that numbers alone cannot illustrate the extent of Amal’s impact, some of the facts and figures we collect include:

166 towns and cities in 17 countries have welcomed Amal
475 events have been created for her
4 years since she began her journey
2 million people on the streets have met Amal
tens of millions of people have engaged with her online
750,000 views of Amal’s educational materials

Migrants and refugees

Along her journey, Amal has visited many refugee and migrant children including those living in migrant centres and refugee camps in Turkey, Greece, Ukraine, Poland, United States and Mexico.

In Monterrey, Mexico in November 2023, Amal visited Casa Monarca migrant centre where she spent time with children, gifted them with t-shirts and listened to their stories.

In Ioannina, Greece in July 2021, Amal spent the morning with families of refugees living in the Katsikas refugee camp.

In the Tohono Oʼodham Nation at the US-Mexico border in October 2023, Amal met hundreds of children who had attempted to cross the vast desert reservation with their families. To protect the identity of the children, we did not share details or footage of this meeting.

In Stryjskyj Park in Lviv in May 2022, Amal visited a temporary refugee shelter for families that had been built on the edge of the park. She brought gifts for the children and they played together in the park surrounded by local musicians and dancers.

In El Paso, TX in October 2023, Amal visited the Sacred Heart Church, a processing centre that is the first step for hundreds of migrants who have recently crossed the nearby Ciudad Juárez-El Paso border.

In Tijuana, Mexico in November 2023, Amal visited the Embajadores de Jesús Shelter for migrants. She brought gifts for the children and joined them for a community lunch.

At the Tesco Aid Centre Przemyśl in Poland in May 2022, a few kilometers from the border of Ukraine, Amal met recently arrived children, helped volunteers distribute meals and spent time with families.

In Del Rio, TX in October 2023, Amal visited the Val Verde Humanitarian Border Coalition and spent time with children who had recently crossed the border.

In New York City in September 2022, Amal met children and families who had just arrived at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, seeking asylum in the United States.

Impact reports

Since Amal’s first journey in 2021 we have created independent and internal impact reports analysing social and digital impact, including for:

Europe 2021
New York 2022 
United States 2023
Belfast 2024

Click the links to discover more or CLICK HERE to download all of our reports.

Building awareness

We hope that Amal’s journeys might encourage advocacy and strengthen awareness, empathy and conversation around the global refugee crisis at a time when it is sorely needed, as policy debates rage around immigration.

We estimate that Amal’s Activity Pack has been viewed 750,000 times, and is available to download in nine languages with accompanying Teacher’s Notes. Months and years after Amal’s visits, children continue to learn about her in classrooms along her route, including in countries that she has not yet visited.

“Amal’s journey through Trikala left such great memories in the hearts of the children. After so many months every time I meet children who were part of Amal’s welcome, they ask me: how has she been? Will she be back one day? If this isn’t hope for the world, what is?” (Antonella Chira, Trikala / TENET, Greece)

Amal’s arrivals bring out entire communities to greet her in one-off events but resonate long after she has moved on.

One of the ways we can measure Amal’s lasting impact is by gathering testimony from participants and audiences, including those who have had experience of being a refugee or asylum seeker.

Keep scrolling to explore a selection of our partner testimony or  CLICK HERE to download all our testimony reports.

If you would like to share feedback or suggestions please CONTACT US.

Khaleel

London, UK

“Taking place in Little Amal’s walk was a spiritual experience for me, it was a reminder of the road and the path I took to make it to here. Little Amal carries our message and voice around, she should not stop, this project must continue. This project is the best way to shed light on the suffering of refugees and to show people the conditions of migration. It had a great impact on my life and on the life of so many people who I know. It was the best way to say: we are just looking for safety, and taking that road wasn’t an easy option. We are not different, we are normal people. Don’t judge us before knowing us.” (Khaleel who participated in the carrying the flags across the Millennium Bridge in London)

Dimitris Papastergiou

Mayor of Trikala, Greece

“There are many things I am proud of as a Trikala resident. I am proud that since 2016, we have helped over 3,500 people who passed through Trikala, to find a temporary shelter, food, hope, like Amal. Give space to love! Amal, welcome to the other side of Greece and Trikala, to the real Greece of love, refuge, understanding. In Greece, which has borne the brunt of the refugee crisis compared to the rest of Europe, but has endured, in the Greece of light, in Greece that continues to shine through the eyes of children, children like you, small, wonderful, beautiful children, who came to welcome you. On your way to Europe and your parents, our love will accompany you.”  (Dimitris Papastergiou, Mayor of Trikala)

Bilal, Karam House

Gaziantep, Turkey

“Because this is a real thing and the students have experienced it before over the past years, and some are still living it until now through asylum, all the projects the students worked on came from the heart. All of us who participated knew a lot about Amal, her story and her journeys, but when the event took place and we actually met her, things changed. Everyone felt that Amal’s gaze looking at us were our gazes, her steps are our steps. Amal moved us internally with every move she made. She took all of us back to our difficult journeys but at the same time we left with significant pride being part of this project and feeling that our voice is truly in the hands of Amal and we were confident she would represent us well.” (Bilal at Karam House, Gaziantep)