The world is facing the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. The 5-year conflict in Syria has resulted in the largest movement of refugees across Europe in over 80 years. Unicef estimates that nearly half of those refugees are children.

At the same time, anti-refugee and anti-Muslim sentiment is on the rise across the world. That sentiment turned into action with President Trump’s executive order banning citizens and refugees of seven different Muslim countries from entering the United States. The order was made effective on January 27, 2017, which is Holocaust Memorial Day in the United States.

UNICEF needed to quickly generate a global level of awareness to rally support for the millions of child refugees who’s lives hung in the balance.

In a split screen, Harry (an elderly, Jewish, WWII survivor) and Ahmed (a young, Muslim, Syrian boy) describe their real, horrific journeys as child refugees, in their own words. As they speak, those words come together to build a single, seamless narrative.

Current and historical footage accompanies their story, illustrating their strikingly similar experiences. Both escaped violence and persecution and were separated from their parents; both fled on their own, endured a treacherous journey by boat, and had to wait for permission to enter the safety of another country.

At the end of the film their identities are revealed and the message is clear: We didn’t do enough to protect child refugees during WWII and 80 years later, the story is being repeated.

Our idea taps into the global consciousness, showing the world that one of our greatest mistakes is being made again. The Shared Story of Harry & Ahmed shows the shocking parallels between Syrian child refugees today and the child refugees of WWII.

The video was released on social media just 5 days after Trump’s Muslim Ban. The powerful story was shared on Facebook, Twitter, and numerous online articles, quickly fuelling support from celebrities, politicians and public.

The film was even translated into multiple languages and spread internationally around the world.

In less than one week, the video had reached over 7 million people.