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” Arab women are being affected in so many different ways. But from where I sit, I think the pressing challenge is being absent from the decision making table. Inclusion is the first and essential step to address many of the challenges that Arab women face.”
Karma Ekmekji is a Mediation Advisor at UN Women, and Senior Policy Fellow at the Issam Fares Insititute for Public Policy and International Affairs.
Please tell us more about why you decided to lend your invaluable support to the Intisar Foundation?
My decision was driven by two factors, with the first being HH Sheikha Intisar and everything she stands for. During the difficult period of the COVID-19 pandemic, she was amongst the very few people who showed me that the world continues to be a beautiful place and that humanity is very much still alive. Knowing that this incredible woman, with her compassionate heart and her strong value system based on achieving the higher good for everyone, was behind the Intisar Foundation made me want to be part of it.
The second factor was the mission of the foundation itself. I have dedicated myself to making women believe that they can be agents of Peace in their families, communities, and nations. Through the Intisar Foundation, I will be able to contribute to reaching their #1MillionArabWomen initiative and helping these women to discover that they indeed are agents of Peace!
” Mental health is at the center of every aspect of life. I am happy to know that this has been acknowledged in our Arab society, and that the Intisar Foundation is leading by example by doing something about it.”
What is your opinion on the organisations and institutions working in the field of mental health support to Arab women affected by war and violence?
I think there aren’t many, so those that exist must be encouraged, funded, and supported in every way possible. Mental health is at the center of every aspect of life. I am happy to know that this has been acknowledged in our Arab society, and that the Intisar Foundation is leading by example by doing something about it.
In fact, they are making giant steps in the field of mental health in the Arab world. However, this is only the beginning, and I am beyond proud and honoured of the amazing social workers, therapists, researchers and administrators who make up the foundation.
How are you contributing to achieving the Intisar Foundation’s goals?
By bringing to the foundation my expertise in Peacebuilding and my network, which I have built over many years, I hope to be able to bring some contribution to the foundation’s goals.
What do you consider to be the most pressing challenges faced by Arab women affected by war and violence in 2022?
This question is not easy to answer. Arab women are being affected in so many different ways. But from where I sit, I think the pressing challenge is being absent from the decision making table. Inclusion is the first and essential step to address many of the challenges that Arab women face.
” Leading as Arab women should be the rule and not exception “
What would be your advice for Arab women in 2022?
Raise your voices. We are where we are today in terms of attributing great importance to mental health because others before us raised their voices. We stand on the shoulders of women who kept fighting, and that’s why we should keep fighting as well.
Build alliances. If we want something, we need to find like minded people around us to help us get to our objectives. Build alliances with men, the youth, with different organisations, and so on. If we want to go fast, we go alone, but if we want to go far, we go together.
Accept and normalise becoming leaders in your communities. Leading as Arab women should be the rule and not the exception.
For more than a month, we are witnessing how international humanitarian law fails to protect Palestinian mothers and children.
Day after day, we have been lamenting and denouncing new acts of violence that brought injustice and the bemoaning loss of innocent lives in Gaza.
And yet, Palestinians in Gaza still face new perils with every next hour.
In writing this letter to the world as a demand for action to end this suffering, I join millions of others who have condemned the continued Israeli aggression and call for an immediate ceasefire.
We at Intisar Foundation also invite you to join us in working on preventing this trauma to linger and gnaw through another generation of Palestinians, and Arabs in general.
The mission of Intisar Foundation is to bring Peace to the Arab world through the psychological recovery of Arab women traumatised by war and violence, which can result in the women stopping the continued cycle of violence inflicted on or by them.
In this way, our work helps Arab homes traumatised by violence become more Peaceful again.
The ripple effect of this outcome can be that Peace flowcharts from one Arab home to another, from one Arab community to another, reaching and affecting our whole region.
In its very essence, therefore, Intisar Foundation’s work has always been about breaking the chains of trans-generational trauma.
While I salute people around the world confronting this injustice – from the world’s best universities, influencers, civil society activists and organisations, to ordinary people taking to streets and social media to raise their voices for Peace – I am now certain that we will not resolve the Palestinian crisis only with ceasefires, humanitarian aid, or rebuilding their homes and neighbourhoods.
We need to recover and protect the souls of current and future generations of Palestinians, and all Arabs, from this trauma.
To that end, Intisar Foundation is committed to turning this terrible man-made tragedy into a healing woman-led victory for Palestine, for humanity!
Intisar AlSabah
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