Our Impact
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1 MILLION ARAB WOMEN
Our #1MillionArabWomen initiative is a 30-year-plan to alleviate war and violence trauma in one million Arab women through the use of drama therapy.
After years of war and armed conflict across the Arab world, today we have millions of internally and externally displaced people, struggling each day to cope with the striving horrors they did not choose to see or face.
Among them, Arab women are considered to be the most vulnerable to the psychological impact of wars and violence of all kinds, as they are often the most badly affected and least likely to be the perpetrators of violence, while they hold enormous potential for restoring Peace in the Arab world.
In ensuring the psychological recovery and psychosocial progress of Arab women traumatised by war and violence, our #1MillionArabWomen initiative is intrinsic to the success of any sustainable Peacebuilding effort in the Arab world and beyond.
Education in Drama Therapy
We pledge to expand the pool of knowledgeable and qualified drama therapists in the Middle East, hoping that they will apply their knowledge in their cultures, languages, and communities, and help us accomplish our One Million Arab Women initiative.
To achieve our goal – to educate more than 600 drama therapists and facilitators by 2050 – we have taken a two-fold approach which includes:
• Forging close partnerships with universities and other educational institutions in order to establish a master’s curriculum in drama therapy across the Middle East.
• Introducing scholarship programmes for female Arab students from around the MENA region, allowing them to earn a master’s degree in drama therapy free of cost.
Research
Our team of drama therapists and researchers works on research projects that explore the qualitative and quantitative impact of drama therapy on vulnerable populations. This work is expected to significantly contribute to the field of drama therapy, mental health, and psychosocial support in the Arab world and beyond.
We ensure that our work meets the highest quality standards due to being supervised by the Intisar Foundation’s Technical Committee compromising of the world-renowned experts in drama therapy.
We continue to work on several research projects that explore the qualitative and quantitative impact of drama therapy on vulnerable populations.
Stories of empowerment
Our approach is sustainable and rooted in evidence of success. The personal stories you are about to read and watch here will show you how our #1MillionArabWomen For Peace make a real and lasting change in their lives.
Hear Her Words
Our Impact
93.75%*
of our participants experienced reduction in
Depression
75%*
of our participants experienced reduction in
Anxiety
68.75%*
of our participants experienced reduction in
PTSD
43.75%*
of the participants experienced improvement in
Satisfaction with life
75%*
of the participants experienced increased
Positive emotional experiences
*based on a pilot study conducted in Shatila Refugee Camp between 2019 and 2020 using psychometric scales
In Numbers We Have
Reached
642+ women
affected by trauma
Completed
5395+ hours
of field work
Fundraised
5 Events
Fundraised
6 Plays
We Support UN SDGs
Focusing our aligned work with the UN Sustainable Development Goals of SDG3 (Good Health & Wellbeing), SDG4 (Quality Education), SDG5 (Gender Equality) , SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institution), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals)
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