The President of the Intisar Charitable Foundation, Sheikha Intisar Salem Al-Ali, stated that empowering Arab women will bring peace to the Arab world.
The Foundation organized a symposium “Achieving the Self-Empowerment of Women for a Better Arab World” to support Arab women affected by wars. Alina L. Romanowski, US Ambassador, Anne-Claire Legendre, French Ambassador, the representative of the United Nations Dr. Tariq al-Sheikh, and head of the regional delegation of the Red Cross Omar Odeh attended the zoom meeting, led by Dr. Anoud Al-Sharekh.
During the symposium, Sheikha Intisar Salem Al-Ali said that the Intisar Foundation is committed to improving the mental health of Arab women affected by war and violence. The mission of the Foundation is the psychological healing of Arab women who suffer from traumatic experiences.
She believes that empowering traumatized Arab women can transform them into influential peacemakers in the Arab world. She also explained that the Intisar Foundation aims to act as a center of knowledge to empower Arab women by providing psychological support programs, and conducting internal research to improve the therapy program.
She stated that all the strategic goal is to support one million Arab women affected by wars, a 30-year plan to alleviate the psychological trauma of one million Arab women through the use of therapy.
Al-Ali mentioned the shortage of psychotherapists and specialists in the Arab world, reviewing the number of mental health professionals in the Arab world versus the Western world.
Al-Ali said 62% of women have experienced verbal, physical, and emotional abuse, while 46% have experienced physical abuse and 27% have been sexually assaulted.
Al-Ali stressed that the Intisar Foundation is committed to evidence-based work, which is a scientific approach that relies on collecting data at all levels to improve work.
She said that the Intisar Foundation cooperates with Arab and international researchers and academics in the field of clinical psychology, neuroscience, drama therapy, and trauma-informed psychology to achieve these goals.
She added, “We have already published a qualitative research paper on the impact of drama therapy on Syrian refugee women, and we are currently working on six different projects that explore different angles of drama and trauma therapy.”
She explained that the goals of the foundation go beyond expanding the field of drama therapy, fieldwork, and research, as Intisar has entered into a partnership with USEK, the only university in the Arab world to offer a master’s degree in drama therapy, it offers scholarships and training for students who will continue to work as drama therapists in the Arab world.
She indicated that the Foundation is continuing its drama therapy programs during the period of Corona in war-affected areas in Lebanon, via the Internet.
On her part, the American ambassador, Alina Romanowski, expressed her happiness to participate in the virtual symposium organized by the Intisar Foundation on the occasion of International Women’s Day entitled “Empowering women for a better Arab world”.
She expressed the importance of the symposium she said, “This is important not only because it coincides with the International Women’s Day, but because it is a pivotal issue that concerns us all, praising the efforts of the Intisar Foundation.
Romanowski reviewed with the audience the most prominent efforts and methods of her country in empowering women, and in particular their efforts in Kuwait. She pointed out the efforts of different countries around the world in the field of achieving gender equality and promoting and developing women’s rights.
She also said that the US State Department has invested heavily in empowering women in various parts of the world, including Kuwait, through a set of programs to train women leaders to work together in solving problems. She also indicated that the US embassy has a partnership with the Kuwaiti Society for Human Rights.
