MENA-Can

By the MENA people

MENA-Can

By the MENA people

The hard yet heartening work of hope!

MENA-can: Perseverance and passion in front of adversity

In ordinary time, hope is a common quality that would go almost unnoticed. But in uncertain time, when the house is burning, it is the courage to go against the flow – to stand up and refuse the grim status quo. Hope becomes an act of resistance. It is to not despair to the alarms of human rights violations, to the next reports denouncing sweeping corruption or rigged elections. It is, despite the stormy weather, to fix our eyes over the horizon and envision a brighter future more inclusive and equitable. Simply because it is the right thing to do!   

Yet there is so much to feel overwhelmed and disillusioned about. The endless endless Israeli Palestinian conflict, the war in Gaza has revived the old demons of territories’ invasion and redefined a more unstable world political order. The Middle-East and North Africa, after having expressed, during the Arab Spring, one of the biggest inspiring calls for freedom, dignity and economic justice, has turned again into repression and violence. The region that gave birth once to science and the most beautiful art, literature and poetry, scores the worst in human rights and rule of law. Women continue to face wide discrimination hampering their participation and the fulfilment of their potential. My home country, Tunisia, once the beacon of hope proving that democracy can be a reality in a region cursed by conflicts and failed states, is now in turn derailing and sliding back into authoritarianism. Counter-revolutions and the evil of dictatorship seem, for the time being, to have won. Civic space is shrinking. Human rights defenders and journalists across the region from Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, the Gulf to Iraq or Syria are silenced, in exile or languishing in prison. While the anger that pushed thousands to the street – rooted in poverty, oppression, corruption and the failure of political institutions to respond to it – remain more than ever pressing and urgent.  

No doubt we are at a turning point, faced with worldwide democratic pessimism exploited by populists and strongmen saviours. Many are beginning to doubt and are losing faith in democracy. That is exactly the conclusion anti-democratic forces want us to reach. They obstruct change, hunt down change-makers and make our lives impossible until we fail and eventually give up.  

Sure, I feel the frustration, fatigue and also the confusion. But we should not surrender. Simply because there can’t be peace and security as long as there is no justice. Therefore, conceding defeats to dictatorships is not an option. We should not be paralysed by fear or sadness. To the opposite, let’s transform these angers into guiding forces to achieve positive changes.

Here is my call to radical action, to have the courage to hope. This is not a time to sit quietly or be a bystander. Remember worst things happen because good people do nothing or too little. This is a time to step up, to reengage, and reconnect, both with each other and with the deep, abiding optimism at the heart of the democratic creed.  

Hope is an active verb not merely a value, an action not simply an attitude. The hard work of hope is conducted in practice by turning energy, courage, togetherness and imagination into action.

Supporting democracy in the MENA region is a global cause. Embracing this urgency for the years to come, should be our defining mission of who we are as a one human community bond together by universal values in a small common world.

The hard work of hope can begin with the decision to stand-up and engage now in the change-making. With radical optimism and passion, I am pleased to launch MENA-can, a women-led initiative aims to inspire and empower change-makers in the MENA region.

I take my strength and grounded optimism from my over a decade hands-on work conducting Human Rights programs in the most marginalised regions and groups in the MENA region. I had the chance to work closely with every day people in Yemen, Syria or Tunisia, who despite chaos and hardship, were still determined to get by and thrive. I’ve had the chance to accompany them closely in their journey and witness first-hand, how, when providing with the right resource and guidance, they could shift the vicious cycle of violence and pave the way to peace and development. If they refuse despair and immobilism, how can we!

Our vision is a world where every person has access to the information, inspiration and tools to make a difference, and where great social change ideas can emerge and communities can create their own future. To do that, we are on a mission to inspire and empower social entrepreneurs, grassroots media and civil society groups stepping in to solve the problems where governments and bureaucracies have failed. They are scattered across the MENA region – in Tunisia, Syria, Libya or Yemen… What unite them is their purpose as social mission-driven entrepreneurs. They have powerful ideas to improve people’s lives and they are already implementing changes anonymously quietly in their communities.

We work with the most marginalised groups and regions not only because it is where the needs are the biggest, but it is also where the soil is the most fertile for social change. Women, disabled groups and marginalised regions who sometimes never had the opportunity to participate have shown incredible drive and potential to support their communities.

We strive to provide these citizen-led initiatives with a creative and supportive environment to succeed in their social enterprise and make a positive change. We work with them to grow, professionalise their skills and take it to the next level of social impact.

Certainly, the road ahead will be long and rocky but I am hopeful that together MENA-can do it! With Human Rights as our shared moral compass, join us in MENA-can, our movement of hope and contribute to make our world better.

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