Rally of Hope: Initiatives for Peace (WFWP Middle East)

[Civil society's support and influence on the governments and on the wellbeing of the GCC countries and around]

Written by: Zoe Bennett

This Rally of Hope event was inspired by the successful rallies that have been initiated by Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, Co-founder of WFWP, over the past year. To celebrate the 40th International Day of Peace, WFWP Middle East organized a “Mini Rally of Hope,” focusing on the countries of the Gulf area. The event was held virtually, in partnership with a Kuwait NGO, Women Peace Pioneers Initiative 1325.

The 40th anniversary of the International Day of Peace is a significant one, all the more for the Middle East, constantly torn by wars and conflicts. The Gulf is a region that historically has had its share of challenges to peace and prosperity, but which also has come out victorious and has made amazing efforts to share its earned prosperity and wealth with the rest of the region and with the world.

On September 15, eight women leaders, presidents of NGOs and GOs, professors and businesswomen, presented short messages explaining how their organizations responded to the situation of the pandemic and how they have been caring for the people of their country.
Each leader represented a different Gulf country: UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq and Yemen.

Dr. Moon, delivered her address and she shared about her early war-torn childhood. The audience could very well associate with the explanation of her life as a child and young girl who has tasted the atrocities of war. They could appreciate her vision of a world of peace. “When Dr. Moon met her husband, their vision for peace matched perfectly and they have been working for world peace ever since,” Ms. Zoe Bennett explained.

At a time when the presence and consequences of the pandemic are still deeply felt in many parts of the world and when even the UN is declaring our time a “recovery” time, we wanted this event to turn a new page and stimulate the civil society’s efforts to build peaceful and sustainable societies. We wanted it to be a Rally of Hope to celebrate the ideals of peace and honor every effort to promote it.

The event had a lot of local music that kept the event entertaining and joyful. A group of young girls from a Kuwaiti school performed dances from the different Gulf countries.

The efforts of the Middle Eastern women to face the challenges of this time were well demonstrated to the audience of close to 90 participants.

Some of the reflections from the participants:
“Thank you for organizing such an event”
“It is very informative”
“This music reminds me of my childhood!”
“Music is a message of Peace!”