Even as the world is still on the path to recovery from a raging pandemic, Sheikha Intisar Salem Al Ali Al Sabah is optimistic about the road ahead for the Arab world. A princess from Kuwait’s ruling Al Sabah family, Sheikha Intisar leads several philanthropic, non-profit and entrepreneurial initiatives in education, women’s empowerment and human rights in the region and is the founder of the high-end skincare line, Prismologie and fine jewellery collection Intisars, Ebbarra as well as the charity organizations— Bareec, AlNowair and Intisar Foundation.
Art healing life
“As an entrepreneur and philanthropist, I make sure that all my initiatives are targeted towards the betterment of the people of my region. With my jewellery brands, Intisars and Ebbarra, I wanted to use wearable art to focus on the power that words carry and how they can influence the person’s thoughts, feelings and perspectives.”
One of the larger efforts by the Intisar Foundation is focused on the recovery of women, who have had to face trauma associated with war and violence, through drama therapy. Operating in Lebanon and Jordan since 2018, the Foundation has reached over 450 direct beneficiaries. “Drama therapy is the most effective psychological tool for achieving greater results in the shortest possible time,” she explains.
Born out of a desire to fill in the gap for a lack of mental health resources for Arab women, who have been impacted by war and violence, Sheikha Intisar explains that it is the therapy’s “gentle and non-stigmatizing approach and the sessions being conducted by Arab therapists who understand the local context” that has made it a successful initiative.
A firm believer in the effectiveness of media and art as important tools in influencing human behaviour, Sheikha Intisar has also produced award-winning films and books to promote the Kuwaiti heritage such as the art book, ‘The Alchemy of Wisdom,’ celebrating the achievements of Kuwaitis who are doing inspirational work and Intisar’s Foundation’s ‘Circle of Love,’ which features personal stories of resilience of women from Kuwait and across the world, such as Princess Dina Mired of Jordan, Maria Bucellatti, Yasmin Le Bon and illustrated by the world-renowned British portrait photographer, Max Vadukul.
Influencing behavior, changing attitudes
Sheikha Intisar believes that women from different countries across the Arab world face different challenges based on their situations. “In places affected by armed conflicts, poverty and trauma, we, at Intisar Foundation, work on women’s empowerment and gender-based violence, by providing effective psychological support to help them heal their wounds and grow back their self-confidence.”
For the more peaceful and prosperous countries in the region, Sheikha Intisar launched Alnowair to promote positivity psychology initiatives such as Boomerang, Kuwait’s first anti-bullying school outreach program; Yelloworks, a pioneering corporate training program for building positive work cultures in the country and Yellow Window — an initiative that looks at inculcating a positive attitude among government and public organizations in Kuwait.
“Bareec is Alnowair’s most impactful initiative for mobilizing change, as it is an educational program developed on the basis of scientific research in the field of positive psychology, to establish a better learning environment in schools,” she explains. Bareec soon became a successful initiative, branching out on its’ own, across dozens of schools and influencing more than 480 teachers across Kuwait. In 2018, the Supreme Council for Planning and Development (SCPD) included the Bareec initiative in the human development plan of the New Kuwait Vision 2035. Bareechas also been approved by the Ministry of Education of Kuwait, as part of its new five-year plan for the development of education in the country.
Sheikha Intisar is fueled by her hopes and ambitions for herself as well as for the Arab woman and believes that it is when they are empowered, that women can go on to become influential change makers in the societies they are in. “Women often experience difficulties and trauma which leads to challenges in their personal and professional lives and when we target and improve their mental health, these challenges no longer get in the way of their abilities.”