The Story of Na'amal
In the first episode of Voices of Resilience, we will hear from Lorraine, who is the Executive Producer and Co-Founder of Na'amal, and two of her colleagues, Isabella and Sonia. We thought we would kick off the podcast by giving this series a bit of context; taking the opportunity to talk about its premise, introduce Na'amal and its mission of helping displaced people make a better life for themselves and the Migration Summit 2023.
Na’amal was born out of Lorraine’s research about digitalization, employment, and the economic situation of refugees in the Middle East. We knew that there was a better way for refugees to earn a living and overcome the precarious conditions and indignity of informal work. This led to the creation of Na’amal’s programmes, which provide refugees and other vulnerable populations training in marketable skills required in the global labour market and link them to these jobs.
In this episode, we unpack the implications of the “refugee” title. Media often portrays the refugee crisis through statistics and numbers. Yet, every individual holds a story that is no longer a number, but an opportunity to understand the individual challenges and wins when starting one’s life from scratch in another country, another city, another place, even when the basic resources are missing.
We envision Voices of Resilience as an opportunity to contribute to the shift in the narrative of refugees across the world and invite stakeholders and listeners to engage with this topic and take action. Most of our speakers participated as storytellers and panelists in the Migration Summit 2022. This podcast will feature their journeys towards claiming the dignified life they deserve, with a focus on their education paths and livelihoods.
Through this podcast, we want to invite our audience to participate in the Migration Summit 2023, happening this year in April. The Summit organised along with Na’amal, MIT ReACT, and Karam Foundation will explore the theme “Co-Creating Pathways to Learning, Livelihood, and Dignity” through virtual and in-person events hosted by participating individuals and partners around the world. Make sure you check the Migration Summit website at migrationsummit.org to learn all you need to know about the events, subthemes, or different summit editions, and subscribe to get updates.
Don’t forget to check Na’amal’s website at naamal.org and subscribe to our newsletter for more information and updates on our current and future programmes and events!
