Dega Ramya Tulasi is the Global Wellbeing Action Representative for India at Reimagining Society. She is an active learner, social activist, keen observer, accidental writer & researcher. Content creator by passion, she advocates about social dimensions of life and sustainable development goals through her writings and research. She is an experimental young writer and always loves to work out of her comfort zone.
As a Global Wellbeing Action Representative from India for Reimagining Society she has the vision and mission to advocate on the well being of people through her verbal skill set and her writings on every global platform. She strongly believes that well-being of people matters and aims to bring out every unheard voice around the world to the limelight with the help of reimaging society’s global platform. She has been a recipient of award ‘I am Xtraordinary’ as a delegate representing India in the International Youth Forum in India and an active participant in various conferences and model united nations debates. She has an instinct to inspire others by her work and by her positive thoughts towards life.
Reimagining Society: focusing on wellbeing
Reimagining Society is an International youth-led organization that endeavors to create more inclusive, fair, and sustainable communities by holistically embedding the concept of “Wellbeing”. It heralds a move from a self-centric philanthropic citizenry by designing solutions to the world’s most pressing issues through a comprehensive Wellbeing program. It aims to establish economic empowerment through social connectivity among the youth. The ReImagining Society believes that the synergy of innovation and dynamism, partnership, and human development fosters a unique change.
The Wellbeing of Yemen Webinar
Reimagining Society organized a webinar on the theme – “Well-being of Yemen” on June 28, 2020, at 3 PM GMT onwards. The speaker Ms. Olla-Al-Sakkaf, program manager of Youth without Boundaries Organisation for Development (YWBOD) Yemen shared interesting insights on various aspects of well-being through a set of selected questions by Reimagining Society and also open questions by the global audience.
Some of the mayor discussion points were:
Financial well-being
Five years of ongoing war has a detrimental effect on people, infrastructure, education, and the economy. The conditions are so bad that as per United Nations reports, some 20 million people need help securing food and almost 10 million of them are considered “one step away from famine”. Yemen’s financial condition is deteriorating every day, and the peace talks proved unable to raise the well-being of Yemeni people. Many a time people are also compelled to live on the streets since they can no longer afford to pay rent during the hard times. In Ms. Al-Sakkaf view, Yemen should initiate development projects to rebuild the country and get people to work again.
Career well-being
Ever since the war, the career aspirations in Yemen have strongly diminished. However, an unlikely positive story emerged as a result of the war. Before the war broke out, working-women were not a common sight in the public eye. Now, not only have they established and led their own ventures, their success shifted people’s perception of women’s capability – they began to understand that women can do what men can.
We, youth from different countries, can be a helping hand and support givers for the young entrepreneurs of Yemen in starting new projects and building new careers on the field. This will enable them to spread their arms into various career development projects, and individual personality and leadership endeavors as well.
Cultural well-being
Despite all of these difficult circumstances, people still carry on with their lives. They are joyful and continue to celebrate weddings and various cultural events. Ms. Al-Sakkaf has given out instances that new celebrations also appeared during the war. The people of Yemen deserve to celebrate every festival with their family, friends, and dear ones. We must try to bring in some cultural collaborations and cultural dialogue between the countries and among their youth, this will help the people of Yemen to showcase their culture on global platforms.
The well-being of children & women
According to the Al-Jazeera Media Network, a new report by UNICEF says, millions of children could be pushed to the brink of starvation due to a huge drop in humanitarian aid funding amid the coronavirus pandemic. Almost 9.58 million children lack proper access to safe water, sanitation, or hygiene putting them at greater risk. Women are subjected to gender-based violence, and children lose hope due to the war. Al-Sakkaf advocated that we should help women and children.
“We should focus on this community group, because women are our teachers and mothers, and children are our future.”
Al-Sakkaf
Mental well-being
In Yemen, children as young as 10 fought and died in the war. Now, the youth left the battlefield and returned to the classroom to find opportunities. Ms. Al-Sakkaf stated that there is a need to focus on youth’s mental health, implement more programs, and to have physical and psychological aid for these youths. As a ray of hope, many local organizations are starting to focus or advocate on the mental health of young people.
How can we youth be a helping hand
While emergency aid has helped Yemen in the past, it is not a sustainable solution; we need to start rebuilding the country. The projects should be based on needs-assessment and a holistic understanding of the intricate societal context. Al-Sakkaf has suggested that from the other people in the world, they need to help to highlight and echo the suffering of the Yemeni people at the global platform.
The webinar ended on a positive note from the well-being perspective. Reimagining Society is looking forward to organizing many such impactful webinars and bringing out the unheard voices of people around the world.
After understanding Yemen on wellbeing terms, we can say that for a long time people of Yemen have seen the destroyed cities, humanitarian crises, conflicts and war, and emotional breakdowns. But now it is high time to bring out the unrecognized people of Yemen into the picture by amplifying their voices. We all need to support the Yemeni people so that they can have a peaceful life that they so deserve. Let us stand in support of Yemen and give them a better life in every way possible.
Sources
1) UNICEF. (n.d.). Yemen crisis: What you need to know. Retrieved July 21, 2020, from https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/yemen-crisis
2) UNICEF. (2020, June 26). Yemeni children face deadly hunger and aid shortages as COVID-19 pandemic spreads – UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/yemeni-children-face-deadly-hunger-and-aid-shortages-covid-19-pandemic-spreads
3) Associated Press. (2018, December 19). Children as young as 10 fight, kill and die in Yemen’s war. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/children-young-10-fight-kill-die-yemen-s-war-n949721
4) Reimagining Society. (n.d.). Reimagining Society. Retrieved July 21, 2020, from https://www.reimaginingsociety.com/?fbclid=IwAR1B23HHHCJ03uGYeRdKkfvJLznCXqr4N-Frdflt4BFXjNI2alFhfMpnW1A
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