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Mohammad Abo-Hilal, MD, is a clinical psychiatrist who founded Syria Bright Future to help Syrian refugees, particularly children. Its programs include one-on-one therapy and group sessions that try to help children cope with nightmares and flashbacks.
Syria Bright Future organization also offers activities to help children deal with the day-to-day challenges of being refugees. In the Za’atari Refugee Camp, Syria Bright Future provides awareness sessions for teenagers on underage marriage and gender-based violence, and safe spaces for younger children to play.
Himself a refugee, Abo-Hilal fled Syria in 2011 after being arrested and tortured by the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
“The best thing in war is its end.” The sad fact in the Middle East is that this end has not yet come — and there is no clear end on the horizon.
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), for a variety of reasons, are unrivaled in their need for bold, creative thinking about their future. But that is precisely why creative thinking about the future of the region — why strategic foresight — is essential. Produced in conjunction with MEI’s Strategic Foresight Initiative, Thinking MENA Futures aims to map out some of the possible futures for the region, as envisioned by thoughtful innovators working today to realize them.
Armed conflicts and natural disasters cause significant psychological and social suffering. The affects are acute in the short term, and can also undermine long-term mental health and psychosocial well-being. As these impacts may threaten peace, human rights, and development, one priority in emergencies must be the protection and improvement of mental health and psychosocial well-being.
