Rola El Chami is a Human Rights activist focusing on women and children’s rights mainly in refugee camps and conflicted areas across the Middle East that are subjected to mental and physical abuse. She has a degree in both Human Rights and Communications from London, UK and pursued her career in the Humanitarian world moving to countries such as, Jordan, Palestine (OPT) and the UAE. Her hands-on field experience in villages and refugee camps has allowed her to expand her knowledge of impact and the importance of community feedback.

Survive For Women was born in 2013 whilst living in Dubai. Growing up in a very female dominated and empowering Arab household, whilst born and bread in Norway, she quickly realised the social differences and the mentality of how women are empowered and perceived in society. More so than ever, that Arab women in particular, were not able (or unwilling) to talk about mental and physical abuse, and naturally the challenges and the burden that they learn to live with simply because these topics are considered a cultural ‘taboo’.

Her creative and artistic talents quickly became an outlet for dealing with stress as well as working on improving her mental well-being, and she quickly realised that her bracelets (which were proven very popular amongst her network) could become a symbol of hope, not just a pretty accessory.

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On the other side of SFW, Rola is a survivor, a mother, an ambitious career woman and a motivational storytelling speaker, focusing on empowering women across the world. Through sharing her own journey as an Arab woman, she hopes to motivate and encourage all women to speak up about their challenges in life, and allowing women to feel united and not alone. After all, our individual journeys (despite how lonely it might feel at times) somehow unites us as women.