Dear RAPInitiative Community,
In December 2022, the Race Across Initiative (RAP Initiative) celebrated its second anniversary As we are moving towards the end of this project, I would like to take a moment to reflect and recognize our collective achievements
From its inception, the RAP Initiative was aimed to be time-bound with a two-years life duration As we have recently completed our second year, it is, now, time for us to conclude this ambitious and critical project.
I founded the RAP Initiative at the end of 2020, out of a need to dissect and expose how constructed race and racism impact the lives of communities of color globally, particularly for women and girls, and continue to threaten international peace and security
The road since its creation has been quite challenging, to say the least, but it has also been incredibly exciting and rewarding From creating prolific Series1 , and building a strong sisterhood community across the world, to publishing papers and hosting events with top-notch speakers and artists, the RAP Initiative has worked hard to live up to its mandate and values Not only have our research teams contributed to shed light on talented women of color in different parts of the globe. The RAP Initiative has also given women of color a safe platform, through WCAPS, to raise their own voices and to speak for themselves, while exchanging and strategizing together to tackle issues that affect them the most
While we are conscious that there is still a very long road ahead of us to ensure a safer and more equal world for women and girls of color, we believe we have achieved the objectives of our initiative, by:
- Contributing to the deconstruction and exposure of the mechanisms leveraged by racial and racist systems and societies,
- Pushing the topics of racism and intersectionality in national and international discussions on peace, global security, and international development
- Providing a safe space for collective thinking, dialogue and action to ensure inclusive peace and human security for everyone, and
- Facilitating access to networks, knowledge, and resources to our members on professional advancement, psychological safety and protection strategies.
With 12 team members, 5 Series projects, 20+ public events organized, 8 closed-door events convened, 40+ experts and 7 artists invited to speak and perform, 1 major policy paper on systemic racism in healthcare and 2 advocacy articles equity in access to Covid-19 vaccines published, I am extremely proud of the accomplishments our prolific teams have made in such a short period of time Particularly, given that our teams were exclusively made of volunteers!
1 Topic-based projects led by Researchers / Subject Matter Experts, focusing on 5 key areas: Women of Color in National Security; Women of Color in Healthcare Systems; Women, Girls & Youth in Violent Conflicts; Women of Color in international development; and a signature series on “How to Talk About Race and Racism
I want to pay tribute and thank my fabulous teams for joining me on this journey, and for their inspiring dedication and valuable contributions to the project I also want to thank our amazing partners, speakers and artists who have responded to our invitations and supported us since day one
I also want to say, in the name of the RAP Initiative teams, our deepest appreciation to WCAPS for hosting us during the past two years, and share my sincerest gratitude to Under Secretary of State Bonnie Jenkins, as well as Neda Shaheen, for believing and supporting the launch of this project
Lastly, we want to thank you all, RAP and WCAPS members and non-members, for your trust since the early days, and for helping us build a community where we could all feel appreciated and supported
It’s a wRAP for us! We will celebrate online, on Wednesday March 1st, 2023, the legacy of an initiative that we hope will have created a momentum around the urgency to unpack the role and impact of racism on international peace, security and the lives of women, girls and communities of color Stay tuned for the details
Sincerely,
Saara Bouhouche Founder and Chair of the RaceAcross the Pond Initiative (RAPInitiative) Humanitarian, Peace, and Security Expert Anti-Racism and Social JusticeAdvocate