Tawazoun platform initiates essential dialogues and asks ‘How can we raise more awareness around the stigma of mental health?’

Press Release, Dubai, 8 March 2022 – Tawazoun, a pioneering platform dedicated to cultivating and accelerating balance in the Middle East and Africa, hosted an evening discussion at Expo 2020 Dubai to shine a light on the necessary innovations required to break stigma and accessibility around mental health awareness.

Held in collaboration with the Pakistan Pavilion, the event, hosted by Farzana Muhammed, featured a keynote speech from Dr. Usman Zaffar, Executive Chairman of WBH (World Business Hub) followed by a panel discussion and moderated by Tawazoun Founder, Hanane Benkhallouk, under the topic of ‘Innovating mental wellness in a digital world’ where esteemed industry panelists were brought together to share their insights and experiences into the adoption of technology into mental health treatment and therapy, the importance of community and the ‘space to talk and connect’ and the acceleration of mental health issues within the workplace due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Featured panelists in attendance were:

Dani Hakim – Co-founder of Safe Space, social impact agency.

Sami Khoury – Mindset Coach

Shad Begum – Women and Human Rights Activist and founder and Executive Director

of the non-profit Association for Behavior & Knowledge Transformation – Pakistan

Ammar Mansoor  – Founder and CEO, Sysmac UAE and UN SDG Advocate and Sustainability Consultant

Nousheen Mukhtar  – CEO of Nousheen Mukhtar International – PR and marketing

company, YesGulf,  and Stylfemina and business mentor

Key discussions from the event focused on topics such as the managing mental health amongst a workforce who are navigating an ambiguous and volatile world, what employers can do to advocate for ‘balance’ and breaking down societal stigmas around mental health challenges and what advances in technology can do to innovate in this area and the importance of community platforms for sharing stories, worries and concerns amongst all.

Hanane Benkhallouk, Founder of Tawazoun said: “As an attendee told me ‘It’s so great to have a platform to talk about mental health – these subjects should never be ‘hushed up’ and of course, this is the primary reason for hosting such important discussions. Tawazoun is about creating safe spaces, where different individuals explore, exchange and embrace new ideas to co-create a more balanced world for everyone. We continuously emphasize the shift of society and this is never more needed than in today’s landscape. Bringing together thought leaders, from diverse backgrounds to ‘think together’ is vital for the benefit of balanced people, worksplaces, society and the world in 2022 “

Founded by Benkhallouk to celebrate diversity and cultivate balance, Tawazoun which means balance in Arabic, calls for individuals, organizations, change makers, policy makers, and everyone who feels the need to bring balance to themselves, their surroundings, and the wider world, to share their views for creating a lasting impact with various initiatives.