In the Words of Sally Harb: “In a moment of crisis, I didn’t think of myself as a leader. I just knew I had to act, because if we didn’t, who would?”

Sally Harb is an actress and theatre director from Akkar, Lebanon. With a background in community engagement, she has led local initiatives with women, youth, and refugees, often in areas overlooked by formal support systems. In 2024, as conflict escalated,[1] she found herself in a new and urgent role: coordinating emergency shelters and helping hundreds find safety.

Sally Harb, Displaced Center, North Lebanon, October 2024. Photo: KAFA

“When war broke out in 2024, the first call I received was from a university friend I had not spoken to in years. He said, “I am on my way to your home in Akkar.” He didn’t ask, he just came. That call made me realize how instinctively people sought safety with anyone they trusted.

Soon, more calls followed – scout leaders, friends, even strangers. Everyone was asking: What do we do? I didn’t have answers. But I knew I had to act. I left Beirut and headed to Akkar. In a moment of crisis, I didn’t think of myself as a leader. I just knew I had to act, because if we didn’t, who would?

We turned schools into shelters. Some had only 30 mattresses. People arrived after 16-hour drives carrying nothing. That first night: we had no food, no plan. I asked the school principal for any available funds. We began organizing urgently, intuitively.

I directly managed one shelter in Halba and helped coordinate nine others through the National Scouts, including Machta Hammoud, Dawra, Rahbeh, Hrar, Tekrit, Bebnine, Jdeidet Kaytea, and two in Aakkar El Aatiqa, hosting 1,800 displaced people. I reached out to every person I knew – NGOs, social workers, volunteers. It wasn’t just about aid, it was about showing up. 

One night, amid heavy shelling, I lost contact with Halba shelter. I rushed zoom there. Not as a coordinator, but as a human being.

Every detail mattered. Even food was more than a meal, it was a symbol of stability. We observed closely: who was eating, who might be struggling. We stayed alert – because every moment had the potential to escalate if not handled with care.

Looking back, I realized that everything I learned in peacebuilding prepared me for that moment. Listening, de-escalating, and observing without judgment – these were the same skills I had practiced in dialogue circles. Crisis magnifies everything. What held me together was what I had already lived and learned. 

In Lebanon, we cannot treat crisis as the exception anymore. Readiness isn’t a luxury; it is a necessity. We need plans, training, and coordination at every level.

Women were at the heart of our response. In shelters led by women, I saw more organization. Women stepped up overnight, teachers became organizers, mothers became leaders. Leadership emerged from instinct and care.

Of course, women still face pressure, judgment, even harassment. But I saw something powerful: when one woman stepped up, others followed. There is a contagious courage in seeing your strength reflected in someone else.  

My journey with UN Women began in 2020, when I joined a training on reconciliation and intergenerational dialogue about the civil war. I was in my early twenties, unsure of my path, but something clicked. I was drawn to the conversations, and to the possibility of healing. I became more involved, and eventually began leading dialogue circles in my community, helping others open up.

Today, I carry this work across regions through storytelling sessions, oral histories, and supporting women to speak their truths.

The space UN Women created allowed me to reconnect with the ten-year-old version of myself – the one who had lived through the stories of war and needed to be heard. Through storytelling, I began to unpack not just what happened around me, but within me.

Healing doesn’t only free you, it frees others too. Dialogue with my own family became possible, opening conversations that had been buried for decades. That’s peacebuilding to me: not grand strategies, but honest connection.

To every young woman stepping into leadership: your voice matters. Speak it. Don’t wait to be asked. Listen deeply, act bravely, and trust your presence. Start with yourself, and everything begins to shift.”

 The story was initially published on the UN Women Arab States website.