We are honored to present a special video message from Rasha Qandeel, President of Icons of Change – MENA Region (Middle East and North Africa), as we celebrate the Icons of Change International Awards 2025. This message serves as a strategic touchpoint for our global community, reflecting the accelerating momentum of transformational leadership across one of the world’s most dynamic and consequential regions.
In her address, Rasha conveys a warm salute to this year’s Icons of Change awardees across the MENA region—leaders whose work is redefining nation-building, strengthening institutional trust, and expanding the ecosystem for sustainable development. She commends their contributions to accountability, transparency, and community empowerment, highlighting how each changemaker is actively shaping resilient social infrastructures capable of withstanding geopolitical, economic, and climate-driven pressures.
Rasha reflects on the MENA region’s pivotal role within the global sustainability agenda. Positioned at the crossroads of cultural heritage, economic ambition, and geopolitical complexity, the region continues to navigate rapid demographic growth, energy transitions, climate vulnerabilities, and evolving governance frameworks. Within this context, she highlights Sustainable Development Goal 16 – Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions as a mission-critical driver for long-term resilience, social cohesion, and inclusive growth.
As she notes, the region’s future will be determined not only by policy reform or economic diversification, but by leaders who champion ethical governance, reinforce public trust, and accelerate institutional innovation—qualities embodied by this year’s Icons of Change awardees.
To anchor the message, Rasha brings the full weight of her professional journey—a body of work that spans two decades at the intersection of investigative journalism, conflict analysis, public policy, and global media. Her leadership profile includes:
- Editor-in-Chief, Times for Palestine
- Former Lead Presenter, BBC World Arabic, where she interviewed presidents, dissidents, and global decision-makers
- Senior Fellow, Centre for International Policy, engaging on issues of governance, war economies, and human rights
- DIG Award Winner – Best Long Investigation (Syria and Captagon)
- Scholar with an MSc in International Relations (Critical War Studies) from the London School of Economics
Her groundbreaking investigations—from narcotics trafficking within conflict zones to the political economies of militarization—have influenced global discourse and informed policy conversations across governments, think tanks, and multilateral bodies. Rasha has also served as a mentor to emerging journalists, trained professionals operating in complex environments, and engaged with UN agencies on media ethics, peacebuilding, and institutional reform.
00:00Sabah al-kheer. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Wherever you are, this is Greetings from Cairo. I'm Rasha Khandil.
00:09It's a real privilege to speak to this year's Icons of Change, awardees as the chosen president of Icons of Change in the Middle East, North Africa, and across every region we presented today.
00:23In my work for 25 years as a journalist and a researcher, I have met many extraordinary people, people who build institutions in the dark, people who speak truth when it's dangerous, and who hold the line when everyone else steps back.
00:41Today, I'm honored to address a community that embodies that same courage, a community committed to service, accountability, and the idea that nations are strengthened not by power alone, but by the integrity of those who choose to lead.
01:00To every hour you recognize this year, your work does more than create impact. It restores trust.
01:09You are the educators rebuilding civic space. You are the journalists resisting misinformation.
01:16You are the lawyers defending justice. You are the innovators strengthening institutes.
01:22You are the young leaders imagining futures that do not yet exist, but must.
01:30Your efforts are a reminder that change is not an abstract idea. Change is a decision, repeated every day to defend what really matters.
01:42Why the MENA region matters?
01:44For many of us in the MENA region, the path to impact is not straightforward.
01:49We operate in societies where public trust is really fragile, where civic space is contested, and where the price of accountability can be really high.
02:01And yet, the region remains one of the most important frontiers for leadership on the global stage.
02:09Because when leadership emerges in the Middle East and North Africa, it does so despite the obstacles, not because of their absence.
02:19When transparency is achieved here, it inspires others.
02:23When justice is defended here, it echoes far beyond our borders.
02:27And when young people in the MENA region choose integrity, they do so with the clarity that can move nations.
02:35They really do.
02:37This is why I accepted the role of president for the MENA region of icons of change.
02:44Not because the work is easy, but because the responsibility is real.
02:49And because the region deserves a platform rooted in truth, ethics, and respect.
02:56My word on leadership is the following.
03:00Leadership, for me, is not a title.
03:03It is not visibility.
03:06It is not the room that I walk into or the platform I stand on.
03:11I did that many times before.
03:14Now, leadership, for me, is the quiet decision to stay honest when it is inconvenient.
03:21To remain ethical when it would be simpler not to be.
03:25To protect others, especially when no one is watching.
03:30Every one of you receiving an award today has demonstrated that form of leadership.
03:36A leadership driven by purpose, not reward.
03:40By conviction, not applause.
03:42To change makers across the region, to those working in conflict zones, in fragile democracies, in overstretched institutions, in classrooms, in newsrooms, in courts, in communities that have been underserved for too long,
04:01I want you to hear the following clearly.
04:06Your work matters.
04:08Your courage matters.
04:10Your voice matters.
04:13And the region is stronger because of you.
04:17Whether your contribution is seen, debated, or quietly understood by the people whose lives you touch,
04:24you are part of the architecture of accountability and trust, I see you, and the world will too.
04:33Looking ahead, as president of the MENA region, my commitment is simple.
04:38To create a transparent and credible platform for recognizing genuine impact, to uphold the highest ethical standards,
04:49and to ensure that recognition in our region reflects merit, nothing more, nothing less.
04:56We will build this chapter thoughtfully, collaboratively, and with respect for the tremendous diversity and complexity of our region, the Middle East and North Africa.
05:10But the heart of this work will always be you, the change makers who insist that public good is worth the effort.
05:20Congratulations to each awardee.
05:23May today remind you that your work has meaning and that your voice contributes to a much larger story, a story of resilience, clarity, and hope.
05:36Thank you for your commitment, your courage, and your leadership.
05:40And thank you for allowing me to honor of addressing you today.
05:45I thrive on adrenaline.
05:47I'll be working for the coming two years as the president in the MENA region for icons of change,
05:56not as a president that works for anyone but you.
06:04I'll be working not as a leader, but as a collaborator.
06:08Thank you so much, and looking forward to working with all of you.
Be the first to comment