President of WHOM (Wives of Heads of Mission)
Dr. Manù Cervone d’Urso Lucarelli is a woman of strength and substance. She’s committed to coordinate a like-minded group of ladies interested and supportive to KSA’s reforms agenda. And she’s doing it by balancing life and achieving as many goals possible in her term.
It’s a love story out of a romance novel: Her future husband and Manù meet each other at a graduation party time but they went on separate ways as he was working in the European Union traveling the world while she was a first-year Dentistry student in Rome. Snail mail kept them connected but then the age difference and the distance made them lose each other. 12 years later, when on summer he came back to Italy from Yemen he looked for her (with her letters he kept all these years), and when they met, they were inseparable from then on. This is the story of European Union Ambassador Michele Cervone d’Urso and Dr. Manù Cervone d’Urso Lucarelli, his wife and now the president of the Association of Wives of Heads of Mission (WHOM).
Dr. Manù Cervone d’Urso Lucarelli, in her own terms, is one- week-a-month dentist specialist in orthodontics in Italy and for the rest of the month the “wife of…” in Saudi Arabia. Her profession may change from time to time but she remains a mother to two lovely children, a partner for life of her husband, and a daughter to her family. She describes herself as empathic, loyal, strong-willed, improvable and resilient: the characteristics that will enable her to contribute with a smile to WHOM’s ambitious agenda.
When Dr. Manu’s husband was posted in Saudi Arabia in 2016, she was delighted and eager to know more about Saudi Arabia. She said, “It is a very exciting time to be in the Kingdom and I very much enjoy the Saudi people; they are very warm and family-oriented. I feel that I live in a magic Kingdom!” Indeed, as she has easily adapted into the Riyadh life and she is happy to share this optimism with the other friends. WHOM aims to provide support to its members during their husband’s accreditation to the Kingdom. WHOM helps members settle in and find friends in a new environment, while promoting international partnership, friendship, and appreciation among its members. It also aims to foster a better understanding of the culture and society of Saudi Arabia, their current host country.
While there are around 110 diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia, WHOM currently has 67 members as not all ambassadors are married or not all spouses decide to join the organization. There’s a general meeting once a month and they meet up again 3 to 4 times monthly for other activities. WHOM initiatives include cultural events (visiting universities/museums/institutions, etc.), social activities (attending cooking classes, opening events, etc.), healthy workshops (listening to lectures), charity (raising money for trusted associations) and cultural exchange with prominent Saudi women.
Dr. Manù recognizes the importance of Saudi Arabia and its Saudi Vision 2030. “I’m so privileged to be living in Saudi Arabia at this time and being not only a spectator but part of a major transformation process happening in a very short time. In line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, a number of goals have been set, the most important of which is to create a qualitative social and cultural transition in Saudi society to place it alongside the leading societies in the world. While I have witnessed first-hand major leap forward in entertainment and women’s rights, including the reopening of cinemas and the lifting the ban on women driving, there are many other progressive initiatives and projects that focus on family, education and supporting the creativity of Saudi youth. As WHOM, we have the opportunity to witness how the Kingdom is rapidly projecting itself in the future, to share this success with the Saudi Society, and to let our countries know about the ‘Magic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’ as I call it.”
For these reasons, part of the program of Dr. Manù’s presidency is dedicated to promote social activities to introduce WHOM members to the past, present, and future of the Kingdom. One of their main activities is to organize a big event in March that will feature many Saudi women who are pioneers and experts in their own field. She reiterates, “For us it’s a sign of the social transition in Saudi Arabia: women already achieved goals in the past, but it happened slowly. Nowadays this process is running fast and it is more visible. We want to invite these women to talk about their experience and share their point of view with us. Last but not least as WHOM we will keep playing an active role in the life of this vibrant Arab capital and this beautiful country. We have decided indeed to open a Twitter and Instagram account to make our association more visible and to interact more with the Saudi people.’’
With a vibrant organization and dedicated executive committee WHOM is truly in for exciting times. Dr Manù has a message of resilience for her fellow WHOM members ‘’As a spouse we have to be ready to embrace an international new life every 3 or 4 or 5 years in a different post, for me the challenge is to have been keeping two different lives. It required a lot of sacrifices and patience but on the other hand it gave me more mindfulness about the life and the capacity to relativize the issues. Living this double life among two continents, I firmly believe in the Wood Wide Web theory: like a tree as much as our roots are strong and deep, our branches are big and facing the sun. Wherever we are what we must never forget is to follow our inner nature: the one of strong proud women-daughters, partners, sisters, mothers- who silhouette to the sky.’’
WHOM EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2018-2019
President: Manù Cervone d’Urso Lucarelli (European Union)
Vice-President: Hermine Mariam Tidjani (Cameroon)
Secretary: Boutaina Khalimchi (Morocco)
Vice-Secretary: Brigitte Schaller-Schoepf (Switzerland)
Treasurer: Joe Alonto (Philippines)
Vice-Treasurer: Maimoona Mwenda (Tanzania)
African Coordinator: Hilata Oligui (Gabon)
African Vice-Coordinator: Saira Laitona (Mauritius)
Arab Coordinator: Muna AlRifai (Jordan)
Arab Vice-Coordinator: Mirna Kabbara (Lebanon)
Asia Coordinator: Maureen Anderson (Singapore)
Asia Vice-Coordinator: Chi Soo Jo (South Korea)
Europe Coordinator: Sermin Kok (Turkey)
Europe Vice-Coordinator: Halima Gouyette (France)
