Joyce Azzam

Guess who is back here to share, exchange, and grow?

Me.

I went quiet for a while. Motherhood reshaped everything. My rhythm, my priorities, even my sense of voice. There were moments when I wondered if what I had to say still mattered, or if my place had shifted.

I can’t fully put it into words yet. But I know those words will come, and when they do, I’ll share them with you.

For now, today, I just want to show up again and pass on some Queen energy.

As a woman and as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador for Lebanon, I believe we need to talk more about digital abuse and how deeply it harms women and girls.
Defamation, threats, harassment none of it is virtual. The impact is real.

I went through a cyber attack a few years ago and the effect on my mental health was very real.
If you ever feel unsafe, you can call the Civil Defense on 01293293.

Great campaign UN Women Lebanon UN Women Arabic United Nations Lebanon United Nations Information Centre Beirut

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 #𝐍𝐨𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 🎬 Artist Maritta Hallani joins the United Nations in Lebanon and the National Commission For Lebanese Women to raise her voice for #16Days — calling for safer, equal & respectful digital spaces for women and girls everywhere. Watch the video 🎥 👇 #لا_عذر للعنف الرقمي أو القائم على النوع الاجتماعي. 🎬 الممثلة والمغنية ماريتا الحلاني ترفع صوتها ضمن حملة #١٦يوم إلى جانب الأمم المتحدة في لبنان والهيئة الوطنية لشؤون المرأة اللبنانية والشركاء من أجل فضاء رقمي آمن يحترم النساء والفتيات ويُمكّنهن. شاهد\ي الفيديو 🎥 👇 cc: First Lady Nehmat Aoun - نعمة عون United Nations Lebanon United Nations Information Centre Beirut UN Women UN Women Arabic National Commission For Lebanese Women NCLW

Nearly half of the women and girls in our world, 1.8 billion people, still have no legal protection from digital violence.

I know what this feels like.
In 2021, I went through a cyber attack that left me feeling lonely and hopeless. I could not respond to everyone and everything was built on one person’s version of reality. Their followers attacked without ever stopping to see my point of view.

I could not eat for two days.
Even when I knew their words were not real, the abuse was painfully real.
And it taught me how impossible it is to find empathy online when distance replaces human connection.

This is why digital protection matters.
This is why we speak up.

And today, as Goodwill Ambassador , I feel an even deeper responsibility to talk openly about digital violence because no woman or girl should feel unprotected in a space that shapes our daily lives.

The global hashtag campaign is a call for urgent action For All Women And Girls.

🟠 Close the legal gaps
🟠 Hold perpetrators and tech platforms accountable
🟠 Build a world where technology protects equality, not harms it

Silence is not weakness.
It is choosing dignity over chaos.
And I will keep using my voice so no woman or girl feels alone in the digital world.

They say we recreate ourselves each day.
But what if we’ve climbed so far from who we used to be, that we can barely see her from here?

“Dear Everest girl, you won’t believe it,
but this month, we’re training for 5 kilometers.”

As part of the Dubai Fitness Challenge, I’m showing up every day — running, breathing, remembering what it means to move forward.

Through the Rise Again 150KM Challenge, I’m not chasing speed or records. I’m rebuilding — step by step, story by story.
Because rising again isn’t about reaching the top, it’s about finding the strength to begin once more.

And I’ll be sharing the journey with you along the way.

Life can feel so fast sometimes, like everything is uphill and we’re just trying to catch our breath.
But even in the middle of that rush, we still have the power to slow down and stay grounded.

During the last weeks of my pregnancy and throughout postpartum, I barely slept. For almost two years of breastfeeding, I can’t remember a single night of uninterrupted rest.
Whenever I had a quiet moment to think, my mind would go straight to how tired I was and how I felt I wasn’t doing anything meaningful.

Then something shifted.
I started focusing on what I had instead of what I lacked.
On gratitude instead of exhaustion.

Nothing around me changed on the outside, but everything changed on the inside.

Every morning now, I take a few deep breaths and set one simple intention.
It helps me start my day with calm and gratitude instead of pressure and noise.

Start your morning from the inside. That’s where peace begins. ☀️