Good times are on the horizon, and this month, we let hope and positivity fly us towards them. Our Editor in Chief Olivia Phillips introduces The Good News issue, in all its uplifting glory

I’ve often thought that I should take the same approach to who I follow on Instagram – and who I spend time with in real life – as Marie Kondo does with her take on tidying your home for a happier existence; that the things around you should ‘spark joy’, or, as William Morris said, “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

It’s a tack that I’d like to think we also employ in putting this magazine together – with a mission to inspire through creativity, and to serve as a genuinely helpful guide to navigating life as a woman in today’s complex, ever-shifting, and now pandemic-riddled world.

To that end, this month we wanted to curate an edit of pure, powerful positivity; pages of uplifting news, fashion and interviews that report on the good, the whole good, and nothing but the good. Stories that will restore or maintain your faith in humanity’s wonder – the things we have to look forward to, or up to, or aspire to.

HE Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, the first Arab female President of the International Publishing Association

The real good news? That there is so much of it. The good, the great, and the downright fantastic – from the individual voices of women in the region sharing the times they felt truly moved and grateful, to the optimism of the vaccine rollout, to the latest Haute Couture creations whose sheer craft and whimsy will make your heart sing.

“During times of crisis, those who cope best are those who help others,” is a quote that struck me from Hope Springs. The positive moves we make to help, as individuals, and as a society, should always be celebrated. So as we launch Harper’s Bazaar Saudi this month, we aim to carry on our responsibility as a mouthpiece for women, for artists whose messages incite change, and as a platform to galvanise the good work that is already being done in The Kingdom.

In this issue, we also announce our ITP Media partnership with UN Women, just in time for International Women’s Day – asking Can Women Build A Better World? and telling you all about our new women-at work YouTube series, The Ladder. We shine a light on Mayye Zayed, the Egyptian director doing great things to shatter gender stereotypes in film, speak to HE Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, the first Arab female President of the International Publishing Association, and last but not least, sit down (and go up in a hot-air balloon) with our cover star and all-round female champion, Tunisian model and actress, Azza Slimene.

Good news has arrived. And it’s about time.

From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s March 2021 Issue