Alumni Launch Crowdfunding to Build Safe Spaces for Girls in Lebanon

The crowdfunding campaign will address gender inequalities by working with teenage girls to take control of their neighbourhood by designing and building safe public spaces with and for them. 

The project is led by CatalyticAction, an award-winning charity founded by 2 Bartlett alumni as a spinoff of the DPU teaching and research.

CatalyticAction has been involved with the DPU and the Institute for Global Prosperity on a number of projects, and this collaboration has produced many successful outputs, some of which are included in their 2022 Impact Report.

The project

In many communities in Lebanon, women and teenage girls are often expected to limit their use of the public space to certain times and activities. In addition to this, often these public spaces offer very little or no facilities for teenage girls. This results in many girls not leaving their home, causing them to miss out on developing the social, cognitive, emotional and physical skills that are nurtured when using public spaces. 

For many girls, this exclusion also generates an acceptance of ‘being weak’, which contributes to strengthening an unjust and patriarchal society. 

We want to challenge these inequalities by working with teenage girls to take control of their neighbourhood by designing and building safe public spaces with and for them. 

Thanks to your support we will be able to empower young girls to take ownership of the public spaces in their neighbourhood. By working on shaping their neighbourhood, they will strengthen their role in society and challenge the unjust preconceptions dictated by the patriarchal society. #GenerationEquality