Social Experiment: Parking for MEN ONLY

To explore women’s attitudes and reactions if they had their rights taken away from them in a very unexpected every-day situation in a light and funny manner, followed by building upon the findings to highlight the subject of women involvement in decision-making positions in society, ABAAD conducted a social experiment in a parking lot in Beirut.

Thus, ABAAD, in collaboration with the National Committee for the Follow up of Women’s Issues, worked with two professional actors who played the role of the male parking attendant who would not let women park in the “good” spots that were “For Men Only.” The responses were diverse; while several women reacted calmly and moved their cars as per the attendant’s adamant demands, a few stood up and argued, refusing to move their cars. The campaign video reached 124,925 viewers, 1,040 likes and 988 shares on Facebook by end of the project in December 2015.

بلبنان…في مواقف بس للرجال

Change-maker Recruitment and Capacity Building

The LANA Project team was able to mobilize a total of 645 change-makers around the issue of women in decision-making positions over the course of the project, divided as follows: 200 women and men in the first year, and 445 in the second year. In year one, 126 were recruited as change-makers, 85% of which were women, and 15% were men, with an average age of 38.5. In the second year, 224 were recruited and trained, 75% women and 25% men, with an average age of 26.13.

The recruited and trained change-makers were distributed according to regions as follows:

Year One: 40 change-makers in Beirut, 43 change-makers in Mount Lebanon, and 43 change-makers in South Lebanon

Year Two: 22 change-makers in Beirut, 105 change-makers in Mount Lebanon, and 97 change-makers in South Lebanon

Upon completion of the training cycles, several outreach activities were implemented by the change-makers themselves and Apex Fora to recruit and train the year two CMs through one on one meetings. Tools to support the CMs in their work were developed by the Lebanon partners and Oxfam, including, among others, the LANA brochure, posters, roll-up banners, and information kits.

Visibility and Outreach: CMs’ Experiences

Project visibility regarding the change makers’ experiences and outreach was ensured by the LANA Project team on several levels, including through:

• Launching Ceremony presenting experiences and testimonials of the change-makers. A die-cut silhouette was also set at the exhibition section of the ceremony as an interactive method of encouraging participants to become change-makers.
• A blog that features personal stories, reflections, and pictures by change-makers, detailing the impact of the LANA project on their personal and societal experiences.
• Wide dissemination of all brochures and posters that were developed.