The She Leads program aims at meaningful participation and participation in decision-making processes by girls and young women at different levels. At the international level, we direct our advocacy to the United Nations. Last week, three girls from Lebanon, Kenya and Uganda traveled to Geneva via She Leads to attend the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council. There they delivered their message on topics that are important to them and on which they also work in their own country. In addition, a statement was prepared by girls and young women from the She Leads program country Ghana, which was read in the meeting by our colleague there.

 Girls and young women bear the brunt of crises

Lynne, 18, is from the Nabaa neighborhood of Beirut, Lebanon. Since 2,5 years, she has been a member of one of the two core groups of girls and young women that our She Leads partner Dar Al Amal works with. She went to Geneva with a clear goal: "We urge member states to include girls' voices and opinions in their decision-making and to protect girls' rights." Lynne is concerned about climate change, among other things. In her statement in Geneva, she emphasized the impact on girls and young women. It affects food security that is already unevenly distributed. She stressed that in times of crisis, girls and young women bear the heaviest burden and are most at risk of exploitation and violence. This is even more true for girls and young women with disabilities, she says. She also focused on the impact of climate change on education systems: “In a crisis, education often becomes inaccessible. That is why we urge member states to focus their responses to crises and disasters on keeping health and education systems afloat.”

 The importance of a platform for social change

24 year old Margaret is from Mombasa in Kenya and works in She Leads with our partner KAACR (Kenya Alliance for Advancement of Children). She addressed Member States during a session on media literacy and digital literacy, highlighting the digital gender gap and the importance of the digital world for the right to self-expression. "Particularly for girls and young women, it is an important platform for organizing and mobilizing for social change. It empowers girls and young women to express their views and question those in positions of power and demand accountability."

 Child marriages and forced marriages

In addition to their statements in the Human Rights Council, the activists spoke with Paul Bekkers and Kim Peters of the Dutch Permanent Representation to the United Nations in Geneva about child and forced marriages. A vote on a resolution was held in the Human Rights Council on this subject. The activists stressed the importance of listening to girls and young women ahead of the vote. Margaret: “Girls and young women in different parts of the world suffer from traditional and harmful practices that perpetuate child marriage. We are for dialogue and advocacy to debunk these entrenched ideas and drive positive change in our communities.”

Mohammad a success story, a motivation to go forward despite the current critical circumstances in Lebanon.

When Muhammad came to our center in Nabaa, he was a shy and disinterested child. Out of school, he was working in a cafe.

 By time, we have seen impressive progress in his results in addition to his love for studying. He comes early with huge smile saying: “Good morning Mrs Myrna”. And when Mohammad cannot come to the center he sends a replacement, a young friend, believing he has reserved a place to come back when it is possible for him.

What a tenacious child who, despite all the difficulties, wants to learn and progress!

ناديا  امراة سورية، عمرها الآن 26 سنة، متزوجة و لديها 4 بنات صغار أكبرهن عمرها 7 سنوات . تم توقيفها منذ سنتين ونصف في سجن نساء طرابلس، بتهمة تجارة و تعاطي مخدرات هي و زوجها. اقام الأطفال مع خالهن الغير مؤهل لرعايتهن و اعالتهن فهو دون عمل و غير قادر على تركهن لان الطفلة الصغيرة عمرها فقط خمسة أشهر. منذ دخولها السجن، بدات الأختصاصيتان الاجتماعية والنفسية  من قبل دار الامل مساعدتها، على جميع الصعد. وقد شاركت بدورات تدريبية متنوعة ساعدتها لكسب مهارات مهنية . ونظرا لوضع الأطفال المأساوي، طلبت ن. من دار الامل ايجاد مركز ايواء لأطفالها , وقد تم ذالك مباشرة من قبل فريق عمل دار الامل، بعد ان أحضر الخال الاطفال الى السجن، تركهم على باب السجن وذهب .

اهتم فريق عمل دار الامل بجميع الاجراءات لحماية الاطفال بالتعاون مع مندوبة الأحداث، وتم تأمين لهم مركز ايواء في طرابلس. وقد صدر بعد سنتين حكم براءتها  وبراءة زوجها من تهمة التعاطي. وبعد خروجها من السجن استمرت الاختصاصية الاجتماعية والأختصاصية النفسية في جمعية دار الامل مساعدتها على جميع الصعد، ومن ضمن ذلك الحصول على اذن من  قاضية الاحداث للموافقة  على زيارة أطفالها، مرة أسبوعيا. كانت الزيارة الاولى مؤثرة جدا ً، تمت بمرافقة ايمان الاختصاصية النفسية في جمعية دار الامل.

وتستمر دار الامل بمساعدتها  كي تتغلب وزوجها على الظروف الحياتية و المعيشية الصعبة و أن يتم اعادة شمل العائلة مع الاطفال وتحسين أوضاعها.

“Education is the weapon of people. It is an effective method by which we can grow better and faster. Although my brother can’t attend school because he has to work, but this doesn’t stop him from learning, that’s why due to the help of my teachers at the center, I started to teach my brother every evening at home after he finishes work.” Said Lina.

Lina is 16. She lives with her family- her parents, her younger brother and older sister in a humble apartment in Bourj Hammoud.

Her father is a painter and her mother is ill. Lina’s younger brother who is 13 doesn’t go to school; instead he works in car mechanics. He walks for 30 minutes everyday to reach work.

Due to the restricted cultural values at Lina’s family, the older sister who is 18 years old and engaged is not permitted to work. Lina attended literacy, numeracy classes; recreational activities and awareness sessions at Dar Al Amal center- Nabaa.

Side to all that, she also attended the Make-Up and Nails vocational training, for a period of 3 months in which she developed a soft skill and got a certificate.

Lina is feeling bad due to her bad family situation, that’s why she is looking for a job. She thinks that she has to work in summer to help her sick mother. During the awareness sessions Lina had known that working at her age will perpetuate poverty except of reducing it. She is aware today that if it is a must for her to work and help her family this shouldn’t stop her from attending the classes at the center and side to that she also promised that she will only seek a part time job that won’t harm her development.

Surviving Abandonment and Maltreatment in prison: Setting out to new horizons 

Rana was born in 1989. Married and without children her husband denounced her to save himself from jail. She was suspended on charges of murder for almost four years in women's prison of Tripoli.  Her husband left her and travelled.
With her family not living in Lebanon Rana stayed in jail without a lawyer.

Therefore Dar Al Amal provided her with legal aid including a lawyer.

During her incarceration Rana participated in many activities (which) Dar Al Amal offers in the women's prison of Tripoli. These activities are organized in the framework of DAA's rehabilitation and reintegration project for women prisoners.

 These activities include vocational trainings on sewing, decorating ornaments, computer skills, handicraft etc. These contributed to the development of Rana skills and helped her to ensure an income due to the sale of her products by Dar Al Amal.
In addition Rana was followed up socially and psychologically.

Unfortunately her relationship to her parents suffered under her imprisonment. They refused to visit her as they weren’t able to accept her being in prison. Dar Al Amal offered a family follow-up as well until finally her father accepted to visit Rana in prison. Moreover he supported her with money.

After DAA paid Rana's bail she has been released.  At that time she was yet fully qualified to face a society which condemns women prisoners and hinders them in returning to a normal life without obstacles.

Fadia was raised in a broken family. Her parents were always fighting. Their home was full of violence. At the age of 16 she ran away with the first man she met. They got married.

Fadia's husband turned out to be an alcoholic, who used to beat her regularly. After a while, as if that were not enough, he started to exploit her and sold her to other men.

Fadia gave birth to two children, but her life was not changing. At some point she wanted to kill herself but she could not. She was invariably thinking of her kids. Finally she got a divorce and for a while she lived with her kids on the streets.

Eventually she was directed to Dar Al Amal, where she received help:

 A place to study, eat and sleep was provided for Fadia's children. The work with Fadia started immediately by offering her psychological help and by finding her a shelter to sleep. After some time, she found a job as well and therefore was able to rent a room. She could see her kids every weekend.

Until now Fadia still visits Dar Al Amal and participates in field trips.

Ola is a 12 years old girl who lived with her family, which consists of mother, father and 3 children. They suffered from difficult social and economical circumstances:

Her father worked as a security officer in a small market in Beirut. Her mother worked as a cleaning lady. However, their income was not enough to meet their basic needs.

In addition Ola was victim of her father's physical and moral abuse.

Those conditions affected Ola in

1-   School: She was at high risk of dropping out from school, as she was repeating her classes for the second time (grade 4).

2-   Friendships: She was unable to make any friends, neither in school nor in the neighborhood. She preferred to be alone.

3-   Relationships to her family: She hated her family, especially her father, and dreamt of running away from home.

Dar Al Amal assisted Ola and her family during the hardest time, in which they attended social and psychological services.

Now Ola is improving at school again. She’s enjoys it and comes regularly to the centers.

 Her mother is supported by a social worker and a psychotherapist, who are teaching her how to protect herself and her children.

Rouba is 12 years old and lived in a small room together with her mother and 3 brothers.

Her father left home 6 years ago, after a big fight with his wife: He used to hit her and their children, especially Rouba.

The family was facing serious socio-economical problems and was not able to pay the rent or even food.

In order to support her family, Rouba's mother worked at night, which created rumors that she might be a prostitute, and spent all day sleeping.

Due to this situation, Rouba had a lot of behavioral and psychological problems:

1-   She skipped school and spent all day with some boys on the streets without her mother knowing.

2-   She used to drink alcohol and to smoke water pipes.

3-   She failed her 8^th grade three times.

4-   She became unhygienic, wore dirty clothes etc.

5-   She was in high risk of delinquency.

Rouba came to the center, and a social worker created an action plan with herto instantly start helping.

In collaboration with a psychotherapist and the DAA team, Rouba showed of the following improvement:

1-   She benefited from school reinforcement as her grades improved.

2-   Psychological counseling helped Rouba in her to deal with her situation. She became more responsible, less careless.

3-   The social worker assumed the social follow-up with Rouba. Together they solved some problematic issues such as hygiene. Moreover they  worked on her interpersonal relationships. Therefore the social worker also cooperated with Rouba’s mother to improve her social and medical situation and not east her relation with Rouba. AShe learned how to protect Rouba, especially from the risk of delinquency.

4-   After one year of social and psychological follow-up, Dar Al Amal saw the need to take Rouba out of her family and she moved to a new home for her best interest.

Mariam is 15 and her sister Rima is 16 years old.
Their father is an alcoholic and addicted to gambling. He neither works   nor supports his family. While their mother is sick and suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes. Therefore she needs a permanent medication. Moreover their older brother is unemployed. Furthermore their father is very abusive, meaning he beat them continuously. Several times they ran away from their home and slept on the streets.
Due to their deteriorating economic condition their mother made them support their family: She forced them to work as dancers in night clubs.
At the beginning the girls did not know the risk of it and therefore welcomed the idea. It seemed to be just an alternative place to sleep – better than sleeping in the streets. By the time the girls were disgusted by their job and saw the dangerous side of it.  Not least they were exposed to several harassments. While a social worker of Dar Al Amal was visiting the families in an area in Beirut, and was informing girls about the center, she was introduced to Rima and Mariam.  He/she encouraged them to come to the center and join the literacy session. The girls showed great commitment by coming to the shelter, but after a while, they stopped appearing. The social worker visited their home and met the mother, who claimed they were working until late hours.  Therefore they were not able to wake up early in the mornings in order to come to the center Moreover they needed money for her medical treatment and other family expenses.
So the family was followed up and informed about the danger of the girls working in night clubs.
After that, Mariam and Rima continued their classes in the center and joined the English session as well. In addition to psychological and social follow up they joined several recreational activities.
The follow up continues, but the girls need time to forget about their experiences and to adopt with their new opportunities.