When Lebanon was plunged into the 6th revolution in its history. An Nahar, the nation’s leading paper looked to empower women to lead the revolution, and avoid the violence that marked previous protests.
We spotted a glaring injustice in Lebanon – the absence of women in the Lebanese National Anthem, and took the bold move of fixing it. In a phrase in the anthem that previously only referred to Lebanon as "the birthplace of men," we added "the birthplace of WOMEN AND men."
We printed the anthem and displayed it on the Newspaper’s office building, strategically located at the heart of the protests, to act as a catalyst for women to lead the revolution.
Please tell us about the social behaviour and / or cultural insights that inspired your campaign
While the women of Lebanon are known to be outspoken and often political thought leaders, Lebanese society is patriarchal. Over the years predominantly male-led governments have come and gone, sinking the country deeper into debt, economic crisis and corruption.
When Lebanon was plunged into its 6th revolution, the nation was in dire need of change and HOPE.
In a country where the national anthem fails to mention women, and where they faced massive underrepresentation only comprising 8% of ministers in the cabinet, the stage was set for the women of Lebanon to take the lead.