In 2014, in collaboration with UNICEF and the IRC, ABAAD held puppet-making workshops for 35 Syrian refugee and Affected Lebanese young girls and adolescents (ages 9 – 17) to empower them to express their GBV-related struggles through puppetry.

At the beginning of each workshop, the girls were introduced to the different types of puppets, the techniques of puppet-making, and how to move puppets in theatrical manners to animate stories. This was followed by a discussion of the GBV-related challenges the girls are facing within their communities, with the prominent issues being verbal harassment in the streets, kidnapping and rape, parental refusal to allow the girls to spend time outside the house, as well as early marriage.

The girls then crafted their puppets and formed them in a manner that portrayed the aforementioned issues. Following the puppet-making workshops, ABAAD organised two public exhibitions featuring the puppets created by the girls, one in Taanayel, Bekaa and the other in Wadi Khaled, North Lebanon. The 250 attendees in Taanayel and the 400 in Wadi Khaled were given the opportunity to view the four different stands, each depicting a social issue the girls are facing: early marriage, violence, social cohesion, and harassment in public. The attendees visited each of the stands, asked questions, and had discussions with the IRC and ABAAD team members.