Lebanon is a sectarian country. The government is split according to the number of seats granted to each sect. And each sect belongs to a religious entity. And so, Lebanese laws, are set and abide by religious norms. The two religious entities with the most seats in parliament are Christians and Muslims and in both religions, early marriage is not condemned. As a result, there is no law in Lebanon to protect young girls from early marriage.

Some campaigns tried to tackle the issue in the past but were not able to get through to the parliament, because they were tackling the issue from a societal point of view. And the truth is, society seems no shame in the issue.

We needed an angle that would make society see that early marriage is bad. And so, we went on to tackle this societal issue, for the first time, from a medical point of view. We fought early marriage with hard core medical facts. Because medical facts are indisputable.

And so we created a campaign that, for the first time, tackled this societal issue; early marriage; from a medical point of view.

PR efforts went to scout for the most renowned and credible doctor: Dr. Faysal el Kak, Obstetrician and Gynecologist and president of the Arab association of OB-GYN Societies.

Dr. Faysal's medical facts and analysis were the basis of the fully integrated medical campaign we developed to fight early marriage.

The medical data was also given to more than 33 carefully selected influencers which spread them further. Among these influencers were a priest and a sheikh, which furthered helped us break the societal taboo.

We spread visuals with our medical facts on print, outdoor, BTL, online and in the launch press conference, transforming traditional communication channels into public medical announcements.

We then launched a film, on TV and online, depicting what looks like an early marriage, but instead of a religious figure blessing the union, we had a doctor advising against it.

Finally, we transformed more than 33 influencers into medical spokespeople by supplying them with all the relevant medical information, which they spread online in the form of medical advisory videos.

In less than 1 month:

- Over 33 celebrity endorsed videos

- 1.2 million reached only on Facebook

- More than 9 million dollars of earned media and PR

The campaign, which was initially backed by the ministry of women’s affairs, became such a hot medical topic that the Ministry of Health decided to endorse it too, taking our medical campaign to a new level of credibility.

Just two weeks after the launch of the campaign, the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, immediately referred our proposed law on the protection of children from early marriage to the Administration and Justice Committee, the last step before being voted into law.

Our target audience were the people of Lebanon, the parents specifically. Those that see no shame in marrying off their daughters at an early age. And our task was to get across to them all the medical issues and life threatening dangers their daughters might face if married off before18.

To reach the maximum number of parents in the population, we transformed our 8 communication channels into public medical announcements.

TV, Online, print, outdoor and BTL carries our medical messages. Our film was built on a real credible doctor in the region and in Lebanon, Dr. Faysal el Kak, Obstetrician and Gynecologist but also president of the Arab association of OB-GYN Societies.

PR efforts gathered more than 33 influencers which were turned into medical spokes people.

In Lebanon, child marriage is legally, religiously, and socially accepted.

RDFL, a gender equality NGO, wanted to petition the government to set the legal age of marriage at 18.

What few parents know is that early marriage brings life-threatening dangers to a young bride, such as: pre-eclampsia, vaginal rupture, acute anemia, sub-chorionic hemorrhage, gestational hypertension, premature delivery, and even death.

If parents knew, would they accept the health risks inherent in early marriage?