The Build for Everyone Campaign is a national advocacy project launched in December 2021, organized and led by the LUPD. This campaign is not merely a passing call but a civil rights statement demanding the fair and full application of legislation related to universal access and an inclusive environment in Lebanon. It is a strategic step toward dismantling the architectural and social barriers that prevent approximately 10 to 15 percent of the population living with disabilities from fully participating in public life.

Legal Framework: Demanding the Activation of Dormant Texts

The campaign is grounded in the authority of Law 220/2000, the comprehensive law on the rights of persons with disabilities. Pressure focuses specifically on activating and applying texts that have remained ink on paper for over two decades. In particular:

• Engineering and urban access: The campaign demands the mandatory application of inclusive engineering standards to all public and private buildings open to the public, including hospitals, schools and universities, government institutions, banks, and shopping centers.
• Roads and sidewalks: Build for Everyone calls on municipalities and infrastructure authorities to modify sidewalks and roads to ensure proper ramps, avoid obstacles, and provide sidewalks that serve wheelchair users, blind persons (via tactile pathways), and older people.
• Public transport: A fundamental pillar of the campaign is demanding that public transport means (buses, taxis, train stations where they exist) be made accessible to everyone, ensuring freedom of movement as a basic right for economic and social participation.

Vision and Strategy: Inclusion as a National Value

The core vision behind the Build for Everyone Campaign is to establish the idea that accessibility is a collective responsibility and an inalienable civil right, not an additional service or privilege. Inclusion, according to the campaign, means transforming mental frameworks before changing concrete structures.

• Engagement with decision-makers: The campaign works to establish direct dialogues with Parliament and relevant ministries (such as Public Works and Transport, Social Affairs, and Interior and Municipalities) to issue the implementing decrees of Law 220/2000, which have not yet been issued, thus hindering the law’s activation.
• Community and local mobilization: Modern communication tools and local meetings are used to build support from public opinion and civil society, as well as to pressure municipalities at the district level to adopt local action plans for implementing accessibility standards within their geographical scope.
• Documentation and accountability: The campaign documents cases where access standards are violated in new projects and uses this documentation for legal and media accountability of violating entities, whether public or private.

Expected Impact and National Importance

The importance of Build for Everyone extends beyond assisting persons with disabilities; it is an investment in human capital and social justice in Lebanon.

• Economic empowerment: When access becomes available, persons with disabilities can reach work and study opportunities and contribute effectively to the economy, reducing the financial burden on the state and families.
• Improving quality of life for everyone: Accessibility benefits not only wheelchair users but also mothers using strollers, older people with mobility difficulties, and those carrying heavy loads or experiencing temporary injuries.
• Alignment with international conventions: The campaign aims to push Lebanon toward fulfilling its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, of which inclusion is a fundamental pillar.

In conclusion, the Build for Everyone Campaign represents a relentless effort to transform Lebanon into a truly inclusive country, reflecting respect for human rights and the diversity of its citizens, and ensuring that the built environment and surrounding spaces belong to everyone, without exception.