{"id":60780,"date":"2019-03-06T18:33:46","date_gmt":"2019-03-06T23:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/?p=60780"},"modified":"2019-03-06T18:40:17","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T23:40:17","slug":"syrian-women-and-girls-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/blog\/2019\/03\/syrian-women-and-girls-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Syria\u2019s Women and Girls Bike to Beat Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Yalla Let’s Bike” (Come on Let’s Bike) is an initiative that aims to defy traditional gender roles, combat overcrowded streets, and promote cycling as a healthy and eco-friendly mode of transportation.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Six years ago, Sarah Zein decided that the traffic in her hometown Damascus, Syria was too much, and there had to be a better way to get around. So she turned to her bicycle. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bicycling had advantages, but Damascus was not well suited to bicycling as dedicated bike lanes did not exist. Due to attacks and bombings, security checkpoints were built around the city, making short work and school commutes last longer than two hours. Poor roads, traffic and aggressive drivers were one problem, but even more off-putting was regularly having to deal with verbal sexual harassments on the streets. <\/span><\/p>\n

With a view to supporting women and girls to achieve their full potential without stigma or discrimination, Sarah saw cycling as a daring act to change the status quo and co-founded \u201cYalla Let\u2019s Bike\u201d (Come on Let\u2019s Bike), an initiative to defy gender roles, beat the traffic and promote cycling as an eco-friendly mode of transportation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shortly after, the initiative started breaking the stereotypes of war and setting a positive example of youth promoting peaceful coexistence, taking climate action, and empowering women and girls.<\/span><\/p>\n