Resources to empower girls worldwide

In June, BSF donated backpacks filled with books to 3,000 French-speaking students who have recently arrived in France and are attending school in Amiens, Aix-Marseille, Créteil and Paris, as well as in Strasbourg, which has been designated World Book Capital in 2024 by UNESCO.

As part of the Inside Out photography project, initiated by French artist JR, Bibliothèques Sans Frontières organized an exhibition in the Kavumu refugee camp in Burundi, honoring those who are too often forgotten behind the numbers. Because being a refugee is a status, not an identity: that's what fifty Congolese women, men and teenagers wanted to express through their portraits, which lined the walls of the camp's library.

The aim? "To deconstruct prejudices about refugees and give a voice back to those who are too often invisibilized" explains Paulin Bulakali, in charge of the project in Burundi. The setting for the exhibition: the library in the Kavumu camp, where BSF deployed its first Ideas Box in 2015.

"The Kavumu camp is currently home to 17,700 Congolese. Most of them have fled armed conflict and ethnic violence. Some have been here for twenty years, others were even born here. Their living conditions can be difficult, and their prospects limited. However, they are not the vulnerable people portrayed, disconnected from the world and without hope. On the contrary! They make music, are comedians, entrepreneurs or teachers. Above all, they have dreams, just like everyone else.

With Inside Out, their story and message become a work of art on an international scale; it's very powerful for them. On the day of the exhibition, I felt their joy, pride and recognition." Paulin Bulakali. 

In Madagascar, access to education for young people, particularly girls, is a major challenge, especially in rural areas.
Bibliothèques Sans Frontières has been deploying a Ideas Box within the Fianarantsoa campus and five Ideas Cubes in several surrounding "success boarding schools" since 2022 to improve the quality of education for disadvantaged middle-school students.Trained by BSF teams, the teachers use these tools and their tailor-made content on a daily basis to reinforce their skills and combat school dropout.

"Building, every day, a more open and peaceful world through better sharing of knowledge."
Patrick Weil, president and founder of BSF

In 2022, the actions of Bibliothèques Sans Frontières benefited 450,000 people in 18 countries. From emergency libraries installed on the borders of Ukraine to the creation of a French learning app for refugees and the development of an educational kit on media literacy, our teams have continued to innovate and reinvent themselves this year in order to respond as effectively as possible to the needs of the most vulnerable.
Discover in particular our project against conflict-related sexual violence in partnership with the UN.
1/5: that's the proportion of refugee or displaced women who have already been victims of sexual violence(source: UN).
In October 2022 in Paris, Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, and Patrick Weil, President and Founder of BSF, signed a groundbreaking partnership agreement. The main thrust of this partnership will be the deployment of Ideas Box libraries to support victims of sexual violence in areas where these war crimes are committed. Staffed by professionals, our secure spaces will help victims rebuild their lives through psychological and legal support, as well as vocational training. 

In this activity report, explore the key projects of recent months, dive with us into the association's highlights and discover our ambitions for tomorrow!
Link to our activity report

In Lebanon, where 4/5 of the population lives below the poverty line, Bibliothèques Sans Frontières and local association Amel are working together to strengthen access to education and autonomy for local and refugee populations.

 

Since 2021, 3 of our mobile "Ideas Box" media libraries have been deployed throughout the country to enable participants to regain their confidence and benefit from support towards professional integration. Regular slots are set aside for women to take computer training, look for a job or set up their own business in a secure space.

 

Early this year, our sponsor Augustin Trapenard travelled to Lebanon to visit these Ideas Boxes and meet the animators as well as the beneficiaries of these projects to bear witness to the essential role of education in emergency situations with vulnerable publics.

 

Find out more about the video!