Dima Ismail: Tackling Child Marriage Through Creativity and Collaboration

For Dima Ismail, a MEPI Tomorrow’s Leaders alumna (’23) from Lebanon, leadership is all about finding creative ways to turn awareness into action. Over the past eight months, she has been part of the Governance Lab, a regional initiative supported by the British Council, UNGCNL, and Out of the Box, where young changemakers collaborate to address pressing social challenges.

As a delegate in the Gender Equality Group, Dima co-created #مش_وقتها (Mish Waata), a bold, youth-led campaign to raise awareness about child marriage in Lebanon. But instead of relying on traditional advocacy tools, she took a more innovative route. Partnering with Commence Games, she helped design an educational simulation game that puts players in the role of government officials navigating nine real-life policy dilemmas related to child marriage.

“The idea was to make people experience the tension between culture, law, and human rights,” Dima explains. “When you have to make those decisions yourself, you start to realize just how complex the issue really is.”

Each session of the game sparks meaningful discussion, helping participants grasp the social, legal, and moral implications of child marriage, and inspiring them to imagine better solutions. Dima’s vision also caught the attention of the academic community. She successfully secured collaborations with LAU’s Communication and Media, Psychology and Education departments, and the Urban Studies and Women’s Studies Program to co-organize the campaign’s official launch event.

For Dima, this initiative was a movement for awareness, empathy, and empowerment. “Real change starts with understanding,” she emphasizes. “And sometimes, understanding begins with play.”

Her journey reflects the mission of the MEPI Tomorrow’s Leaders Program, encouraging students to turn innovation into impact, and equipping young leaders with tools to turn their creative ideas into catalysts for social change.