Le Rassemblement des Femmes Libanaises

The Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering (“Rassemblement démocratique des femmes libanaises”, RDFL) is a secular, non-governmental women’s organisation active in the field of advancing the cause of women and improving their status in all aspects of life.

Since its establishment in 1976, RDFL has implemented programmes in the fields of education on women's rights and promoting adult literacy. RDFL provides special care and support for women survivors of violence and aims at the empowerment of women in the social, economic and political sphere.

RDFL has been growing significantly since its foundation and currently holds five offices all over Lebanon. They are located in the strategic locations of Beirut, Baalbek (Bekaa), Zouk Mosbeh (Mount Lebanon), Tripoli and Saida.

Mission and Activities

RDFL’ s objectives are based on international conventions, resolutions and agreements on human rights and women issues which are ratified by Lebanon, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Universal Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Furthermore, their vision is based on their belief in the Lebanese constitutional provisions which stipulate full equality between citizens in rights and duties.

RDFL is working to achieve their goals by providing psychological and legal support through so called listening centres. These centres  focus on women empowerment by confronting customs and traditions that degrade the dignity of women. RDFL  provides support in more than 400 cases of violence against women every year. After the begin of the Syrian crisis, RDFL opened new centers to accommodate more Syrian women and girls that became victims of violence.

Furthermore, RDFL has been working on advocacy projects such as the campaign #NotBefore18 aiming to raise awareness on the risks of child marriage and gaining the support of the media and public as well as pressuring parliamentarians to assume their legislative responsibility.

Cooperation with forumZFD

Since September 2017, RDFL and forumZFD have been cooperating within the programme Community Mobilising of forumZFD in the project Future Together Now! II.

Within the project, trainers from forumZFD are training and mentoring 15 community activists in different communities in Tripoli and Baalbek. The three community activists from RDFL are being supported in implementing various community projects as well as constantly transfer the knowledge into their organisation in Baalbek involving the community.

In August 2018, forumZFD together with animators from RDFL tested a toolkit for summer camp activities. The toolkit was developed by forumZFD and aims to create safe and creative spaces for children to grow and learn about themselves and others, to enable them to communicate non-violently and empower them with an understanding for conflict transformation and respective skills.