MARCH Lebanon
MARCH Lebanon is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation, founded in 2011, with the stated purpose of defending freedom of expression as well as campaigning for equal rights for all communities in Lebanon.
In 2015, MARCH with its main office in Beirut expanded its work to peace building and conflict resolution projects to reconcile Lebanon’s youth. The members of MARCH embarked on an ambitious project in Tripoli’s Beb El Tebbeneh and Jabal Mohsen, two neighbourhoods that had been at war over sectarian differences for decades. In 2018, MARCH established Hona Beirut a cultural café and hub close to the “Horsh”, a big park in Beirut. The project tries to bring together young men and women from Beirut’s marginalised neighborhoods.
Mission and activities
MARCH is working on raising awareness of the importance of free expression in the Lebanese society. Their aim is, to see this right of free expression translated into laws, and to expose the negative effect of censorship on society.
Furthermore, MARCH aims to inform the public about any censorship case related to arts and culture in order to hold the government accountable for its actions and decisions, and to fight censorship in all its forms on all kind of artistic and cultural work. MARCH’s work therefore includes lobbying for new laws concerning freedom of expression and censorship.
MARCH seeks to achieve these goals through creative campaigning, awareness-raising initiatives and focused projects involving dialogue sessions, debate sessions, workshops, and mediation sessions in tense environments. For instance, MARCH has participated in and organised numerous festivals such as arts and film festivals. Also, it advocates laws that will ensure the protection of women’s rights.
Recently, MARCH has launched the virtual museum of censorship as one of their projects to achieve the visioned goals. Moreover, MARCH promotes citizen's rights and supports the idea of a strong democratic community. In this context, they conduct election simulations in different locations in Lebanon to give people an understanding of the process and encourage citizens to exercise their right to vote.
Cooperation with forumZFD
MARCH and forumZFD Lebanon first cooperated in September 2017 within the programme Community Mobilising in the project Future Together Now II. It aims to establish processes for social cohesion, joint decision-making and non-violent conflict transformation and participatory development within communities.
Therefore, MARCH and forumZFD are working together towards improving relationships between communities (Lebanese and non-Lebanese) and establishing inclusive structures for conflict transformation, community development and relationship building through community mobilising. Local community initiatives are established and reinforced by social actors in the conflicted area in order for them to take responsibility for and ownership of assessing and addressing their own needs and conflicts.