Rita Chemaly

Rita Chemaly is a Senior Policy Advisor specializing in public policy, gender, governance, and women’s economic participation, as well as a researcher and political analyst. She brings more than 18 years of professional experience in strategic advisory services, programme management, public policy development, advocacy, and research, working with national mechanisms, public institutions, civil society organizations, academia, the United Nations, international organizations, and regional and international coalitions.

Her areas of expertise include gender-responsive public policy, governance, gender equality, human rights, social inclusion, women’s economic participation, and institutional and legislative reform. Since 2011, through her work with the National Commission for Lebanese Women, she has contributed to the drafting and amendment of legislation, as well as to the design, implementation, and monitoring of national strategies and action plans, using participatory approaches grounded in gender equality and social inclusion.

From 2024 to 2026, she served as Executive Director of the Lebanese League for Women in Business (LLWB), where she oversaw the organization’s strategic and operational management and developed partnerships with public institutions, United Nations entities, donors, embassies, the private sector, academia, and civil society organizations.

As a researcher and political analyst, Rita Chemaly has published and contributed to numerous works on elections, human rights, women’s rights, gender, governance, and social and political movements in Lebanon and across the Arab world. She has also prepared several reports on the human rights situation in Lebanon for United Nations Special Rapporteurs and other UN mechanisms. She was awarded the European Union’s Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press in the “Researchers” category.

She holds a postgraduate degree (DEA) in Administrative and Political Sciences from Saint Joseph University of Beirut and has more than 11 years of university teaching experience. She teaches political science, political sociology, public policy, gender studies, citizenship, advocacy and mobilization, as well as social media and political communication, across various university programmes in Lebanon and regional academic programmes.

Certified by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Participatory Gender Auditing, Rita Chemaly has led and contributed to several participatory gender audits in both the public and private sectors, working in Arabic, English, and French. She also works as a Senior Gender and Social Inclusion Consultant for national and international organizations. Through ILO academies, she has trained public officials and trade union representatives from various countries on gender mainstreaming, identifying institutional biases, and managing resistance to change.

Her career lies at the intersection of research, university teaching, and public policy, with a particular focus on institutional transformation, inclusive governance, gender equality, human rights, and women’s participation in economic and political life.