Rebecca Dykes was killed in Lebanon, on December 16, 2017, aged 30. A devoted humanitarian, at the time of her death she had been working in Lebanon as a Programme and Policy Manager for the UK's Department for International Development.

The Rebecca Dykes Foundation ("RDF") was established by her family and friends to continue Rebecca's important work with refugees and vulnerable host communities in that country.  It does this by funding projects in Lebanon that further community cohesion and gender equality, and also supports work with refugees in London. Since being established in December 2017, RDF has spent and committed over a third of £1 million in charitable grants. 

RDF's first project took place in 2018 in collaboration with Christian Aid and local Lebanese charity KAFA, supporting female victims of sexual and gender-based violence at KAFA's Shelter in Mount Lebanon and Support Centre in the Bekaa Valley. The project also funded the operation of a 24/7 emergency helpline for vulnerable women. 

In 2019, RDF fully funded a pilot project with UN Women to further stabilisation and social cohesion in Lebanon through the engagement of women in conflict prevention and management and the establishment of networks of female mediators across communities in Lebanon marked by conflict. In 2021, the Government of Finland provided funding to grow and expand the project following the pilot's success. 

Following the devastating blast in Beirut on 4 August 2020, RDF sent a substantial grant to Red Cross Lebanon, to assist with its humanitarian response on the ground. RDF has also been supporting Lebanese charity Seenaryo in 2020/1 on a women's cross-border theatre project and documentary, to be showcased through a documentary exhibited at a major performing arts centre in London. Closer to home, RDF has funded a dance theatre project for refugees with Protein Dance.

RDF operates as a restricted charitable fund under the Princes Exchange Foundation, the in-house charitable fund of leading charities law firm Turcan Connell. 

Please visit our website for more information - 

https://www.rebeccadykesfoundation.com/

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About Rebecca:

Rebecca was compassionate, caring and committed to humanitarian causes. She worked tirelessly to make the world a kinder, fairer, safer and more stable place.

Just before her death, she had undertaken pioneering work in Lebanon, for the (then) UK Department for International Development, to improve the lives of refugees and impoverished Lebanese people, and help these vulnerable communities to become more peaceful and resilient.

Previously, she volunteered for VSO in Bahrain, worked on conflict and stabilisation issues across a range of sub-Saharan African countries, covered gender and conflict in Iraq, and worked on the stabilisation of Libya.

As well as being a dedicated humanitarian worker, Rebecca was a colleague, a friend, a daughter, a sister and aunt.

Your donations will help us build the better world that Rebecca believed in.

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