The World Lebanese Cultural Union is a non governmental organization that saw the light in 1959 in Mexico. It was the Lebanese people of Mexico who made the first step to its creation under the patronage of President Fouad Chehab. At first, the WLCU was called the World Lebanese Union. However, the word « Cultural » was added to its appelation because the Mexican law did not allow the « foreign lobbies’ » presence on the Mexican territory. In any case, it happens to hold the name of « the Union of the Lebanese in the world ».

In 2007, the WLCU included 341 branches (110 of them in Brazil), as well as clubs and organizations in 50 countries. It is opened to Lebanese people of all communities and socio-professional classes.

This organization mainly aims at:

• Claiming the voting right for emigrants through diplomatic representations.
• Returning the Lebanese nationality to the descendants of Lebanese origin.
• Leading campaigns to urge emigrants to register their children and wife.
• Organizing cultural and folkloric demonstrations to introduce the emigrants and their children to the Lebanese culture.
• Creating a website to teach Arabic as well as the Lebanese dialect.
• Demanding help from the host countries to solve the Lebanese crisis.

Beyond its socio-cultural objectives, the Union of the Lebanese in the world applies some political lobbying on the international scale. For instance, in 2006, the WLCU council organized a reunion with the UN special envoy Terje Roed Larsen; the discussion plan included: the violation of the Syrian-Lebanese frontier and the human rights as well as the application of the UN resolution 1559.

However, the action field of the WLCU is not only limited to the political, national or cultural side: it also consists of humanitarian aspects as well as those related to the development in Lebanon. For example, the WLCU launched a campaign to provide Aïn Ebl Hospital in Southern Lebanon with equipment. It also aims at approaching Bader association that urges young people to create their business.