Final External Evaluation

Summary: -          Purpose: Diakonia is undertaking an external final evaluation process to measure final impact and indicators of its Promoting Human Rights Policy and Practice in Lebanese Women’s Prisons project. -          Commissioners: commissioned by Diakonia in compliance with donor framework for project evaluation. -          Duration of Consultancy: Estimated 20 days. -          Estimated start time: 15th September 2014 -          Location: Beirut – Lebanon (with possible visits to women’s prisons located outside Beirut in Baabda, Tripoli and Zahle as needed) Project Background: -          Purpose of Promoting Human Rights Policy and Practice in Lebanese Women’s Prisons project: The prevalence of human rights violations in prisons in Lebanon has long been of concern to governmental and civil society stakeholder alike. This project is highly aligned with the general objectives of EIDHR by seeking to promote the human rights of detainees and prisoners, as outlined in Article 14 in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Right (ICCPR), which Lebanon acceded to in 1972, without reservations. Specifically the project aims to promote respect for human rights in women’s prisons in Lebanon by enabling prison authorities to uphold the human rights of prisoners and detainees, supporting prisoners and detainees to claim their rights and report abuses and transforming civil society into an effective advocate for reform in women’s prisons through legislative, policy and practical change. Accordingly the project directly supports the European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan for Lebanon, by focusing directly on the EU’s priority to ‘improve detention and prison conditions to meet international standards’. The project aims to support Lebanon in fulfilling its international obligations, including upholding the rights of prisoners and detainees specified in the ICCPR and supporting Lebanon’s response to several of the recommendations outlined in the Universal Periodic Review, including supporting the creation of additional national mechanisms to promote and protect the human rights of vulnerable groups, especially women (80.21), strengthening its efforts to eliminate discrimination against women in law and practice (80.25), expanding opportunities for training and awareness raising in the area of human rights for members of the security forces (80.29) and facilitating the establishment of an independent mechanism to monitor prison conditions (81.5), among others. Further, the project aims to support prison authorities to achieve international accepted minimum standards of prisons outlined in the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. The project directly strengthens civil society’s role in ensuring the mainstreaming of gender and respect for human rights within the countrywide efforts towards prison reform, through capacity building, mobilisation and evidence-based advocacy efforts aimed at effecting changes in policy and practice in local management of women’s prisons and at the national level. In addition the project’s emphasis on ensuring structures are in place to support transition and governmental ownership of a gender-sensitive rights-based approach to prison management is directly aligned with EIDHR focus on institution building. Further, the project specifically seeks to strengthen the legal and social protection of women detainees and prisoners, through increasing legal awareness among this vulnerable group, providing direct legal assistance and social support, strengthening accountability mechanisms by establishing and monitoring complaints mechanisms in women’s prisons. Human rights violations made known through this mechanism will be documented, monitored and fed into national and international reporting and monitoring mechanisms where appropriate. A report by the OECD in 2009 revealed an average of 66% of the prison population being pre-trial detainees and 13% of inmates detained beyond the end of their sentence. Women in pre-trial detention in Lebanon are routinely denied the protection of the law and held for long periods incommunicado (Amnesty International, 2007). Female migrant workers are often held, denied access to translators, and as such often fail to understand the reason behind their incarceration. All actions are in direction violation of the human rights outlined in Article 9 and 14 of the ICCPR. Hygiene and health conditions in Lebanon’s women’s prisons do not comply with international requirements. The sanitary facilities of the majority of the prisons are antiquated; the bathrooms are small, dirty and inadequate to ensure decent living conditions for the inmates. Notably, they are often deprived of toilets seats, showers or hot water, lack basic hygiene products such as sanitary towels, deodorants and undergarments in contradiction with rules 12, 13, 15, 16 and 17 of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. Further, women prisoners and detainees are caught in a network of discrimination, making them particularly vulnerable to ill treatment at the hands of prison authorities, including gender-based violations. Gender-based violations are facilitated by the fact that police and prison staff lack knowledge and disregard the particular needs of women. Violence against female prisoners ranging from physical beatings to serious sexual assault whilst in custody is reported in several studies (Amnesty International, 2007; CLDH, 2010) and is illustrative of the Government’s failure to fulfil international obligations outlined in various conventions, including CEDAW. Issues stem not only from lack of adequate training of staff, and lack of legal and social support and awareness of prisoners, but to fundamental gaps in budgeting, administration, and the legal framework governing prison management. Indeed, the Lebanese prison law currently in operation (the internal regulations for Lebanese prisons, Decree 14310) came into force in 1949, and has been only minimally amended since. The law is hence outdated besides not being built on the basis of commitments related to human rights standards, much less on respect for gender equality. The Government of Lebanon is currently in the process of transferring authority of the management of prisons from the Ministry of Interior to the Ministry of Justice through EU funding, which is scheduled to be completed in the coming two to three years. The process of establishing a general directorate at the Ministry of Justice is part of Lebanon’s commitment to reform prisons into rehabilitative centres. The current focus on prison reform provides a ripe opportunity for Diakonia and partners to support the Government in this endeavour by highlighting human rights violations in women’s prisons, identifying gaps in policy, streamlining service provision, and building capacity within these institutions. -          Project Target Groups and Final Beneficiaries: 1000 women detainees and prisoners include all women incarcerated in Lebanon’s prisons, including pre-trial detainees, sentenced prisoners, or prisoners detained beyond the end of their sentence. 50 prison staff and guards includes prison directors, wardens, administrative staff and guards employed by the Internal Security Forces in each of Lebanon’s four women’s prisons. 300 key stakeholders include NGO staff, governmental and UN officials concerned with prison reform and/ or promotion of human rights in Lebanon.  -          Project Objectives: Overall objectives: Conditions in women’s prisons in Lebanon are improved to meet international human rights standards Specific Objective: Policy framework is improved and mechanisms are in place to ensure the human rights of women prisoners and detainees are respected  -          Project Estimated Results: Increased competence of prison authorities to uphold human rights of women detainees and prisoners. Women detainees and prisoners have enhanced legal and social support to claim their rights and report abuses. Increased awareness and mobilisation among civil society stakeholders regarding gender equity and human rights considerations in prison management. Amendments to the prison law are presented to Lebanese parliament to ensure alignment with UN minimum standards on the treatment of prisoners.  -          Project Main Activities: Activities related to ER1: Developing training curricula and interactive materials for prison staff. Appointing and building capacity of human rights focal points in prisons to train prison staff; develop prison rating system and publish updates. Activities related to ER2: Providing legal awareness and assistance to inmates; developing materials and conducting rights and responsibility sessions for inmates; establishing complaints mechanism in each prison and monitoring its use. Activities related to ER3:  Conduct mapping study of all service providers in prisons and gaps in human rights standards for smoother coordination, identify common advocacy priorities for women’s prisons and promote advocacy agenda through roundtables, seminars and a competition for journalists. Activities related to ER4: Conduct comparative legal review of domestic and international standards for treatment of women prisoners; draft amendments to current law in light of findings; launch coalition based lobbying campaign for recommendations to be adopted by Parliament. The Final External Evaluation: -          Purpose of the Final Evaluation:   Focusing on the effectiveness and efficiency of the program, as well as to document the lessons learned and best practices which emerge from this project. The Final Evaluation is intended to assess the relevance, performance, management and success of the project, looking at impact of project activities on policy and practice within Lebanon women prisons and the target groups. In addition to assessing the sustainability of results covering the contribution to capacity development of detainees, prison staff, and key stakeholders including governmental entities, local and international organizations. To disseminate the methodologies and successes, Diakonia will publicize the results of the evaluation through a network of partners in the Middle East. -          Scope of Work: Review the project documents including logframe, reports, indicators and the project baseline methodology.  Propose an evaluation methodology and tools. Conduct field visits to the three project partners. Conduct field visits to target groups (if needed). Analyze and structure information according to the five pillars of evaluation (relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability). Focusing on the effectiveness and efficiency of the project, the external evaluation identifies and documents lessons learnt and make recommendations that project partners and stakeholders might use to improve the design and implementation of other related projects and programs.  -          Deliverables: A detailed methodology and tools. Field visit schedule. Draft Report. A presentation on the findings and a feedback session. Final Report integrating the feedback.  -          Timeframe: The consultancy is expected to be finalized in a maximum of 20 working days (during September and October 2014); actual start of the consultancy will depend on the recruitment process for suitable consultant/s. The specific timeframe will be agreed in joint consultation with Diakonia management team.  -          Consultant/s Qualifications: University degree/s at the post-graduate level. Minimum of five years of experience in the review and evaluation of rights-based, advocacy projects and related capacity building mechanisms. Demonstrated competence in managing quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis. Sound knowledge of the EU funded projects preferred. Excellent analytical, writing and presentation skills.