Trainer On Women's Rights In International Laws

Introduction: The Women’s Access to Justice in the MENA region project Phase 2 is a 3 year project being implemented by Justice without Frontiers  in partnership with Oxfam GB and four other NGOs in the MENA region. It is designed to build upon the successes of Phase 1 (April 2011 – March 2014) and Justice without Frontiers’ other legal support and protection work. Women’s rights in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have been linked to the broader changes in the region that started with the Arab uprisings of 2011. The unstable political environment and unsteady transition however have toned down the optimism among women’s rights advocates. Among many today there is a realization that fostering women’s rights in a region of weak institutions, male-dominated social and cultural sphere m, and limited space for women’s participation, is a long-term process requiring action at multiple levels. The key problem this project is currently addresing is the limited and inequitable access of poor and vulnerable women to justice. The underlying factors are described in more detail below: Limited capacities of women to claim their rights due to limited ability to make well informed decisions related to one’s rights and limited affordability of legal services and litigation for women. Women are socially deterred from accessing the judicial system. Formal and informal justice systems are perceived as gender biased/ discriminating against women. Limited impact of CSO advocacy on women’s rights and access to justice. Designed by Justice without Frontiers(JWF) and partners, this project is working at the personal, community and systemic levels while fostering stakeholders’ engagement and influencing decision makers at all levels. According to the theory of change the Project seeks change at different levels that will cumulatively create an environment in which women are able to claim their rights through the judicial institutions. One of the main objectives as well is to train law students on women's rights, personal status laws and international laws & conventions so that they gain the needed skills to be supporters of this objective.  Job Overview/Summary:  Develop and deliver a two-day training to a group of 50 participants (25 participants each day) including junior lawyers and law students on women’s rights in international laws. Qualifications: The trainer should have the following competencies and experience:       Masters degree in legal studies.       Experience in Gender Studies, Human Rights, or any other relevant field.       Excellent knowledge of both personal status laws in Lebanese and international laws related to women’s rights.       Familiarity with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).       Previous experience with NGOs or INGOs, especially ones working on women’s rights.       Excellent communication skills.       Fluency in written and spoken Arabic and English. Training requirements: Development of the content of the training and teaching aids (including agenda, working methods and procedures, handouts and evaluation forms) which will be discussed with the team at JWF. Identification of the different elements that comprise personal status law of the targeted Christian sects in Mount Lebanon. Elements of the international law must also be identified. Examining ways in which each of these elements can reinforce/ challenge gender inequality Provision of a brief background on CEDAW and the binding nature of the state’s obligation and the judicial application under CEDAW as well as other international laws and conventions within this context. Assessment of how law can be transformed into an agent of reform. The role of law can be analyzed based on the following three elements:(a) Protection of rights, (b) Regulation of behaviour/ conduct, (c) Law as an agent of social reform. Key Deliverables: After the delivery of the training, the trainer is expected to submit to JWF a report including a concise presentation of the training sessions content and the applied methods as well as his feedback on participation, level of interest and the most important issues raised throughout the training sessions.(The trainer is also expected to design the training evaluation forms, both pre and post evaluation forms for the sessions).