1. BACKGROUND
Through funding from the European Commission and Caritas Luxembourg, Caritas Lebanon Migrant Centre (CLMC) is implementing a project aiming at contributing to the protection, assistance and enhancement of the rule of law for migrants - workers, refugees, asylum-seekers - in Lebanon.
“To contribute to the protection, the assistance and to the enhancement of the rule of law for migrants (workers, refugees, asylum-seekers) in Lebanon (incl. the implementation and improved jurisprudence of non discriminatory legislations by relevant authorities; the development of legal migration; the protection for victims of trafficking; the follow-up of returnees)”.
The program includes the implementation and improved jurisprudence of non discriminatory legislations by relevant authorities, the development of legal migration, the protection for victims of trafficking as well as the follow-up of migrants returning in their homeland.
The project’s specific objective proposed contributing to the prevention of discrimination and human rights abuses against vulnerable (mostly female) migrant domestic workers (MDW) through a comprehensive programme of legal and social support, lobbying, awareness-raising and training services delivered by the CLMC towards MDW, national authorities, international organisations and institutions of countries of origin.
The project activities tackle the following three related challenges:
1) The promotion of fair and equal treatment by an efficient judicial representation that enforces the application of existing protection laws and accession to international conventions,
2) The ability of migrants to have an understanding of and to obtain protection of their rights, and
3) The possibility to engage different communities and governments actors to improve policies and regulations for migration.
Project’s main activities are:
• Provision of legal, social and medical services through assistance and counselling to vulnerable migrants and reinforcement of the cross cultural and sector networks of services
• Follow-up of most vulnerable returnees in countries of origin
• Empowerment and capacity building programmes offered to migrants
• Capacity-building and rights education for departing migrants in countries of origin.
• Lobbying for protective laws and trainings to law-enforcement on special treatment of migrant workers, trafficked persons and asylum-seekers
• Awareness-raising activities including seminars and media campaigns to sensitize and promote respect of Migrant’s rights among the Lebanese population and governmental institutions.
2. CURRENT STATUS
The project is well underway and will finish at the end of January 2011. The project has achieved most of proposed objectives’ results, especially in the area of legal assistance. However, an evaluation of achievements on the legal level will allow the CLMC to improve its future advocacy efforts in this area.
3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Objectives for the on-going project
• Measure achieved results and impact produced by the project.
• Check/verify the validity of the action.
• Obtain a confirmation (invalidation) of its intervention strategy.
• Adapt this strategy according to the Evaluation’s recommendations.
Reasons of this evaluation
It is required to evaluate the judicial protection aspect of the project implemented by CLMC: « Protection and support to migrants in Lebanon »; especially the judicial intervention in favour of migrant domestic workers:
• Migrants benefited from successful legal complaints, whether through final judgment or out-of-court settlement;
• Migrants regularized their status, or successfully found solution in relation to their challenging legal situation
The evaluation will 1) assess different judicial components of the project; 2) evaluate direct impact on MDW; 3) as well as the impact on evolution of jurisprudence through legal actions undertaken by CLMC against abusers.
The evaluation will endeavour to respond to the Terms of Reference’s questions, and will propose, depending on the approach, quality criteria developed by URD , including:
A. The project meets a demonstrated need ; (relevance criteria)
Does the project respond to clearly defined needs? (in relation to the legal assistance and protection of domestic workers in asserting their rights)
B. The specific objectives related to the judicial protection aspect of the project are achieved; (effectiveness and efficiency criteria)
o Are judicial support and protection actions effective? What are the effects in cases of success?
o Is there any change in the behaviour of judicial authorities towards migrant women?
o What is CLMC’s influence in judicial procedures? On the attitude of General Security investigators vis-à-vis migrant women and employers? Regarding recruitment agencies?
o Are the judicial information and file follow-up effective, and are they carried-out with due diligence?
o What is the project’s impact on reinforcing the collaboration – in terms of knowledge, performance – among CLMC’s judicial team?
o Is the judicial action efficient?
C. Did the project have any unforeseen positive AND/OR negative impacts? If yes, specify them? Was there a possibility to mitigate the negative impacts? If yes, how?
o The employers and authorities relying on CLMC?
o Women beneficiaries? (risk of assistance addiction, abuse)
o Other effects? to be identified
D. The project intends a positive impact beyond the intervention ; (programme effectiveness and sustainability)
o What is the interest and the modification in the behaviour of Lebanese employers?
o What is the level of interest and will to change at the political actors’ level: Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Labour?
o What is the interest of General Security and the judiciary body in pursuing such a project?
E. What is the involvement of stakeholders and beneficiaries (migrant workers, recruitment agencies, employers, judicial authorities) ;
F. The project is flexible and has adapted to unforeseen glitch,
G. Was the project insertion in its environment optimal? (consistency, connectivity)
o Were present actors and their actions well identified?
o Were the opportunities of cooperation with other actors (NGO/associations, authorities, General Security…) explored and exploited when/if necessary?
H. Were the means to implement well the project properly mobilized? (consistency, efficiency)
o Was the expertise of mobilized individuals and teams appropriate?
o Were the human, financial, and material resources properly mobilized and made use of?
o Were the actor’s management capacities (administrative, financial, and organizational) appropriate?
I. The project utilizes lessons learned from the experience
The evaluators will try to identify quantitative and qualitative indicators for analysis, follow-up and impact.
Special attention will be paid to involvement and participation of project actors and beneficiaries. The consultants will strive to collect the comments and appreciation/opinions of beneficiaries concerning project activities and contribution.
Aspects of sustainability, integration and major elements ownership of the project will be studied. Axis and guidance will be proposed.
4. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH
The proposed evaluation will be participatory in order to obtain feedback from stakeholders and beneficiaries of the project so that everyone can relate to.
A literature and statistical review of CLMC: To carry out the work, a literature review of the project, reports, publications and statistics produced by the project should be conducted.
Interviews with project managers, beneficiaries in the centres of Caritas, the Ministry of Justice, the General Security, employers and recruitment agencies should be undertaken.
Direct observation and individual or group interviews of beneficiaries and stakeholders in the project, through visits to the Caritas shelters of Rayfoun and Laksetha. Field visits will be made for individual meetings.
Group meetings will be organized according to the methodological choice of consultants.
5. LIMITS OF THE EVALUATION
The evaluation will in no case an audit of operations carried out or a verification of all undertaken activities. It is not the responsibility of evaluators to assess if project expenditure is eligible and meets cost effectiveness requirements, as well as judge resource mobilization for the project. It is not an assessment of the organization per se.
6. LOCATION OF THE EVALUATION (information briefing and restitution)
All information and materials on the project are available at CLMC in Beirut – Lebanon. Information briefing and restitution will hence take place in Lebanon.
The proposed draft timeline/schedule is in annex.
7. SCHEDULE
Total duration of evaluation mission: 15 days
The evaluation mission will take place between February and March 2011, knowing that the final report should be handed out to CLMC no later than March 30, 2011.
The number of days is for information purposes only, as it is foreseen for the evaluation to spread over two-week’s time.
Preparatory work: 2/3 days
o Literature review: getting acquainted with key existing materials related to this programme: annual reports, mid-term evaluation, statistics, etc…
o Discussions with the project managers at CLMC.
Field work: 8/9 days
o Discussions with CLMC officials, and teams of lawyers and social workers;
o Surveys and discussions in different relevant regions, visit of Rayfoun and Laksetha shelters;
o Interviews with General Security officials, investigators, and judicial officials;
o Interviews and surveys conducted with beneficiaries;
o Discussions with various project stakeholders (recruitment agencies, employers, Ministries of Labour, Justice and Interior, European Commission, etc.…)
o Data analysis and drafting the final report as well as a report synthesis.
For restitution: 4 days
o 2 days to write the draft report
o 1 for the restitution (verbal presentation) of the draft report in Lebanon
o 1 day for the drafting and restitution of the final report, after integration of potential comments from Caritas Luxembourg and CLMC.
Restitution and presentation of the draft report will take place in Beirut.
8. EXPECTED DOCUMENTS
Process: The evaluation team will be required to provide:
- A progress note in English, presented to CLMC before the interviews and field surveys, will focus on the first investigations based on the documentary readings and interviews led with the team responsible for following-up the Evaluation. This note will present the issues and assumptions that evaluators will deal with on field (electronic version in Word format)
- A draft report in English, concluding the evaluation will be handed out to CLMC one week before the restitution (electronic version in Word format).
- In the week following the submission of comments on the draft report by Caritas Luxembourg and CLMC, a final report incorporating those comments will be produced in 5 hard copies and sent electronically. It will be the property of Caritas Luxembourg and CLMC who can disseminate it if/when necessary.
The final report will comprise:
a) A main report which will cover:
o A reminder of methodology adopted;
o A statement of the problem and the intervention;
o Observations and results of the evaluation, according to above defined terms;
o Analysis of impact and perceptions of the beneficiaries, institutions and other relevant actors involved in the field;
o Concrete and constructive recommendations (linked to the observations and results of the evaluation) to be addressed to other stakeholders.
b) A synthesis – executive summary (3 pages maximum) resuming, after a brief general overview, the main conclusions and recommendations.
9. RESOURCES
Human resources
The team will be composed of two experts meeting together the following competences:
o Mastery of English, as well as Arabic (at least for one of them);
o Excellent command of evaluation and reporting techniques;
o Knowledge of the judicial system and protection, especially for MDW;
o Several years of experience in the field of judicial protection;
o Excellent knowledge of Lebanon and Lebanese judicial system.
Financial resources
The budget allocated for this evaluation amounts to a maximum of 6,000 € inclusive of taxes. (Covering all expenses related to the evaluation, local transportation, per diem …)
10. CONTRACT and PAYMENT
A single contract (in Euros) will be signed with the team of evaluators (and not one contract per evaluator). Caritas Luxembourg and CLMC will not be responsible for the financial distribution among evaluators et cannot be involved in the negotiations between evaluators concerning this distribution.
Payment will be made in 3 distinct settlements:
• 40% upon contract signature
• 30% upon handing out of the first draft of the evaluation report (interim report submitted for comments)
• 30% after validation of the final report.
Once the evaluation team is selected and potential negotiations settled, the contract must be signed before January 31, 2011.
How to apply
SUBMISSIONS
The methodological proposal to be submitted should include a detailed draft budget (in accordance with the model provided in Annex) within set ceiling.
Consultants should review these Terms of Reference and the Team Leader should respond in writing to CLMC with their interpretation of the requirements. This should include, but not be limited to, CVs of the staff who will directly manage and be involved in the consultancy, details of previous experience in this field, elaboration of the methodology, additions where necessary of activities and a timetable for field work or consultations.
The methodological, technical and financial proposals (in response to herein Terms of Reference), alongside experts CVs, should be submitted to by Sunday January 16, 2011 at the latest addressed to the attention of:
Board Committee of CLMC
Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center
Takla Center, 5th Floor
Sin El-Fil, Charles Helou Blvd
Beirut, Lebanon
Tel/Fax: +961 (0)1 502550
Or: carimigr@inco.com.lb
With the mention in the subject: Legal Evaluation of AENEAS-Project
The selection will take place between 17 and 20 January 2011.
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