As part of Al Nahda Thought Center for Research’s theme “The Question of Palestine,” the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) invites young researchers in Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon to apply to a new internship opportunity. The internship will include a training on action research (methodology and writing). The interns will be tasked to collect data from their communities on legal aid needs for Palestinian refugee youths. Findings of the research will be disseminated regionally, including during a regional meeting.

Kindly apply by sending your motivation letter and CV to Hadeel Qatamin: hqatamin@ardd-jo.org.

The deadline for submitting applications is December 10, 2020.

The timeframe for the study is from 15 December 2020 to 25 January 2021 (one month). The training will be for three days (15-17 December 2020).

An honorarium will be paid for each researcher

Terms of Reference for Research

Mapping Legal Aid Needs of Palestinian Refugee Youth in Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine

6 December 2020

BACKGROUND/Introduction

Justice is an essential part of the democratic system. Inability to access justice for all persons causes the courts and laws to fail in enabling the rights guaranteed by legislation. Building on the understanding of the fundamentality of access to justice, ARDD contributes by supporting marginalized individuals and communities—including refugees and migrants — in acquiring and enjoying their social, political and economic rights. It does so through the Aid Department’s provision of legal aid and through evidence-based knowledge production at ARDD’s Al Nahda Thought Center for Research. Services encapsulate mediation, consultation and court representation services, in addition to legal education to these groups through awareness raising sessions. The focus of this study is on legal aid needs for Palestinian refugee youths (aged 15 to 24) in specific, which are living in the camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine. Legal status issues, political fragmentation, dire economic conditions, and insufficient political support often characterize systematic difficulties Palestinian refugees in the region experience. The study will address the main legal challenges experienced by youths and build upon ARDD’s previous work on Palestinian refugees in the region.[1]

Problem Statement

Palestinian refugee youths in the region face various legal restrictions depending on their legal status, which also limits opportunities for social and political participation.[2] The problems are often linked directly to protracted displacement, precarious legal status and social stigma, but also reflect general problems that youths encounter in relation to employment, housing, personal injury, harassment, marriage and/or divorce, and other law-related matters as Palestinian refugees. Young women are particularly vulnerable due to patriarchal cultural norms that may negatively impact their access to education and reproductive rights.

OBJECTIVES

Overall Objective

Raise awareness of key legal services, legal needs, challenges, opportunities, and gaps for the youth communities of Palestinian refugees in each of their countries of domicile (Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine).  and opportunities to bridge gaps of legal aid need.

Specific Objectives

1.     Contribute to the visibility of active actors providing legal aid to Palestinian refugee youths;

2.     Improve self-help and community education to help Palestinian refugees understand their rights and responsibilities.

SCOPE OF WORK and Methodology

The scope of work entails a desk review and field research. Three young Palestinian interns (1 in Jordan, 1 in Lebanon and 1 in Palestine) will collect data from different Palestinian youth communities:

·       Availability: Analyzing the existing active actors providing legal aid to Palestinian refugee youths in the camps (official and unofficial) in their respective countries of residence, including, but not limited to, UNRWA.

·       Supply chain of the services: The roles, types of services provided, reach and scope of the service providers, ease of accessing the services and any impediments.

·       Demand challenges:  Any problems that the youth face in accessing these services, impediments to benefiting from them, success and failure stories. Challenges can be of a financial, social, distance (physical), lack of awareness, complexity of service provision, cultural, or geographic. Also, the researcher will address whether these services are well known to the youth.

·       Effectiveness: Analyzing the effectiveness of existing legal aid services in improving the living standards and protection in camps through interviews with the target group receiving/that have received legal aid.

·       Identification of the main priorities and actionable recommendations for legal.

Activities

The study consists of a desk review part and a field research part in Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine:

1.     Receiving training on research methodology: Structure of the research document; awareness of research sources and how to access them, the design of questionnaires and how to conduct an interview; research ethics, consent forms, compiling data, and structuring the final products.

2.     Conducting desk and field research related activities (interviews)

3.     Communicating the results, summaries and findings with the Al Nahda team member (focal point).

4.     Reviewing the research report with the focal point.

5.     Presenting the research in a joint regional workshop by the researcher.

Qualifications of researchers:

ARDD will mobilize the services of three dedicated Research Interns that are familiar with the various issues related to the living conditions and legal aid provided for Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine.

QUALIFICATIONS OF THE RESEARCH INTERN:

·       Minimum of one-year of demonstrated practical experience in volunteering in refugee communities and/or assisting in research on socio-economic issues related to Palestinian youth;

·       Demonstrated interest in policy and research;

• Native-level ability to communicate effectively in Arabic;

·       High levels of emotional intelligence, flexibility, and ability to work in a fast-paced environment.

·       Familiarity with the legal and social context in Jordan and Lebanon;

·       Familiarity with existing CBOs in Palestinian refugee camps;

·       Knowledge of issues related to international protection and national legislation;

·       Proficiency in English is desirable;

·       Excellent analytical, writing, and organizational skills;

·       Experience handling sensitive information preferred.

Deliverable

The deliverable is a consolidated report.

·       Research findings delivered to focal point.

·       All materials will be in Arabic

·       Documents will be in Word format.

·       Presentation will be in PowerPoint.

·       The report length is around 10 pages or 3000 words.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS and specifications

The timeframe for the study is from 15 December 2020 to 25 January 2021 (one month). The training will be for three days (15-17 December 2020).

·       Data collection and desk research will be during 18-31 December 2020.

·       The first draft will be delivered by 7 January 2021.

·       The final draft is due by 15 January 2021.

·       The presentation is on 18 January 2021.

·       A complete, comprehensive report is to be completed by 25 January 2021.

DURATION

The duration of the assignment is from 15 December 2020 until 25 January 2021.

BUDGET FOR ASSIGNMENT

The remuneration for the assignment is JOD 180 per intern.

RESEARCH MANAGEMENT

●      The focal point for the duration of the research project is the Research Officer (Inaas Slimi) at Al Nahda Thought Center for Research.

●      Regular meetings (physical or virtual) may be held with the researchers to clarify queries or pending issues.

Response Date

Applications to be sent in a form of motivation letter and CV to hqatamin@ardd-jo.org

Final date for the receipt of applications is 10 December 2020.

GUIDELINES FOR DOCUMENTATION OF RESEARCH

●  Body text in Calibri size 12 black

● Titles size 16 dark red

● Sub headers size 14 grey

[1] See: ARDD (2020) Needs Assessment Report Perceptions and Experiences of Youth in the Palestinian Refugee Camps in Jordan, https://ardd-jo.org/Publications/ardd-launches-the-needs-assessment-report-perceptions-and-experiences-of; ARDD (2020) Voices of Palestinian Refugee Youth Across the Near East: Socio-political Participation and Aspirations, https://ardd-jo.org/Publications/ardd-marks-world-refugees-day-by-launching-voices-of-palestinian.

[2] ARDD (2020) Voices of Palestinian Refugee Youth Across the Near East: Socio-political Participation and Aspirations, https://ardd-jo.org/Publications/ardd-marks-world-refugees-day-by-launching-voices-of-palestinian.