LAWYERS WITHOUT BORDERS Organizational Portfolio Phone 1: +962 79 622 8812 Amman – Shmiesani Abdullah Bin Mas’oud St. Phone 2: +962 79 173 9234 As’ad Center – Building No. 7 Email: [email protected] 3rd Floor Website: www.lwbjo.org 1 Table of Contents About Lawyers Without Borders ..................................................................... 2 Vision ............................................................................................................. 2 Mission .......................................................................................................... 2 Goals of Lawyers Without Borders ................................................................. 2 Tools Used By Lawyers Without Borders ....................................................... 3 A Brief Summary of LWB Activities ................................................................ 4 Alliances & Affiliations .................................................................................... 5 Lawyers Without Borders in The Media .......................................................... 6 LWB Events ................................................................................................... 1 1 2 About Lawyers Without Borders Lawyers Without Borders (LWB) is a civil society organization that is financially, administratively and intellectually independent, and has no political, partisan or religious goals and affiliations. LWB is concerned with human rights and fundamental freedoms, and seeks to protect and promote human rights in accordance with international standards and achieve sustainable development and the pursuit of good governance as a way to enhance the unity and cohesion of society. LWB also aims to establish and strengthen the rule of law, justice, equality, non-discrimination and social justice. Lawyers Without Borders was established in Jordan as a non-profit company since 2014. Vision Contribute to achieving sustainable development to build a society that values the principles of justice, freedom, rule of law, equality and non-discrimination within the framework of the national and international human rights system. Mission Protecting and promoting civil, political, economic, social and cultural human rights, and taking all legal, administrative and technical measures to deepen the culture of human rights among all groups of society. Goals of Lawyers Without Borders • Spreading the concepts and principles of civil, political, social, economic, and cultural human rights and freedoms according to national and international standards. • Seeking to promote and protect human rights, ensure its implementation and contribute to addressing abuses and violations. • Working on promoting democratic approaches, good governance, and sustainable development in the local community. • Monitoring the development of human rights situation locally, regionally and internationally. • Promoting, developing, and exercising approaches of defending human rights issues. • Develop human rights-sensitive media environment. • Developing legal tools to contribute to protecting human rights. • Providing legal aid to for those who need it and for groups that are more vulnerable of the risk of abuse. www.lwbjo.org 3 Tools Used By Lawyers Without Borders Lawyers Without Borders utilizes all legitimate, available and legal means to achieve its vision, mission, and goals. Of those tools used are the following: • Developing and submitting reports on human rights situations to relevant committees, organizations and bodies and publishing them. • Submitting complaints and petitions about human rights violations to the related authorities. • Conducting legal studies and research related to the goals and objectives of the organization. • Training activists and relevant people on human rights issues. • Declaring legal positions related to human rights issues or humanitarian cases and issuing statements accordingly. • Holding lectures, seminars, conferences and specialized workshops related to the goals of the organization and participating in similar activities. • Issuing periodic and non-periodic reports and bulletins. • Contributing to TV, radio programs, seminars, and dialogues and in preparing press materials. • Exchanging information and experiences with local and Arab organizations, as well as regional and international institutions. • Developing recommendations and submitting proposals for safeguarding human rights and fundamental freedoms. • Conducting annual reviews of activities, implementation, follow-up, evaluation and planning for future work. • Issuing policy papers, legal and legislative position, and analysis on all human rights issues. • Providing legal and judicial assistance to groups that are most vulnerable to abuse and contributing to the development of policies and legislations in this regard. www.lwbjo.org 4 A Brief Summary of LWB Activities 1- Conducted an evaluation of the capacities of the Jordanian Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission (JIACC), where an assessment was implemented to gauge the institutional capabilities of JIACC with the support of the European Union Delegation in Jordan between 2019-2020, which resulted in a capacities evaluation report and a twinning fiche with a European counterpart body in the European Union region. 2- Conducted a human rights training project for law enforcement personnel, in partnership with the Public Security Directorate and the Office of the Government Coordinator for Human Rights at the Prime Ministry, and with the support of the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation from 2018 to 2020, and it included building the capacity of law enforcement personnel on human rights concepts and international mechanisms. 3- Implementation of the fourth commitment in the “Open & Transparent Partnership Plan” for governments in partnership with The Ministry of Planning & International Cooperation (MoPIC) and the Prime Minister’s Office and with the support of OECD, as well as the implementation of the fourth commitment in the fourth plan for 2019-2021 related to the development of a unified national complaints system for human rights. 4- Civil Society Institutions Capacity Building Project in partnership with Lapis Foundation and with the support of the US State Department for the years 2019-2020. 5- Developed a policy paper on “State Subsidies Bylaw for Political Parties” in partnership with The Ministry of Political & Parliamentary Affairs (MoPPA) and with the support of the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation in 2019. 6- Implemented “The Role of Civil Society in Strengthening Local Development” in partnership with the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the UN and Dibeen Association for Development in 2019. 7- Implemented a project to support the resilience of local communities in accordance with the Syrian Response Plan for refugees and contributed to providing support and legal advice to Syrian refugees in the Mafraq region in partnership with the Future Pioneers Association for Community Development for the years 2016 to 2017. 8- Implemented the project of “Developing Household Occupations” and developing the necessary legislations for that in partnership with the Ministry of Local Administration (MoLA) and with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the years 2017-2018. 9- Prepared the “Guide for Parliamentary Work in Jordan” in support with German Friedrich Ebert Foundation in 2017. 10- Implemented a project on drafting a review of electoral advertising instructions for the electoral process in partnership with the “We participate Center” and with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Development (AECID). 11- Implemented a project to strengthen the capabilities of youth in unions in partnership with the Arab Network for Civic Education and Swedish IM, which is supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. 12- Contributed to training of the first batch of youth for the “School of Politics” (SoP) project implemented by the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD). www.lwbjo.org 5 Publications 1- Prepared policy paper on “Engaging Youth in Civic Participation in Jordan” with Support from Mercy Corps in 2020. 2- Issued position paper on hate speech in accordance with the Cyber Crime Law of 2019. 3- Prepared the third comprehensive periodic review report for human rights in Jordan for the year 2019, in partnership with the Alliance of Jordanian Civil Society Institutions. 4- Legislative Drafting Guide submitted to Parliament for 2018. 5- Published a position paper on constitutional scenarios for Jordanian governments for the year 2018. 6- Prepared a policy paper on “Social and Economic Rights: Income Tax Law as an Example” in 2018. 7- Issued a position paper on strengthening legal aid and developing national legislation in 2016. 8- Prepared the report of the “National Integrity System” (NIS) issued by Rasheed-TI (Transparency International) for the year 2016. 9- Prepared the directory of international agreements ratified by the Jordanian government for the year 2015. 10- Prepared the Guide to National and International Standards of Election Rights 2015. 11- The 2014 Comprehensive Human Rights Review Periodic Report, in partnership with the Human Alliance. Alliances & Affiliations 1- Member of the Civil Society Coordination Committee in Jordan Alliance (HIMAM). 2- Member of the Human Alliance to monitor the human rights situation since 2012. 3- Member of the Arab Anti-Corruption Network since 2019. 4- Member