TUNISIA: EMPOWERING WOMEN TO ACCESS JUSTICE AND CLAIM THEIR RIGHTS AT THE LOCAL LEVEL IDLO QUARTERLY REPORT Country Tunisia Programme Duration 1 January 2019 – 30 June 2021 Donor Government of the Netherlands Programme Reference Number 4000002132 Programme Value EUR 700,000 Reporting Period 1 January – 31 March 2021 Submitted to the Department for Stabilization and Humanitarian Aid of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands 5 July 2021 IDLO | International Development Law Organization Creating a Culture of Justice TABLE OF CONTENTS I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................ 3 II. PROGRAMME GOAL .............................................................................................................................................. 3 III. RESOURCES ............................................................................................................................................................. 3 IV. PROGRESS AGAINST PROGRAM OUTCOMES AND OUTPUTS ........................................................ 4 V. CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNED ...................................................................................................... 7 VI. CONCLUSION AND WAY FORWARD ............................................................................................................. 7 The International Development Law Organization (IDLO) is pleased to submit this Quarterly Report to the Department for Stabilization and Humanitarian Aid of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in conjunction with the required IATI reporting for the programme “Empowering Women to Access Justice and Claim their Rights at the Local Level in Tunisia”, based on the agreement signed between the Department for Stabilization and Humanitarian Aid of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and IDLO on 3 December 2018. I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Women in Tunisia continue to encounter barriers in accessing justice and many still lack awareness and knowledge of their rights. Social norms remain an obstacle to legal change, and discriminatory practices on the part of justice sector actors persist. Women, more often than men, tend to seek legal information from informal resources within their families. The lack of a legal framework to effectively address the legal empowerment of women remains a key hindrance to the advancement of women’s right to access justice in practice. Challenges in the administration of justice, such as lack of adequate competences and resources on part of justice sector actors, further compound these complex dynamics. Moreover, the practical application of the normative framework for legal assistance in Tunisia demonstrates the insufficiency of existing legal mechanisms. Through this programme, the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) is providing support to justice stakeholders in strengthening access to justice and legal services for women in the Tunisian Governorates of Tunis and Kef. These Governorates were selected during the inception phase of the programme. During the reporting period, improvements in the overall public health situation in the country and the easing of the restrictive measures introduced by the Tunisian Government to tackle the spread of the COVID-19 allowed IDLO to make progress towards delivering programme outputs. IDLO organised two (2) multi-sectoral coordination meetings in Ben Arous Governorate on 2 February and 26 March 2021, which brought together psychologists from the Ministry of Social Affairs (MSA), officials from the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Women, Family, Children and Seniors (MoWFCS), as well as representatives from relevant civil society organisations (CSOs), to assess the challenges in delivering care services and providing assistance to women victims of violence at the local level. IDLO also organized seven (7) workshop sessions in March 2021 to strengthen the capacity of 163 justice sector actors to ensure access to justice for women victims of gender-based violence (GBV). On 11 March 2021, IDLO also organised a national event, under the patronage of the Minister of Women, Family, Children and Seniors, and in partnership with the Tunisian Bar Association and the Tunisian Association of Women Judges, to celebrate the International Women’s Day and to launch a sensitisation campaign in the Governorates of Tunis and Kef to raise awareness of women victims of violence on the services available to them and increase their knowledge in legal areas. II. PROGRAMME GOAL Strengthen the access of women victims of violence to justice and to the assistance services made available to them by the various government structures. III. RESOURCES The total programme budget is EUR 700,000. As at the end of the reporting period, EUR 500,321 have been spent. 3 IV. PROGRESS AGAINST PROGRAM OUTCOMES AND OUTPUTS OUTCOME 1: WOMEN ARE EMPOWERED TO ACCESS LEGAL SERVICES AND CLAIM THEIR RIGHTS IN TWO GOVERNORATES OF TUNISIA Output 1: Legal and policy dialogue on the existing system of access to justice and its impact on women advanced Gather feedback on the results of the needs assessment on women’s access to justice at the local level During the reporting period, IDLO continued to present the findings of the needs assessment on women’s access to justice at the local level. As a way of background, the needs assessment was conducted in 2019 in cooperation with the Tunisian Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the High Judicial Council (HJC), the Ministry of Social Affairs (MSA) and other key partners such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Legal Foundation (ILF). The assessment aimed to identify and analyse access to justice gaps and challenges faced by women at the local level, and to propose viable recommendations for improvement. IDLO organised two (2) multi-sectoral coordination meetings in Ben Arous Governorate aimed at stimulating dialogue at the local level to gather additional information on - and recommendations to - address access to justice gaps faced by GBV survivors: ▪ The first meeting was held on 2 February 2021. It brought together eight (8) participants (six women and two men), including psychologists from the MSA, officials from the Ministry of Interior and the MoWFCS. ▪ The second meeting was held on 26 March 2021. The meeting brought together 14 participants (12 women and 2 men), including psychologists from the MSA, officials from the Ministry of Interior and the MoWFCS, as well as representatives from relevant civil society organisations (CSOs). During both meetings, participants discussed relevant issues such as current challenges and obstacles to women’s access to justice that persist, including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the participants exchanged views on the opportunity to implement a project aimed at fighting violence against women in the Ben Arous Governorate. Discussions revolved around organising a training session on the techniques to do quality project planning, as well as a number of workshops to agree on the activities to be included in the project action plan. More details will be provided in the next quarterly report. Participants also diagnosed the public health condition in the Governorate and the link between the restrictive measures adopted by the Tunisian Government and the rise of GBV cases as well as their impact on women’s socio-economic situation. Output 2: Integrated legal aid scheme for women in two governorates of Tunisia Develop an integrated legal aid scheme for women in two governorates of Tunisia As mentioned in the previous reporting period, the partnership between IDLO and its implementing partner, Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF), under this activity came to an end in September 2020. Under the sub-project implemented by ASF, 83 legal consultations (in-person and remotely) were provided to 215 individuals, and legal aid support was offered to vulnerable women in 102 cases through court representation in the Governorate of Tunis. 4 During the next quarter, IDLO will continue to support delivery of legal aid services in the Governorate of Kef. More details will be provided during the next quarterly report. Strengthen the capacity of justice sector actors to ensure access to justice for women victims of GBV IDLO delivered seven (7) workshops in the Governorate of Tunis during the month of March 2021. The participants were selected from among lawyers, representatives of the civil society, officers of the Ministry of Justice, MSA, and MoWFCS. Workshop date Number of participants 2 March 2021 21 (all women) 3 March 2021 20 (F: 17; M: 3) 4 March 2021 21 (F: 18; M: 3) 5 March 2021 20 (F: 19; M: 1) 9 March 2021 20 (F: 18; M: 2) 10 March 2021 23 (all women) 19 March 2021 38 (F: 25; M: 13) TOTAL 163 (F: 141; M: 22) The workshops succeeded in: ▪ Presenting the different care services available for women victims of violence under the Law on Eliminating Violence Against Women (No. 58 of 2017). Participants discussed the support provided by care services as well as units of the MoWFCS and the Ministry of Interior especially in the governorate of Tunis; ▪ Presenting best practices at the national level; ▪ Presenting best practices and lessons learned from a third country (Lebanon) having a similar care system and; ▪ Strengthening networking between the various stakeholders to facilitate access to justice for women victims of