Impact by Regions, Countries & Territories

UNDP’s Global Programme supports crisis-affected contexts across all regions to strengthen the rule of law and human rights. In this section, we present five regional overviews, detailing our priorities and approach depending on the context, as well as feature select country and territory results from 2021.

Five contexts from the list (Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Mali and Yemen) illustrate the achievements of the Global Focal Point for the Rule of Law (GFP). In peacekeeping missions and transition settings, UNDP’s Global Programme works through the GFP to deliver integrated assistance with our UN partners.

GFP Global Focal Point Highlights

Lebanon

In Lebanon, where the situation continued to deteriorate due to the compounded crises, UNDP sustained its critical support around three main pillars: supporting the reform of the municipal police; enhancing independence, effectiveness and accessibility of justice institutions; and the promotion and protection of human rights for the most vulnerable.

The key concept for the police reform in Lebanon is to ensure it provides people-centred services: municipal police that is from the people, at the service of the people. In 2021, across the country, 213 municipalities were engaged in transforming their municipal police into community police. Following a scale-up at the district level, 45 additional municipalities were included in the pilot reform process. A strategic framework for the municipal police operation was further developed along with key documents that define and standardize oversight and accountability mechanisms.

UNDP promotes inclusivity and gender equality as integral components of police reform. In 2021, a report on the Participation of Women in Municipal Police was launched to enhance women’s representation in security institutions. The results of the study formed an evidence base for policy recommendations.

UNDP supported sensitization of municipal police agents on the needs of the communities and strengthened their relationship with community members through communication for development (C4D) activities in ten municipalities across Lebanon. In addition, training capacities of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) Academy were improved by developing and piloting online training for the municipal police agents. Communities were better informed on the role of the municipal police as a result of the UNDP-supported national online communication campaign that reached over three million people.

To improve access to justice services in Lebanon, UNDP pursued the institutionalization of the National Legal Aid Strategy through the establishment of three legal aid helpdesks. In total 2,722 individuals (including 1,648 women) benefited from free and quality legal aid services, including 45 legal awareness sessions provided by the helpdesks during 2021. Over 1,000 people benefitted from 107 innovative peer-to-peer legal awareness sessions held by local peer educators trained by the Baalbek helpdesk to expand the geographical reach of the services and bring legal awareness closer to the communities of the region.

In cooperation with the Tripoli Bar Association, UNDP contributed to the development of a strategy to respond to, address and prevent sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). A network of local influencers was empowered to raise legal awareness about the rights of SGBV survivors and victims, and to promote legal referral mechanisms

UNDP strengthened the capacities of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), including its human rights monitoring in the aftermath of the explosion in Beirut on 4 August 2020 (Beirut blast). The NHRC developed a report detailing the human rights concerns faced by the victims of the explosion.

Finally, UNDP organized 14 national consultations to ensure that the National Human Rights Action Plan is updated through the inclusive and participatory process. The work around the Action Plan will be finalized in 2022.

Lebanon's municipal police
The Municipal Police in Lebanon builds trust with every community member on a daily basis.Photo: UNDP Lebanon

Key Results: Lebanon

2,722 people (including 1,648 women) benefited from legal aid services and awareness raising sessions delivered by the 3 legal aid helpdesks established in 2021.

213 municipalities are complying with the requirements of the Municipal police reform. An additional 45 municipalities became engaged in the reform following its scale-up at districts level.

14 national consultations took place to ensure an inclusive and participatory process when updating the National Human Rights Action Plan set to be finalized in 2022.