Fact Checker

INTRODUCTION

These Terms of Reference (ToR) specify the details for the Baseline Study of the “Safeguarding Human Rights Amid Crisis in Lebanon” Project implemented by the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH) and funded by the United Nation Democracy Fund (UNDEF).

The study will serve as the foundation for monitoring and evaluating the Project's progress towards its objectives. The purpose of this TOR is to outline the consultant's responsibilities, deliverables, and timelines.

BACKGROUND

The Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH) is a local non-profit, non-partisan Lebanese human rights organization based in Beirut. CLDH was created in 2006 by the Franco-Lebanese Movement SOLIDA (Support for Lebanese Detained Arbitrarily), which has been active since 1996 in the struggle against arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and the impunity of those perpetrating gross human rights violations. CLDH’s programs include research and advocacy on human rights topics, rehabilitation for victims of Human Rights violations including torture and enforced disappearances, legal assistance for vulnerable groups, and knowledge sharing and capacity strengthening of human rights actors.

In 2007, CLDH opened “Nassim Center”, a rehabilitation center for the victims of torture and families of the forcibly disappeared, which provides multi-disciplinary support and case management for victims of torture or families that is based on the Istanbul Protocol. Services include psychotherapy, physiotherapy, legal, social, and financial assistance to over 100 victims of torture every year.

In 2009, CLDH launched its legal assistance program by which, currently, a team of 16 lawyers provides legal assistance and consultations to vulnerable groups; the team handles walk-in and in-prison cases all over 35 detention centers in Lebanon daily.

In February 2019, CLDH established an office in Baalbek where CLDH social workers conduct weekly visits to Syrian refugees in ITSs to identify legal needs and refer them to lawyers for in-house legal consultations.

Since 2019, CLDH and the Tripoli Bar Association (TBA) have been implementing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that formalizes the previous informal partnership the two entities had. This coordination agreement aims to foster pro bono legal aid amongst junior lawyers where CLDH provides financial and technical support to TBA’s Legal Aid Center and Human Rights Institute respectively. In return, lawyers are assigned by the Legal Aid Center to defend poor and vulnerable detainees unable to hire and pay for a private legal counsel.

In 2022, CLDH opened a new branch of Nassim Center in Tripoli providing vulnerable communities with rehabilitation and legal services. CLDH also extended its services in the South, where a social worker and lawyers provide legal awareness sessions and legal aid to vulnerable communities.  

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The Project “Safeguarding Human Rights Amid Crisis in Lebanon” implemented by CLDH and funded by UNDEF started on May 1, 2023, and will end on April 30, 2025.

It aims to enable Human Rights to become of public interest and to influence the future political system. The Lebanese Center for Human Rights will reach its overall goal through monitoring, documenting, and reporting to a wide external audience, cases of Human Rights violations in the Lebanese, and through providing support to access justice and rehabilitation services to Victims of Human Rights violations and to finally prepare the future through promoting a culture of Human Rights amongst the next generation, including Lebanese activists, political parties, and students.

The Project will be implemented nationwide, with beneficiaries having access to CLDH’s 4 offices in Bekaa, Maten and Tripoli. The Project Objective to “promote human rights culture in Lebanon and enable victims of human rights violations to become actively engaged in policy reform and public awareness raising” will specifically contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 16.3 of United Nations (UN) to “promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all”. This will be achieved through three main Outcomes:

1. Monitoring, documentation, and reporting of cases of Human Rights violations in the Lebanese crisis has increased to reach a wider external audience;
2. Support to victims of human rights violations has increased to enable them to become human rights advocates;
3. A culture of human rights amongst young political parties’ members, students and community leaders is increasingly developing.

Under the supervision of the advocacy and communication coordinator and the Programs Manager, The Factchecker will be responsible for fact checking cases, compiling and analyzing data and sharing with relevant departments, and develop the case monitoring framework of CLDH.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Prepare a list of all media outlets in Lebanon
• Monitor media outlets online and offline for human rights violations
• Document the violations reported from the media outlets on CLDH database
• Collect violations reported from the field team and report them on CLDH database
• Factcheck the news and violations reported by the field team and beneficiaries to CLDH
• Conduct thorough research and investigation to verify the accuracy of claims related to human rights issues.
•  Analyze data and statistics to determine the validity of statements made by individuals, organizations, or governments
• Check the credibility of sources and ensuring that they are reliable and unbiased.
• Evaluate the context in which claims are made to determine if they are accurate or misleading.
• Check the accuracy of images and videos being used to support claims related to human rights abuses.
•  Identify and correcting misinformation or disinformation related to human rights issues.
• Collaborate with other fact checkers and human rights experts to ensure that findings are accurate and comprehensive.
• Stay up to date with the latest developments and trends in human rights issues and fact-checking techniques.
• Prepare monthly reports and analysis of the data collected for the violations reported
• Prepare a guiding document for CLDH on how to cross check and validate the info
• Assess and develop CLDH’s channels of referral and reporting of human rights violations
• Provide training to CLDH team and relevant stakeholders targeted under the project on factchecking
• Qualifications:
• A minimum of 3 years in a similar position
• Good communication skills and team player
•  Excellent written and oral English communication skills and proficiency in Arabic. Excellent written and oral French is highly desirable.
•  Demonstrated and extensive social media experience
• Advanced working knowledge of MS Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Publisher)

Education:

• Bachelor’s Degree in communications, journalism, public relations or any related field.
• Location:

The factchecker will be located in CLDH Dora Office.