Palestinian Human Rights Organization

Last modified: 
24/04/2020 - 1:51pm

PHRO ProfileThe Palestinian Human Rights Organization - PHRO is an independent Human Rights NGO, established in 1997 and recognized in Lebanon under registration no. 36/AD. The PHRO works for promoting, protecting and defending the rights of the Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon. The PHRO is member of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and of the Euro Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN).
PHRO raises the awareness of the Palestinian Refugees as to their rights in the international law and encourages the community to translate this knowledge into legitimate peaceful campaign to obtain recognition of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights in Lebanon. PHRO is a supporter of United Nations (UN) Resolution 194, and appeals for its implementation and the end of the Palestinian territories' occupation.
PHRO's initiatives are carried out on local, national, regional, and international levels. The PHRO works to raise the profile of the Palestinian Refugees, to address the discrimination against them and to raise the awareness of human rights principles amongst both the refugee and host communities.
The PHRO's working standards are presumed from the International Human Rights Norms, Arab League Pacts, the Barcelona Process, the Association Agreement (AA) between the EU and the Republic of Lebanon and its related Action plan, and on UN Resolution 194 which calls for the Right of Return.
The PHRO conducts its work through the following major programs: Searching, Monitoring and Documenting Human Rights Violations; Human Rights Education and Raising Awareness; Advocacy; and Dialogue. A briefing about the main interventions within each program are highlighted below:
Human Rights Education and Raising Awareness
The PHRO plans, prepares and conducts training programs and activities, often in collaboration with other NGOs and educational organizations. Recent areas of focus include:

Raising awareness of Human Rights, Refugees Rights, Women’s and Child's Rights, Monitoring and documenting Human Rights Violations:

Peace education: Concept of Dialogue, Conflicts Resolution and Prevention

Democratic Means of Governance: Extracts from the Constitution (Elections, Work, Property …), Public Services, General Orders and how to fight corruption.

Peaceful and Legal Means of Civil Struggles: UN & EU mechanisms of protection, organizing and administrating advocacy and lobbying campaigns.

NGO Management: Developing Strategy and Fundraising Skills.

Training of Trainers: introduce skills and provide mechanisms for trainers in the field of raising awareness in human rights, peace education, democratic means of good governance, peaceful and legal means of civil struggle, and advocacy skills.

Monitoring
Within this program, the PHRO’s network of human rights monitors document individual and group human rights violations cases in the Palestinian refugee camps and gatherings in Lebanon. These efforts are a part of an overall aim to: 1) keep track of the pressures exerted by the host state and the political parties which govern camps, and 2) strengthen refugee voices in the face of refugee rights and human rights infractions. The PHRO attempts to back cases and bring solutions to alleviate daily suffering and to bring about change in the socio-economic conditions of refugees. It is noteworthy to mention that this program observes the violations that the Palestinian Prisoners (males and females) suffer from within the Lebanese Prisons. Monitoring reports are published individually and also feature in both the Arabic and English and are available on the PHRO website. The Searching section within this program is dedicated to conduct research on areas specific to the current legal and socio-economic status of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, and to produce reports on its findings. Searching is carried out through methods including fact-finding missions in the field, interviews, and information from various actors and groups in both Lebanese and Palestinian society in the country. The Searching reports are disseminated widely to enhance the understanding of the situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
Advocacy
The PHRO’s advocacy program targets the local and international community to raise their awareness about the Palestinian refugees situations in Lebanon, particularly the social and economic rights, as well as the discriminations they face. The PHRO always hold persuading meetings at local and international decision making levels where we call for resolving this dire situation and deprivation from human rights. awareness of the discrimination facing Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and resolve the. In particular, the PHRO advocacy efforts are directed through:

Awareness: The PHRO regularly hosts foreign delegations visiting Lebanon and helps to educate them on the situation of Palestinian refugees in the country. The PHRO also conducts advocacy visits abroad to gain recognition at decision-making levels in the EU, UN and the international institutions of the discriminative aspects against the Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon.

Conferences, Seminars and Workshops: The PHRO in cooperation and/or collaboration with Local, Regional and International NGOs organises events to encourage networking between representatives of partner NGOs, civil society, academia and governmental bodies, with the aim to form solutions to ease the plight of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

Persuading: The PHRO coordinates with local NGOs and youth groups' advocacy activities which help to further the awareness of human rights and civil rights issues that affect Palestinian refugees. On an international level, the PHRO appeals for support to have international law enforced in Lebanon (as it is deemed to take precedent in the Lebanese Constitution) and encourages the international community to have the Palestinian refugee situation a continuing topic in any partnerships with Lebanon. In addition, the PHRO encourages international human rights organisations to play a larger role in supporting the quest for civil rights of Palestinian refugees.

Publications: The PHRO communicates the situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon to the local and international community through its Arabic and English publications (Press Release, Reports, Executive Summaries, Concepts Notes, Position Papers …etc)

Dialogue
In order to narrow the gap between the Palestinian and Lebanese societies, bring about more integration of the two communities, and as a preparation towards holding the Palestinian - Lebanese Dialogue titled “Truth leading to Reconciliation”, the PHRO conducted over 4 successive days during September and October 2005 a Palestinian Debate Meeting titled “What do Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon Want?" where the participants whom exceeded 120 representatives from Civil Society Organizations (Civil Associations), popular and syndical Unions and Organizations/Committees and Leagues, representatives from UNRWA, intellectuals, journalists and clerics, as well as social and cultural figures and Members in the Palestinian National Council took part in the meeting’s proceedings which included two main topics:

What do we want from and to each other as Palestinians?

What do we want from other parties?

The Palestinian Debate Meeting and the ongoing dialogues and discussions with Parliamentary Blocks’ representatives and Decision Makers and Influentials are part of an ongoing program on “Dialogue towards conflict resolution” initiated by PHRO since 2004. As a first step towards resolving the tension between the two communities, and since the PHRO assumes working with Youth, we accomplished the project titled "The Lebanese and Palestinian Youth Dialogue on Conflict Resolution" in partnership with two Lebanese Associations where its initiatives were crowned by publishing an Analysis Study about the challenges and difficulties that faced this dialogue and methodologies to coping with it.

Acronym: 
PHRO
Organisation Type: 
Local Civil Society Organisation
Founding Year: 
1997
Country of Origin: 
LB
Intervention Sector(s): 
Advocacy & Awareness
Gender issues
Human Rights & Protection
Refugees
Contact person's position: 
Administrator and Fundraising Officer
Contact person's email: 
Contact person's phone number: 
N/A
Address: 
Mar Elias Camp for Palestinian Refugees P.O.Box: 1145004
Beirut , Beirut
Lebanon
Phone: +9611306740
Fax: +9611301549
Beirut LB
City: 
Beirut
Street: 
Mar Elias Camp for Palestinian Refugees
Additional: 
P.O.Box: 1145004
Phone: 
+9611306740
Fax: 
+9611301549
Contact person's name: 
Wassim Ahmad
Partnerships: 
N/A

Calls

There is no content in this section yet.

Resources

There is no content in this section yet.

Events

There is no content in this section yet.

Press Releases

There is no content in this section yet.

Jobs

There is no content in this section yet.

Projects

There is no content in this section yet.

randomness