Through community-led legal aid, capacity-sharing, and strategic partnerships, the project targeted vulnerable groups, especially unaccompanied minors, women, and marginalized migrants. In Tunisia and Egypt, HMH operated through local partners; in Libya, NRC delivered direct services, including a financial legal assistance pilot.
Key findings
The project was highly relevant, addressing urgent legal and protection needs in fast-changing contexts. It demonstrated strong adaptability to regional crises, such as the 2023 Sudan and Gaza conflicts. In Egypt, it exceeded targets by expanding legal services to underserved areas. In Libya, financial legal aid addressed critical documentation gaps, while Tunisia’s operations faced significant setbacks due to the 2024 civil society crackdown, forcing a pivot to indirect legal support via AIHR and Shams.
Despite these achievements, the project faced operational bottlenecks, including delayed fund transfers, and bureaucratic constraints. Administrative delays also strained smaller local partners’ capacity to comply with NRC’s procedures. Sustainability was threatened by short-term funding cycles, while digital and physical security concerns hampered outreach in restrictive environments.
Lessons learned and recommendations
- Invest in multi-year funding and strengthen local partners’ financial/administrative capacity.
- Integrate complementary services, such as psychosocial and GBV support, into legal aid programming.
- Advocate with donors e.g., ECHO for flexible, inclusive partnership requirements.
- Enhance monitoring frameworks to capture medium-term legal outcomes and systemic impact.
- Develop contingency plans and remote management strategies for volatile contexts.
The HMH pilot made significant contributions to legal protection and localization, but sustained impact depends on long-term funding, simplified compliance, and deeper integration of protection services across all three countries.
