Impact Assessment of “Public Libraries in Palestine and Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon: “A gateway for empowering local communities” Project.

Project Overview

Taawon is an independent non-profit organization established in 1983. It strives to make a distinguished contribution toward furthering the progress of the Palestinians, preserving their heritage and identity, supporting their living culture and building civil society in the different working areas: The West Bank including Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the 1948 Areas, and the Palestinian communities in Lebanon. Taawon works closely with local, grassroots organizations to address the specific needs of the Palestinian refugees living in difficult circumstances throughout our areas of operation. It supports the implementation of a range of initiatives under seven specific programs: Education, Culture, Youth Empowerment, Community Development (including relief), Orphan support, Old cities rehabilitation and the Palestinian museum.One of its development project in cultural sector the “Public Libraries in Palestine and Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon: A gateway for empowering local communities” which was funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented in Palestine (West Bank Including Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip) and Lebanon in the period between October 2014 to December 2017 (3 years).This project was aimed mainly to empower Palestinian individuals and social groups through capacitated public libraries that are vibrant and equipped with needed digital and human resources both in Palestine and in Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon. The project specifically counteracted the isolation and marginalization of Palestinian citizens as well as refugees in Palestine and Lebanon through enhancing access to information, technology and community based initiatives.With approaching the end of project, Taawon seeked to evaluate the impact/s achieved under this project. The main objective of this impact assessment was to evaluate the impact of the project and define the strengths and weaknesses to build on for future cultural projects planning concerning libraries, and define lessons learnt to improve quality of work as well as serving as a guide for the overall advancement of Taawon work for future follow up on similar interventions.To this end, Taawon has contracted GCT to undertake this assignment in line with its requirements and expectations.