UNDP Jobs - 49213- Re-advertisement: National Consultant to Develop t

Re-advertisement: National Consultant to Develop the Syrian and Subregional Gender Equality and Resilience Initiatives Interactive Online Platform

Location :

Home-based, JORDAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

29-Sep-2014

Application Deadline :

14-Sep-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

2 weeks

Languages Required :

Arabic English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

2 weeks

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

*Previous applicants need not re-apply.

The Syrian crisis has had a devastating impact on the population of Syria as well as Syria’s neighbouring countries. Since April 2011, political instability and violence in Syria has caused millions to flee and seek refuge in neighbouring countries. With the crisis well into its fourth year and showing no sign of abating, Syria’s displaced continue to pour across the borders and into Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, turkey and Egypt, many settling in designated refugee camps, but the majority finding refuge outside the camps. Women and girls account for more than half of the 3 million Syrian refugees who have fled into its neighbouring countries in the past 3 years.

The Syrian crisis has caused gender-differentiated impacts on women, girls, men and boys. Most notably, the high occurrence of gender-based violence has raised grave concern. While boys and men are more likely to be found engaged in fights, women and girls are experiencing higher risks and incidents of multiple forms of violence. Sometimes the gender-differentiated negative coping mechanisms of men and women perpetuate gender-based violence. For example, a recent study found that the proportion of registered marriages among the Syrian refugee community where the bride was under 18 rose from 12% in 2011 (roughly the same as the figure in pre-crisis Syria) to 18% in 2012, and as high as 25% by 2013. These statistics provide eminent evidence of an absence of gender equality. Communities where women and girls are not given the necessary and equal means, opportunities and respect to be able to protect themselves and their families, women and girls suffer a crisis differently from men and boys.

Numerous initiatives are being implemented on the ground, both in camps and in host communities, in support of improving the situation of female refugees, protecting their human rights, and providing them with health and education services, safe spaces, counselling, amongst others.

With the protracted ongoing crisis in Syria, and the realization that large-scale return and recovery may not be feasible in the near future, UNDP is pursuing the operationalization of the resilience-based development response within the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) for the Arab States and Middle East and North Africa, chaired by the Arab States Regional Bureau Director of UNDP. UNDP, through the work of its Subregional Response Facility for Syria-related Crisis, based in Amman, Jordan, has placed gender equality as one of the key drivers for resilience building at the household, community, municipality and national levels.

One key aspect of the resilience-based development approach is its requirement for transformational changes in order for resilience to effectively take root at the household, community, municipality and national levels. Business cannot remain as usual if people and institutions are to become capable of being prepared for possible future shocks. Future shocks may take a similar form as previous ones or they may cause completely unfamiliar consequences. Either way, people and institutions should not passively wait for them to happen while remaining the same. Just like how new technologies should be applied to new buildings. If a building collapses as a result of an earthquake, it is better to rebuild it differently to give it a new strength, applying new knowledge and technologies. People and institutions also need to integrate new learnings from their past experiences in the way they manage and build their lives. Having the knowledge that future shocks will happen is different from proactively introducing transformative changes in order to equip people and institutions new and different capacities (so that they will not have to suffer the same way again). It goes more than being prepared for a shock. It takes us to the state of being resilient.

It is more obvious than ever in the complex challenges of responding to the Syrian crisis that resilience is an essential part of a strategy. From the perspectives of gender equality and women’s empowerment, it implies that gender equality must become a reality in the affected countries. The crisis is imposing upon women and men unfamiliar life experiences. Women and men are forced to adapt to disrupted living experiences and social fabrics. Another recent report found that more than 145,000 Syrian refugee families in Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan - or one in four of all refugee households – are headed by women. The absence of gender equality means that the crisis is producing more female-headed families while men and boys are more likely to be in search of work away from home or being killed or injured in the fights. Interventions in response to the crisis must address how individuals and households can become more resilient, in addition to providing protection which does not necessarily address even the preparedness as discussed above. The resilience-based development approach can provide a critical platform to argue for gender equality and women’s empowerment as a driver for resilience in responding to the Syria crisis.

Agencies and organizations providing assistance to Syrian refugees, in particular female refugees, have the opportunity and responsibility to contribute to building their resilience. In this regard, understanding the scope of the existing initiatives prepare a ground for designing innovative solutions for resilience building. Such knowledge will also facilitate collaboration amongst diverse organisations (international, local, governmental, non-governmental, humanitarian, developmental, etc) with the purpose of identifying and strengthening synergies. The shared knowledge will also help improve the added value of various humanitarian assistance and development initiatives with the objective of facilitating the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment. It is in this context that the UNDP Subregional Response Facility for Syria-related Crisis based in Amman, in support of the UNDG for the Arab States and Middle East and North Africa, plans to develop an interactive online platform where a range of relevant initiatives can be posted and mapped out. By making such a platform interactive, the updating of the information will become simpler and easier; and the platform more user-friendly.

Duties and Responsibilities

Key Functions

Under the guidance of Senior Gender Advisor of the UNDP Subregional Response Facility for Syria-related Crisis, Consultant is expected to produce below deliverables within two weeks

An attractive, highly usable, self-descriptive and accessible, interactive online platform (ie., clickable maps and visualizations) in English and Arabic for the purpose of mapping gender equality and resilience initiatives in Syria and its neighbouring countries in relation to the crisis in Syria designed, developed and populated, ready for a launch in October 2014.

Data and information necessary to initially populate the platform will be researched by the consultant in close consultation with Senior Gender Advisor to ensure the relevance of the content and design. The platform should enable users to carry out subsequent updating of data and information.

Taking into consideration compliance of website across various platforms and browsers on both Mac and PC, Consultant is requested to implement testing and quality assurance prior to the launch.

A downloadable or CD version of the platform is to be submitted by Consultant. UNDP shall be entitled to all intellectual property and other proprietary rights including but not limited to patents, copyrights, and trademarks, with regard to products, or documents and other materials which bear a direct relation to or are produced or prepared or collected in consequence of or in the course of the execution of this contract.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

User interface design;
Usability engineering;
Visualization;
Animation design.

Core Competencies:

Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN ‘s values and ethical standards.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

High School diploma or equivalent.

Experience:

3 years of experience in designing a website or web-based ineractive online platform;
Proficiency with HTML design, Javascript programming;
Experience with developing online application / tools / websites evident in previous work;
Familiarity with modern User Interface design principles and proven experience in design;
Sound knowledge of current contexts of the Syria crisis and its subregional impacts.

Language:

Ability to communicate in English and Arabic.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

Resume (in English);
Cover Letter (in English – no more than 250 words);
A lump-sum financial proposal (Full payment will be made upon the satisfactory completion of the deliverable);
Three professional references (names, email addresses and telephone numbers).

Financial Proposal:

The financial proposal shall specify a daily rate on a lump sum basis.