Background

Since 2008, UNDP has been working closely with local authorities (municipal council members, mukhtars, etc.,) from all six governorates across Lebanon  to support community based peacebuilding through facilitating processes entailing capacity building programmes in peacebuilding, conflict resolution and mediation skills. Since 2011, the focus has been on longer term approaches, assisting local communities in jointly planning and establishing local level peacebuilding mechanisms and dialogue initiatives. Local actors include those sensitized to peacebuilding concepts, participants in dialogue sessions and several of the Project’s networks including youth, religious leaders, NGOs, mukhtars, municipal council members and educators. The purpose of this work was to develop initiatives to diffuse tensions that may arise in the communities before they escalate to a higher level.

In 2013, the repercussion of Syrian refugees’ influx has expanded to most of the Lebanese communities. Signs of different types of conflict between Lebanese and Syrians have become clear in many Lebanese host communities, varying based on the respective regions’ social and economic context. Citizens and municipalities are left alone to deal with its implications, with no guidance or capacity to differentiate between the political and humanitarian aspect related to the impact of the Syrian crisis on host communities. The municipalities are suffering from the overload and are facing many challenges when it comes to managing the situation at the local level whether at the crisis management level, the communication level or the conflict one. UNDP and through its new “Stabilization and Recovery Programme” is addressing the new challenges caused by the impact of the Syrian crisis on Lebanese host communities through working on three sectors: basic services, livelihood and social cohesion/stability. Under the last sector and through the Peace Building in Lebanon Project, an initiative for improving social cohesion/stability in Lebanese host communities impacted by the Syrian crisis was launched.

During this phase of the project, the Peace Building in Lebanon project will continue working in four governorates: Akkar, Bekaa, South and Nabatiyeh, where a high number of Syrian refugees are living and the risk of tension is high and where UNDP is also working on livelihood and basic services. The villages / municipalities targeted are among the most vulnerable communities identified jointly by the UN and the Lebanese government.

For this particular Terms of Reference, the project will work on empowering local authorities and local actors through establishing mechanisms for social stability (MSS) in the South, one of the most affected regions and one of the largest community hosting Syrian refugees.

Focus shall be around the eight villages of Addousiyyeh, Bablieh, Kharayeb Saida, Saida el Qadimeh, Lebaa, Kfar Jarra, Seddiqin, Maaroub and work shall be directed towards creating a local peacebuilding body aimed at supporting Lebanese-host communities’ social stability through preventing or reducing tensions and different type of conflicts between Lebanese communities themselves and between Lebanese and Syrians.

The overall objective of the assignment is to support local authorities and other local key actors in the identified areas to better manage the current crisis, and better respond to the additional challenges resulted from the impact of the Syrian crisis on them, through establishing a medium to long term locally oriented social stability/cohesion strategy. This strategy will identify the guiding principles; through which local communities can better manage their internal conflicts as well as those resulted from the impact of the Syrian crisis.

Under the guidance and supervision of the Project Manager, the consultant is required to conduct a participatory conflict assessment and analysis with a specific identified reference group of the local community representing the villages/municipalities (mayors, deputy mayors, municipal council members, mukhtars, social development centers, religious figures, educators, civil society organizations, youth and other types of stakeholders identified) targeted by the process, in order to identify the main causes  of the conflict, actors, dynamics, etc.

The consultant will then develop relevant responses to the main causes of conflicts that will serve as mechanisms for social stability.

Finally, the consultant will support the actors, through capacity building (on identified needs, such as, but not limited to: crisis management, peacebuilding and conflict resolution/mediation skills, communication skills, advocacy and lobbying, administrative and financial management) adopting the mechanisms and launching them.

Duties and Responsibilities

The assignment is divided into three main interrelated phases taking into account that the capacity building sessions shall be mainstreamed throughout the different steps based on needs identified:

  • Participatory conflict analysis
  • Development of social cohesion mechanisms
  • Launching and implementation of mechanisms

Under supervision of the Project Manager, the consultant is required to undertake the following tasks/activities:

Revised Workplan and methodology - Suggested working days: 2

To provide a final project work plan and methodology covering all the activities along with a chart showing detailed list of tasks, duration and schedule per task and allocated resources (resources and or other relevant identified type of resources per task shall be included in the proposal. In other words, the bid shall include the consultant’s resources as well as other dependencies which affect the project duration. Once approved by UNDP, the work plan and methodology shall be adopted and shall form the basis for project supervision and monitoring.

Participatory conflict analysis - Suggested number of working days: 8

  • To conduct a conflict assessment and analysis with local actors and authorities from the different villages, at the village level (through individual and focus groups meetings) and at the cluster level (through joint retreats/meetings) in order to better understand causes (immediate, intermediate and root causes), actors, dynamics and conflicts’ trends linked to the impact of the Syrian crisis on these communities in addition to those which existed prior to the Syrian Crisis.

Development of mechanism for social stability (Suggested number of working days: 9

  • To come up in a participatory approach with a suggested mechanism for social stability at the cluster of villages level and identify capacity building needs linked to the mechanism and the conflict analysis;
  • To validate the mechanism with the target group through facilitated sessions;
  • In addition to the capacity building sessions delivered during the conflict analysis part of the project, identify needs of deliver capacity building sessions to be included in next phase;

Launching and implementation of the Mechanism for Social Stability- Suggested number of working days: 16

  • Facilitate meetings, workshops and coaching sessions to prepare for launching of mechanisms
  • Facilitate meetings, workshops and sessions in order to plan for the implementation of the mechanisms
  • Support local actors in implementing the mechanisms

For detailed information, please Refer to Annex I – Terms of Reference.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
  • Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
  • Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Functional Competencies:

  • Good and proven knowledge of South of Lebanon Region
  • Excellent analytical, negotiation and communication skills;
  • Excellent training and facilitation skills;
  • Proven impartiality and cultural and human rights sensitivity;
  • Ability to build strong relationships with local actors using inter-personal skills;
  • Ability to network effectively
  • Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines and handle multiple tasks simultaneously;
  • Ability to adapt quickly to new working environments, to establish and maintain good working relations with individuals of diverse backgrounds and cultures;
  • Good knowledge of  the impact of the Syrian crisis on Lebanese Host Communities;
  • Socio economic , socio cultural socio security context

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • University degree in social science, sociology, political science, public administration, international affairs, or any other related field. MA is a plus.

Experience:

  • A minimum of 5 years of experience in conducting conflict analysis;
  • A minimum of 7 years of relevant experience in providing training sessions on peace building related skills, crisis management, project cycle management and other topics related to the empowerment of local actors;
  • A minimum of 5 years in facilitating similar conflict prevention mechanisms;
  • Experience working with municipalities and local actors in conflict zones;
  • Experience working on peacebuilding through socio cultural and socio economic sectors;

Language:

  • Excellent reporting and writing skills in English;
  • Excellent command of Arabic language and good command of English, French is a plus.

Application: