Background

Bordered by Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Palestine, Jordan is threatened by regional conflicts and political instability, as well as growing global spectre of violent extremism.  Jordan’s vulnerability to violent extremism and its underlying conditions remains greatly overlooked. In 2013 it was estimated that there were 2,089 Jordanians actively engaged with violent extremist groups in Syria. Driven by income inequality, state instability, unemployment, limited political participation, weak state-citizen trust, social marginalization, and low self-esteem, youth worldwide constitute the majority of people who join radical and violent extremist groups. This is particularly concerning for Jordan because its population of 6.6 million people is overwhelmingly young, with 58% of the population under 25 years of age. Jordan’s unemployment rate for people between the ages of 15 and 24 was 27.2% as of Q3 2015, of which 25.5% were men and 52.6% were women. Additionally, only 25% of the population in this age group was economically active in 2014. With Jordan’s disproportionately young population making it particularly vulnerable to radicalization, the country is in a grave position to immediately address the underlying causal factors of radicalization and develop remedial strategies to counter the spread of violent extremism.

Confronted by the waves of radicalization and terrorism in neighboring countries, especially the threats posed by the spread of the Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist groups, Jordan currently faces major challenges in addressing radicalization and extremism within its own borders. This project employs a comprehensive multi-sectoral approach to support national efforts to stabilize the country and immunize it against any possible spread of violent extremism, through the implementation of a coherent inter-linked set of interventions that tackle its root causes, while at the same time empowering local communities, building the capacity of the State organizations to be more responsive to the needs of the citizens, building social capital, creating youth employment, and linking the local, sub-national and national levels of governance for effectiveness. The immediate objective of the project is to strengthen national efforts in reducing the threat of terrorism and radicalization, especially among youth and vulnerable marginalized societal groups, to ensure the continued stabilization of Jordan. This will be achieved through a set of interventions aiming at (a) strengthening the overall enabling environment (institutionally and organizationally) to fight terrorism and radicalization; (b) supporting livelihoods for employment creation; and (c) fostering inclusion and participation, especially among marginalized social groups.\

This project is composed of three interlinked integrated support pillars, namely: (a) strengthening national and local capacities for counter-terrorism and de-radicalization; (b) supporting livelihoods creation for marginalized youth and women in poor communities; and (c) fostering social cohesion between Jordanian host communities and Syrian refugees. Such an integrated approach will support national efforts in comprehensively tackling terrorism and radicalization, and enhancing social resilience in the Jordanian society.

The project will be directly implemented by UNDP, within the overall Programme Framework “Mitigating the Impact of the Syrian Refugee Crisis on Jordanian Host Communities”, implemented by UNDP, and approved by the Government of Jordan. Implementation will be done in cooperation with national organizations, including government ministries, municipalities, NGOs and CBOs.

Duties and Responsibilities

The effective design, implementation, and evaluation of this project requires a comprehensive understanding of violent extremism, including the process of radicalization, the adoption of violent extremism, and the best means of countering violent extremism and remediating radicalized individuals. Developing such a grasp of these issues, especially in the Jordanian context, will enable the development of quantifiable indicators to be used as a baseline and metric of the success of the program.

In order to do so, the following terms need to be defined:

Radicalization: Radicalization is the psycho-social process whereby an individual adopts increasingly extreme ideologies, beliefs, and/or behaviors. Radicalization is an implicit driver of violent extremism, but the adoption of radical beliefs does not necessarily imply subsequent engagement in violent activities. “Radicalization” is given preference to “radicalism,” as “radicalization” reflects the individually specific nature of radicalization rather than treating it as a societal phenomenon. Furthermore, treating the issue as a societal phenomenon risks stigmatizing entire communities as “radical” or “violent extremist,” ignoring intra-societal drivers of radicalization and violent extremism,, and erasing the effects of radicalization and violent extremism on other community members.

Violent extremism: Violent extremism is illegitimate engagement in violent activities in order to achieve ideological, political, or religious goals. Engagement can be motivated by the desire to uphold a radical belief, the result of coercion or financial promise, or a function of frustration, alienation, and/or socio-economic marginalization.

Countering violent extremism (CVE): CVE interventions are programs designed to prevent engagement in violent extremism and assist in disengagement and rehabilitation of violent extremists. Since radicalization is an essential part of the adoption of violent extremism, and it is difficult to identify which individuals will make the transition from radical to violent extremist, CVE programs generally take the forms of counter-radicalization and de-radicalization interventions.

Counter-radicalization: Counter-radicalization interventions are preventative approaches to radicalization, designed to block the process of radicalization before it takes place or is completed. Counter-radicalization interventions focus on mitigating the factors that contribute to the process of radicalization, and thus vary depending on the local context.

Community policing: Community policing is a counter-radicalization strategy that empowers community members to identify and address the process of radicalization among other individuals within their community such that they are able to prevent it without the involvement of local authorities or the preventative security apparatus, or can effectively work with those entities when necessary.

De-radicalization: De-radicalization interventions are prison-based programs that aim to disengage, rehabilitate, and reintegrate individuals who have already been radicalized and participated in violent extremist activities. The process of de-radicalization consists of three steps: disengagement, rehabilitation, and reintegration.

Disengagement: Disengagement is the process of shifting one’s behavior to abstain from violent activities and withdraw from a violent extremist group. Disengagement only includes the cessation of participating in violent extremist activities; it does not imply that the individual no longer adheres to a radical ideology. Thus, though disengagement is an important step in combatting violent extremism, it is, in and of itself, an insufficient one, as disengaged individuals who remain radicalized are at high risk of returning to violent extremism.

Rehabilitation: Rehabilitation programs address the psychological, social, and ideological well-being of ex-violent extremists to help them successfully reintegrate into society. Rehabilitation programs typically employ psychologists, case workers, ex-violent extremists, religious leaders, and local communities. Successful rehabilitation programs also provide opportunities for ex-violent extremists to develop skills through vocational training that would increase their employment opportunities.

Reintegration: Reintegration programs aim to help ex-violent extremists exit rehabilitation programs and reenter their communities as active citizens. Reintegration programs provide employment, educational, and community support in order to reduce the likelihood of recidivism.

Approaches to CVE

Identifying key drivers and catalysts for radicalization and violent extremism within the context of Jordanian communities is essential to the success of this project. In order to do so, a number of factors need to be taken into account.

Specific Factors of Radicalization

Any CVE program must recognize that there exists no single pathway towards radicalization and violent extremism; each case is a function of a variety of circumstances specific to the individual and his or her community. Still, academic and non-academic sources have identified a variety of factors consistently found to contribute to the process of radicalization, though the extent to which they do so is contextually dependent. The following drivers may all push an individual to radicalize, though radicalization virtually never is a product of every single one of them, nor is it a product of a single type of drivers (i.e. only socio-economic). Rather, it is most often a product of socio-economic, psycho-social, ideological, regional, and international drivers combined.

1. Socio-Economic Drivers

Socio-economic conditions have consistently been highlighted across studies as leading drivers of radicalization. Such factors may include:

• income inequality
• unemployment
• socio-economic marginalization
• lack of education

However, these circumstances should by no means be focused upon as the primary “root causes” of radicalization; indeed, many studies have argued on the basis of interviews with violent extremists that personal socioeconomic circumstances either had no relation to radicalization or a limited one.

1. Psycho-Social Drivers

Many studies also highlight psycho-social drivers of radicalization. Youth have been identified as being particularly vulnerable to radicalization due to circumstances such as:

• social marginalization
• lack of identity
• social pressure or coercion
• low self-esteem
• distorted sense of masculinity

Of particular concern within psycho-social drivers is an individual’s social network. While having a supportive group of friends and family members can serve as a deterrent to radicalization, it can also contribute to the process of radicalization. Ideologically homogenous friend groups are more likely to encourage each other in the process of radicalization and make an individual more unwilling to accept criticism or alternative worldviews. Furthermore, friend groups with similar worldviews are vulnerable to polarization, in which all members of the friend group gravitate toward the views of the most extreme member.

1. Ideological Drivers

Ideology is an important factor in countering violent extremism; violent extremists generally justify their actions on the basis of a particular worldview. Despite its critical importance in CVE, its role as an actual driver of radicalization is usually limited. Rather, individuals are more likely to join an extremist group for social or psychological reasons, and then subsequently adopt ideologies as a result of continued exposure or as a means of justifying past actions. Nevertheless, ideology has been leveraged in the process of radicalization, often through emphasizing religious or ethnic identities over community or national ones. This may take the form of spreading narratives of victimization or of an existential threat to the individual’s religious or ethnic community. Furthermore, addressing ideology is an essential part of the process of DE radicalization; disengagement on its own has not proven effective in preventing recidivism.

1. National, Regional, and Global Drivers

Although radicalization is an individually specific process and contextually dependent, the circumstances driving it may originate outside of the individual’s local context. National and international drivers may include:

• global variables/grievances (wars, global inequalities, global discrimination)
• regional conflicts, instability, or threats (perceived or actual)
• government repression and violation of human rights
• denial of political rights and civil liberties
• endemic corruption and impunity
• poorly governed or ungoverned areas

These factors may drive radicalization in multiple ways. First, they may directly affect individuals, catalyzing the process of radicalization through a traumatic event or sustained pressures (due to, for example, an airstrike killing a relative, or continued frustration with ineffective or corrupt government processes). Second, they may indirectly affect individuals, generating aforementioned socio-economic, psycho-social, and ideological factors that could drive radicalization. Finally, general frustration with national and international conditions can create fertile ground for the adoption of radical worldviews and violent extremism. As such, these circumstances should be addressed as much as possible in any CVE intervention.

1. Objectives of the Assignment

Support project management:

• Provide thorough and timely follow up on the implementation and delivery of activities and outcomes;
• Coordinate with implementing partners and monitor closely their implementation, and ensure the timely delivery of the activities;
• Coordinate between and report on the progress of activities of the local governance, social cohesion, access to justice, and CVE projects to the Social Cohesion and Governance Specialist, donors, and others.
• Support the development of the project’s work plans and the corresponding budget;
• Support financial management of the projects by tracking expenses; keeping on top of the overall budget status supporting the revision of the budget, etc.;
• Collect (and analyze) on a regular basis relevant data and information, new development, existing regulations, guidelines, government strategies relevant to the activities of the project;
• Monitor the progress of the different project activities and submit regular reports on the progress, accomplishments, difficulties, lessons learnt etc.;
• Assist in preparing communication/publicity materials, e.g. posters, brochures, newsletter, .etc.;
• Assist the local governance specialist in drafting TORs for national and international consultants and requests for proposals (RFP), and support the selection process;
• Prepare briefing materials for any missions visiting the project and arrange field visits and related activities for them;
• Support the training of beneficiaries while implementing the grant agreements;
• Support the identification of potential partners and donors;
• Assist the Social Cohesion and Governance Specialist in developing new proposals and activities;
• Assist the Social Cohesion and Governance Specialist in the coordination with the government, UN agencies, and other NGOs, in particular in the process of development, monitoring, and reporting;
• Assist the Social Cohesion and Governance Specialist in monitoring and close follow-up of the activities of consultants assigned by the projects to ensure timely provision of inputs and achievement of outputs and deliverables.

Support community work:

• Supervise the field officers and work as a liaison officer with partners in the field;
• Identify potential partners in communities, including but not limited to female and male youth activists and CBOs;
• Identify and understand community needs and capacities to inform the selection of interventions;
• Conduct household visits and hearings from relevant stakeholders to understand specific needs;
• Conduct as part of the social cohesion and governance team participatory community meetings as a representative of UNDP;
• Establish, as part of and with support of the local governance team, rapport with the municipalities, governmental agencies, and local partners;
• Develop, as part of the local governance and social cohesion team, the work plan of the activities;
• Monitor closely the implementation of the activities, and identify potential risks and issues for the local governance specialist;
• Capture transformative changes of beneficiaries and communities through household visits and interviews, and support development of informational material (i.e. success stories);
• In all functions and activities, gender and conflict-sensitive approaches are required.

1. International and National Management

Under the guidance of Social Cohesion and Governance Specialist, the Counter Violent Extremism Officer will undertake the listed tasks within the framework of the social cohesion under the Mitigating the Impact of the Syrian Refugee Crisis on Vulnerable Jordanian Host Communities.

1. End-to-End Process and Steps

The duration of the project is expected to be for at least 12 months in total. The contracted party should present comprehensive time frames for each project deliverable.

Competencies

• Proficiency in English and Arabic spoken and written required.
• Excellent computer and word processing skills.
• Proven ability to work with a variety of people including community members, in particular women and youth; government officials; and local stakeholders.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and facilitation skills.
• A proven ability to provide financial and progress reports in accordance with reporting schedules.
• Experience and skills in communication (development of communication materials; Communication for Development projects) are an asset.

Required Skills and Experience

1. Education: 

Master degree in community development, local governance, economics, finance, sociology, social development, social anthropology, business administration, or any related field.

1. Experience:

• Over 10 years of working experience in the field of socio-economic development, social protection, gender and relevant areas.
• Experience in community engagement, state-community relations, social cohesion and CVE is an asset.
• Previous experience with a multilateral or international organization including NGOs.
• Previous experience in working with the public sector is an asset.