Background

CONTEXT/BACKGROUND

The Arab region hosted over 41 million international migrants in 2020, of which 9.5 million were refugees. This represents 14.6 percent of the 281 million international migrants globally and 27.8 percent of the global number of refugees (including asylum seekers). Refugee populations, notably those in protracted situations, are the largest globally in certain parts of the Arab region. In 2018, the total population of displaced people living in the region amounted to over 21.2 million, meaning the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) was higher than the number of refugees. In 2020, the number of refugees and other migrants originating from the Arab region reached 30.6 million, of which almost half remained in the region.

Given the unprecedent levels of human mobility in the Arab region in recent decades, facing its consequences is both a complex and difficult process for people on the move and host communities alike. Regardless of the reasons for leaving their home countries or areas, IDPs, refugees and other migrants, either with regular or irregular status all share a common desire to seek new opportunities in their place of destination.

The Arab region hosts a high number of refugees and IDPs, who are at risk of becoming disconnected from their social, economic and local assistance networks. Protracted displacement does not only strain local resources and can create a marginalized population without access to peaceful ways of resolving its grievances, but it also can lead to rising tensions between displaced and host communities. In this respect, for example, the influx of Syrian refugees severally strained the socio-economic fabric and infrastructure of Lebanon, as both communities “competed” over the same resources and services, which resulted in misunderstandings and lack of trust leading to crisis. 

The successful integration of people on the move depends on the host communities’ openness and attitudes, which are  shaped by the complex local political and historical contexts . Migrant issues, especially when it refers to refugees, are in many cases instrumentalized by political rivals in host countries. While host communities can benefit greatly from the rich social, cultural, ethnic and religious diversity that can result from human mobility patterns, people on the move may be perceived as a threat to social cohesion by receiving societies, including when they are citizens from the same country, which is the case of IDPs. Intolerance can translate into discrimination (perceived or otherwise), stigma, racism, xenophobia, hate speech, marginalization and exclusion. These negative consequences can only lead to increased tensions and rejection of people on the move from host communities.

There is a high cost associated with these factors for both people on the move and host communities. Exclusion can negatively affect their well-being, physical and mental health, including their social and economic status. Their contributions to local labour and culture can therefore be compromised. Moreover, an environment that is not receptive and open to diversity leaves people on the move and host communities alike vulnerable to the threat of radicalization including risks of violent extremism due to social exclusion.

Building socially cohesive and inclusive societies for people on the move and host communities alike, taking into account the specific risks and vulnerabilities faced by girls and women, has the potential to lead to major benefits, including empowerment and resilience of its members, thereby contributing to positive sustainable development, specifically in the areas of socio-economic development and conflict prevention. Investing in building socially cohesive societies has become an imperative responsibility for policymakers and development practitioners alike, and UNDP is at the forefront of supporting social cohesion to mitigate potential crisis between people on the move and host communities.

Through its signature program, the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP), UNDP is advancing the humanitarian, development, and peace nexus, which brings together all actors (joint planning, programming and response) to support both refugees and host communities while enhancing national and local capacities.

For UNDP, social cohesion has become a vital goal and programming approach in recent years to prevent conflict and build lasting peace, most especially in conflict and fragile contexts. UNDP programmes range from initiating dialogue projects to strengthening local government capacities for consultation and building bonds across communities that focus on common values and aspirations.  Social cohesion is the extent of trust in government and within society and the willingness to participate collectively toward a shared vision of sustainable peace and common development goals. Undeniably, social cohesion is a fluid and malleable concept that will differ based on the causes of its usage and desired outcomes. Its application in gender-responsive programming, policy and project development will need to accommodate for this reality.

OBJECTIVE

The overall objective of the assignment is to conduct a comprehensive policy paper and provide recommendations for programmatic interventions and entry points at the regional level that seeks to strengthen social cohesion in human mobility contexts to inform development and sustainable and inclusive conflict prevention in the Arab countries. The policy paper and recommendations will feed into UNDP’s human mobility regional project. Four focus areas have been established that should form the pillars of the regional strategy on human mobility, including:

• Develop regional resources, tools, networks and platforms to facilitate coordination and knowledge exchanges on cross-border migration issues.
• Produce knowledge to identify policy and programming entry points for meaningful regional interventions related to migration and forced displacement.
• Building on the two points above, provide coherent tailored and gender-responsive country support through UNDP country offices who are engaged on human mobility issues at the national level.
• Advocate to re-focus the policy and public debate on human mobility around leaving no one behind and the interrelated themes of human rights, sustainable development and human security.

The policy paper and recommendations also aim at enabling  UNDP country offices  to better articulate their offer on human mobility and tailor their programming and advocacy. Additionally, the product will better prepare our regional approach on human mobility to align with the global offer on migration and forced displacement spearheaded by the Recovery Solutions and Human Mobility Team at the Crisis Bureau. 

The policy paper should consider the following three focused areas:

Policy and programming:

• Identify and suggest mechanism to ensure that the voices of people on the move are reflected and/or factored into local and national development plans to ensure no one is left behind and that development plans are inclusive and non-discriminatory towards migrants and forcibly displaced people.
• Assess existing social cohesion initiatives in human mobility contexts to understand gaps and underscore lessons learned to inform good practices and develop sound policy recommendations. 
• Identify good practices and propose avenues for community dialogues, initiatives, and activities that allow for greater positive interactions between people on the move and their host communities.
• Identify and suggest durable solutions, such as short-term employment opportunities and economic recovery initiatives, and capacity development for all vulnerable populations to strengthen social cohesion and minimize the risk of crisis. 
• Elaborate ways of assisting local authorities in improving delivery of municipal, social and basic services to refugees and IDPs communities as well as to host communities. By the same token, strengthen the capacities of civil society community leaders, youth and women in conflict prevent tools and dialogue processes to reduce risks of discrimination and stigmatization against migrants and the displaced.
• Identify entry points for mainstreaming conflict sensitivity programming –   through conflict/tensions monitoring – to the work of humanitarian and non-humanitarian actors, national partners and the UNCT, ensuring a do-no-harm approach and contributing to overall social cohesion in the context of human mobility planning and programming.
• Explore enabling environment for the safe and dignified return and sustainable reintegration of displaced people and migrant workers, including for example, protection from revenge attacks and other rights violations

Advocacy:

• Suggest strategic communication tools, including advocacy and perception monitoring, to portray the positive contributions of people on the move in host communities and to counter the often negative and inaccurate representation in the media and aid their perception by the public.
• Identify entry points to include displaced communities in surveys and research to inform and further contribute to the development of the social cohesion.

Address cross-cutting issues:

• Propose tools to empower women and youth from both displaced and host communities to take part in the planning and implementation of social cohesion activities and initiatives on national and sub-national levels.
• Identify entry points and complementary areas for collaboration with UNHCR, IOM and ILO, among others, focusing on topics such as health, housing, education and decent jobs, as well as access to social protection, justice and legal remedies to deal with rights violations.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED WORK

• Conduct desk review of social cohesion in human mobility contexts in the Arab States: The literature review should shed light on existing issues pertaining to lack of or weak social cohesion between displaced and host communities and with local and national government, including unpacking trends and obstacles. The review should also cover existing analysis on social cohesion and human mobility activities in the Arab region to identify knowledge and data gaps, to inform the direction of the proposed policy paper and recommendations. The review should include projects, programmes, policy documents, and evaluation reports to map out existing social cohesion-related interventions and identify gaps.
• Develop a practical methodology and implementation plan for a policy paper: The methodology should a) be conflict and gender sensitive, b) outline a data gathering and analysis plan, c) incorporate risk mitigation plan, d) should be responsive to the context and the practical needs of the UNDP Regional Hub.
• Data collection involving gender-sensitive field or remote consultations (interviews, focus group discussions) with key stakeholders, including but not limited to UNDP country offices and relevant UN agencies, members of the civil society, local community leaders and representatives of local governments.
• Develop a policy paper and recommendations that presents a systematic and synthesized assessment of findings and provides strategic recommendations (areas of policy and programming, advocacy, cross-cutting considerations) at regional level, as well as recommendation on priority areas including cross-pillar elements and humanitarian-development-peace nexus programming, highlighting the impact, or potential impact of risks that could have on the region’s peace and development trajectory.
• Hold progress and debriefing sessions for UNDP presenting the findings of the analysis and present strategic entry points for potential further UNDP programming. These workshops would serve to present and help validate the policy paper and include opportunities to further elaborate on social cohesion programming in the context of human mobility as well as suggestions for the implementation process.

EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES:

1. Inception report that includes a methodology outline and literature review of available knowledge and projects on social cohesion in human mobility contexts in the Arab States region to inform the policy paper and recommendations for programmatic interventions. The review to include mapping of UN engagement of social cohesion in human mobility contexts in the region (no more than 10 pages).
2. Research and data collection, including consultations with country offices and stakeholders, culminating in a comprehensive policy paper with recommendations for programmatic interventions (around 30 pages)
3. Workshop for UNDP presenting the preliminary findings of the policy paper and recommendations for programmatic interventions.
4. Final debriefing session to update UNDP senior management and technical focal points on the findings of the assignment.

EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES:

Competencies

A) Corporate:

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modeling the UN/UNDP’s values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

B) Functional:

• Time management and organizational skills, with the ability to undertake multiple tasks and deliver under pressure;
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills;
• Strong research and data gathering skills;
• Ability to work independently and achieve quality results with limited supervision and within tight schedules;
• Experience in reports production;
• Ability to write in a clear and concise manner;
• Good teamwork and interpersonal skills;
• Flexibility and ability to handle multiple tasks and work under pressure;
• Excellent computer skills especially Word, Excel and Power Point

C)Leadership:

• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and to provide credible leadership;
• Demonstrated flexibility in leadership by performing and/or overseeing the analysis/resolution of complex issues;
• Ability to conceptualize and convey strategic vision from the spectrum of development experience.

D)Managing Relationships:

• Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain strategic partnerships;
• Demonstrated well developed people management and organizational management skills;
• Excellent negotiating and networking skills with strong partnerships in academia, technical organizations and as a recognized expert in the practice area.

E)Managing Complexity:

• Ability to address global development issues;
• Demonstrated substantive leadership and ability to integrate knowledge with broader strategic, policy and operational objectives.

F)Knowledge Management and Learning:

• Ability to strongly promote and build knowledge products;
• Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example;
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information and best practices from within and outside of UNDP;
• Demonstrates a strong capacity for innovation and creativity in providing strategic policy advice and direction.

G) Judgement/Desicion-making

• Mature judgment and initiative;
• Proven ability to provide strategic direction to the project implementation process;
• Independent judgment and discretion in advising on handling major policy issues and challenges, uses diplomacy and tact to achieve result.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, international relations, political science, development studies, economics or a related field is required;

Work experience:

• At least 7 years of work experience in research and policy writing, with at least 3 years of research focused on migration and forced displacement;
• Strong technical experience in researching and drafting reports on migration, forced displacement, sustainable development, conflict prevention and peacebuilding, human rights or related areas.
• Substantive knowledge of and work experience in the Middle East and North Africa is highly desirable.
• Experience working with the United Nations and/or any other international organization.

Language Requirements:

• Language proficiency in both written and oral English is required. Knowledge of Arabic and/or French is desirable.

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT:

• The individual is required to exhibit his or her full-time commitment with UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States (RBAS);
• S/He shall perform tasks under the general guidance and direct supervision of the Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding, Programme Advisor based in the UNDP Regional Hub in Amman. Additional strategic guidance on the assignment is coordinated with and received from Team Leader, Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Team, UNDP/CB and the Regional Bureau for Arab States;
• The supervision will include approvals/acceptance of the outputs and deliverables as identified in the previous section;
• The consultant will be provided with relevant background information, studies and concept notes to be able to carry out the assignment successfully.
• The individual is expected to liaise and collaborate in the course of performing the work with other consultants, suppliers and UN colleagues;
• The individual is required to provide periodical progress reports on regular and needed basis throughout the assignment to monitor progress;
• The individual is required to maintain close communication with UNDP-RBAS on regular and needed basis at any period throughout the assignment in order to monitor progress. In the event of any delay, S/he will inform UNDP promptly so that decisions and remedial action may be taken accordingly;
• Should UNDP deem it necessary, it reserves the right to commission additional inputs, reviews or revisions, as needed to ensure the quality and relevance of the work.

DURATION OF THE WORK:

The expected duration of the assignment is expected to be up to thirty five (35) working days over a period of three (03) calendar months from contract signature date.

DUTY STATION

Home based Assignment.

TRAVEL PLAN (OPTIONAL)

If any unforeseen travel outside the consultant home-based city is requested by UNDP and not required by?the Terms of References (ToR), such travel shall be covered by UNDP in line with applicable rules and regulations and upon prior written agreement. In such cases, the consultant shall receive living allowances not exceeding the United Nations (UN) Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) rate for such other location(s).

SCOPE OF PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS:

Interested candidates should provide lump sum fees for requested services with detailed breakdown. This amount must be “all-inclusive”. Please note that the terms “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal. Also, please note that the contract price will be Deliverables/Outputs based - not fixed - subject to change in the cost components. The contractor will be paid an all-inclusive Deliverables/Outputs based lump sum amounts over the assignment period, subject to the submission of Certification of Payment (CoP) duly certified or an invoice and confirmation of satisfactory performance of achieved work (deliverables/outputs) in line with the schedule of payments table hereunder:

RECOMMENDED PRESENTATION OF OFFER:

Interested individual consultants must submit documents under point 1, 2 &  to demonstrate their qualifications. Candidates that fail to submit these documents, the application will not be considered.

1. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
2. Brief Description of why you consider yourself as the most suitable candidate for this assignment; 
3. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive Deliverables/Outputs based total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. The terms “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

• Please do not submit financial proposal in this stage. Financial proposal shall be requested from Candidates who are considered technically responsive.

Interested candidates can find Procurement Notice, Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability and P11 templates on the following link: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/

Interested candidates shall submit required documents to Job Advertisement Website (https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_jobs.cfm) as one document not later than 30 November, 2021.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF THE BEST OFFERS

This selection criteria will follow the Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a max. of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%; using the following evaluation criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Step I: Screening and desk review:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology.

Applications will be first screened and only candidates meeting the following minimum requirements will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

• Criteria A: Matser’s degree in social sciences, international relations, political science, development studies, economics or a related field is required;
• Criteria B: At least 7 years of work experience in research and policy writing, with at least 3 years of research focused on migration and forced displacement.
• Criteria E: Language proficiency in both written and oral English is required.

 Step II: Technical Interview: 

Shortlisted candidates will undergo a technical evaluation which will include desk review and  interview for shortlisted candidates as per above criteria,

Interviews will be conducted by the technical evaluation committee remotely.  

Step III: Technical Review 

Technical evaluation Criteria max 100 points (Weighted 70):

• Criteria A: Matser’s degree in social sciences, international relations, political science, development studies, economics or a related field is required (15 points);
• Criteria B: At least 7 years of work experience in research and policy writing, with at least 3 years of research focused on migration and forced displacement (15 points);
• Criteria C: Strong technical experience in researching and drafting reports on migration, forced displacement, sustainable development, conflict prevention and peacebuilding, human rights or related areas (15 points);
• Criteria D: Experience working with the United Nations and/or any other international organization (10points);
• Criteria E: Language proficiency in both written and oral English is required (10 points).
• Criteria F:  Knowledge of Arabic and/or French is desirable (5 points).
• Criteria G: Interview (30 points).

Shortlisted candidates will be assessed and scored against the following evaluation criteria:

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation

For those offers considered in the financial evaluation, the lowest price offer will receive 30 points. The other offers will receive points in relation to the lowest offer, based on the following formula: (PI / Pn) * 30 where Pn is the financial offer being evaluated and Pl is the lowest financial offer received.

Step IV: Final evaluation:

The final evaluation will combine the scores of the desk review and the financial proposal with the following weights assigned to each:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis methodology (weighted scoring method), where the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight: [70%]

Financial Criteria weight: [30%]

Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70%) on the Technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.