Re-Advertised. National Conflict analysis Researcher.

Background

The UNDP Peace Building in Lebanon Project, established in 2007 aims to address the underlying causes of conflict in Lebanon and to create “safe spaces” for local identity groups to discuss their concerns openly and enhance mutual understanding of the different “other”. Social cohesion was enhanced at the local, community and national levels between civil society and relevant local public actors. Through training programs, advocacy work and enhanced networking, stakeholders (including teachers, journalists, local leaders, youth and NGOs) were better equipped to actively and harmoniously contribute to peace building, community dialogue and ensure a more effective bottom-up impact of efforts.The project focused on addressing new challenges to civil peace and peace building in Lebanon posed by the Syrian crisis through:

• (1) Education promoting social cohesion supported;
• (2) Media empowering to promote balanced and conflict sensitive media coverage;
• (3) Local level peace building strategies to mitigate tensions developed in selected conflict prone areas of Lebanon hosting Syrian refugees;
• (4) An NGO platform promoting nation-wide truth and reconciliation supported ex-fighters’ role in promoting peace building supported.

The Project is also integrated into UNDP Stabilization and Recovery Programme, which has been endorsed by the Lebanese Government in its Roadmap of Priority Interventions for Stabilizations from the Syrian Conflict. The Roadmap identifies the need to Forester peace building mechanisms to mitigate tensions in conflict prone areas hosting Syrian Refugees as a priority area for intervention in the short, medium and long-term. Moreover, as part of the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan, UNDP co-leads the entire international response to the crisis with UNCHR and leads the social stability and livelihoods sectors of the response, together with the Ministry of Social Affairs.As a lead agency of the social stability and livelihood sectors of Lebanon Crisis Response Plan, UNDP is strategically placed to both deliver and guide peacebuilding and conflict prevention efforts related to the current Syrian crisis but also to pre-existing inter-Lebanese tensions. However, UNDP needs to strengthen its capacity in terms of conflict analysis in order to ensure the impact of its own programs and effectively lead the international response to the Syrian crisis on stabilization related activities.UNDP will compile, structure, and complement all relevant information to produce operational and programmatic recommendations. Yet, there remains a need for a more in-depth, comprehensive conflict analysis at the national and local level. Indeed, most of the sources of information listed above are either linked to specific projects and activities, and do not consider the wider picture, or on the contrary are general advocacy reports which do not go into details and do not focus much on the Lebanese-Lebanese conflict dynamics. Moreover, few of the above follow a rigorous scientific methodology. There is therefore a risk for the international community to miss out on important developments and trends that could lead to conflicts in the future.

• 2. Objectives:

An in-depth Conflict Analysis is needed to identify the real challenges to peace building in Lebanon and is essential to design and implement peacebuilding measures. This analysis will target 1 to 5 selected municipalities in each of the six governorates. The selection of municipalities will be based on previous conflict and early warning analysis undertaken under the scope of the social stability sector and based on the results of the quarterly perception surveys undertaken by UNDP as well as the tension mapping done by field working groups. This analysis shall include Focus Groups discussions with representatives of the local communities not to be limited to local leaders, prominent figures, religious leaders, political leaders, youth, teachers and civil society actors. This analysis will allow different stakeholders to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics in their relationship.In this context, UNDP is requiring the services of a Conflict Analysis Researcher to conduct the in-depth Conflict Analysis.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will conduct the in-depth Conflict Analysis and complete the following but not limited to tasks:

• Develop the current situation profile:
• Identify structural, proximate, immediate and the root causes of tensions in selected Lebanese communities hosting Syrian refugees.
• Conduct a stakeholders’ analysis:
• Identify different stakeholders and the relation between them, as well as conflict dynamics, conflict triggers, dividers and trends, as well as connectors and peace factors, preventive measures, prioritization of these measures.
• Assess the response level of the existing programmes to the dynamics and causes of conflict in responding to the specific drivers identified. The Conflict Analysis will cover both the Lebanese-Syrian relations and the Lebanese-Lebanese relations, with a focus on the impact of the upcoming parliamentary elections on these relations.
• Report to partners on key points of ongoing conflict analysis and assessments initiatives on a periodical basis, through presentations and discussions during the Social Stability Working Groups and through the distribution of short briefs.

The results of the analysis will not only be used exclusively to inform Peacebuilding programming, but also to contribute in designing conflict sensitive livelihood and basic services interventions. Moreover, the analysis will provide UNDP and the UN Country Team in Lebanon with a periodic snapshot of the conflict situation in Lebanon. The consultant is expected to contribute to short briefs by providing new analysis periodical reports during the pre-election period, and afterwards.The exact thematic or focus areas of these reports will be agreed beforehand between UNDP and the consultant, based on the evolution of the general situation in Lebanon and of UNDP programming, as well as on information gaps in studies and analysis provided by other organizations. As mentioned above, focus of the report should build on information generated from other conflict analysis sources pointing to the need of conducting ‘deep dive’ qualitative research in areas subjected to high social tensions or security incidents. UNDP is open to different methodological approaches and encourages potential applicants to suggest innovative methodologies (e.g. systems approach, social networks, social media analysis and others) as well as possible themes to better grasp conflict dynamics in different localities focusing on the relationship between host communities and refugees. All reports will apply a gender lens and be alert to how interconnecting categories of gender, race and class (intersectionality) shape group and conflict dynamics.The research will be based on approximately a week of fieldwork in each municipality including at least 20 interviews and 3 Focus Group Discussions. Reports should include interviews of stakeholders, including those recommended by UNDP and presented either in draft or final form in relevant field/national coordination mechanisms, particularly field social stability working group meetings.Reports will be prepared in English and translated into Arabic.For additional information, please refer to ANNEX I – Terms of Reference

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent existing network of contacts and proven ability to builds strong relationships with mayors and mukhtars, and other local actors, using inter-personal skills to network effectively;
• Excellent analytical, negotiating, and communication skills;
• Excellent writing and reporting skills;
• Excellent presentation skills;
• Excellent command of Arabic and English languages.

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.

Kindly refer to the Individual Consultant Procurement Notice and all related Annexes by visiting the below link:

http://www.lb.undp.org/content/lebanon/en/home/operations/procurement/

Please make sure to submit all the requested documents/information; otherwise, your application will be considered incomplete

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

• University Degree in social science, sociology, political science and peace building, or any other related field.

Experience:

• Minimum of 7 years of relevant experience in conducting conflict analysis exercises;
• Proven knowledge and experience in peace building and conflict prevention mechanisms at the local and national level;
• Previous experience working with Lebanese municipalities and local actors;
• Proven working experience in the conflict context in Lebanon and especially of the context of the impact of the Syrian Crisis on Lebanon and hot communities;
• Experience with UNDP or other UN agencies.

How to Apply:

1. Read the additional information and annexes on teh UNDP lebanon website at http://www.lb.undp.org/content/lebanon/en/home/operations/procurement/

2. The consultancy is open for all National consultants who meet the selection criteria and propose a competitive fee. Interested consultants are requested to apply only through this UNDP jobs portal.

Submissions through any other media will not be considered.

The application must include the P11, technical proposal, Annex 3 (Offerors Letter) and the financial proposal in one single document and uploaded as word or PDF file to the UNDP job site.

Incomplete applications will not be considered.