Strengthening Collaboration and Partnerships with Local Authorities/Municipalities for Sustainable SRHR /GBV/Youth Programming

Grade (Classified): NOB

Vacancy Ref #:  UNFPA/LBN/2024/03

Duration:             40 days over a period of 4 months

Start-up Date     June 15, 2024- October 15, 2024

Purpose of consultancy:              

UNFPA is the leading UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA expands the possibilities for women and young girls to lead healthy and productive lives. Since UNFPA started working in 1969, the number and rate of women dying from complications of pregnancy and childbirth has been halved. Families are smaller and healthier. Young people are more connected and empowered than before. 

Within its context of work in Lebanon, and as part of its mandate, UNFPA works to promote universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and to promote gender equality and women/girls’ empowerment and prevention, risk mitigation and response to Gender Based Violence (GBV) including for youth and adolescent girls. UNFPA supports service provision, evidence generation, advocacy, and capacity-building interventions for better GBV prevention, risk mitigation, and response, as well as for meeting the SRHR needs of people. 

Under its current program cycle, UNFPA Lebanon has been heavily involved in the humanitarian and emergency response to the ongoing crises affecting the country, namely the Syrian refugee crisis and the deteriorating socioeconomic situation. The response to these crises has materialized through various interventions established with strategic partnerships. Most of those interventions are implemented at the local and community levels, targeting specific groups for achieving key results to ensure universal access to SRHR, promote gender equality, mitigate, prevent, and respond to GBV, and empower young people.

While the objectives of the various projects and interventions have been met by UNFPA’s implementing partners (Ips), quite often, at the completion of the project, a number of these activities are fully or partially discontinued due to lack of capacities/resources, lack of knowledge regarding the relevance and importance of these topics, perceived sensitivities about the subject matter, inability to mainstream the priorities within the partners or locals plans, absence of tools/approaches for sustaining the activities and disengagement with local actors. To promote the sustainability of such interventions beyond project completion, it is critical to argue their necessity and relevance, especially in adopting an area-based/localization approach for programming to reinforce the humanitarian-development nexus and establish rapport between the implementing partners and local actors, which ensures appreciation and engagement of local actors/authorities as key partners from the onset of the planning phase of implementing sustainable interventions.

To address the above urgencies, in 2022, UNFPA developed a manual which focused on advocating and establishing a partnership between local authorities and implementing partners/civil society organizations in order to a) promote sustainability of interventions, b) ensure buy-in of the local communities on SRHR and GBV interventions, c) sensitize local actors on issues related to SRHR and GBV within local development plans targeting especially women and youth, d) advocate for local community leaders to adopt, expand, and scale up those interventions within their local plans including allocation of funds, e) consider using innovations at local level and f) reinforce a more trusting, impactful and mutually beneficial role of the civil society organizations with the local authorities/municipalities. The manual outlines clearly the roles of all stakeholders’ categories (i.e. civil society partners, municipalities, governors, local structures, influencers, etc) in establishing and sustaining a partnership that aims at absorbing the knowledge gained through the UNFPA supported projects into local plans to better serve the community in a sustained manner.

Based on the above, in 2024, UNFPA will engage a national consultant to roll out the advocacy manual in four identified municipalities with an aim to reinforce UNFPA’s collaboration and partnerships with local authorities/municipalities and decision makers towards more impactful, integrated, sustainable, and inclusive SRHR and GBV programming at community level. Through close coordination with IPs working with UNFPA, the consultant will analyze the level of involvement as well the type of relation of IPs with local authorities/municipalities to advocate for UNFPA focus areas i.e. youth empowerment, women’s health, gender equality, GBV prevention and response, etc…and mainstream these issues with local authorities/municipalities. UNFPA Lebanon CO will build on the key findings and lessons learned from the roll-out that will take place in 2024 to intensify work with local authorities/municipalities and scale up this approach across all its projects/partners/locations in 2025 and beyond.

Scope of work: (Description of services, activities, or outputs)  

The consultant will work under UNFPA’s guidance to carry out the following tasks:

1. Prepare an action plan with a timeline of activities to be carried out under this assignment.
2. In close collaboration with UNFPA CO, identify and select four municipalities based on criteria such as need, the potential for impact and/or transformative result, and willingness to collaborate to incorporate UNFPA focus areas as mentioned above within their local policies, plans, and programmes in line with international human rights standards. Geographical coverage across the four mohafazats is advisable.
3. Advocate for mainstreaming UNFPA focus areas within the local actors of each of the identified 4 targeted municipalities based on concrete data, evidence, needs, available assessment, etc.
4. Conduct training sessions for IPs' staff, focusing on the proposed approach, process, tools, needed skills, exit strategies, etc.
5. Coach IPs in partnership building through providing guidance and support in establishing strategic partnerships with the selected municipalities to implement strategic initiatives.
6. Facilitate communication and collaboration between IPs and local authorities.
7. Guide and coach IPs in aligning interventions with the local development plans and advocating for the allocation of funds to scale up impact.
8. Propose a structured approach for future implementation and scale up by additional IPs in future interventions through analyzing the outcomes and lessons learned from the implementation with the targeted municipalities.
9. Update/complement advocacy manual based on lessons learned and good practices and for sharing knowledge for future implementation and scale up (see task 9 above)
10. Provide additional recommendations on leveraging local-level innovations for enhanced impact and sustainability.
11. Submit a final report and brief presentation in English (report structure to be discussed with UNFPA).
12. Present findings in an advocacy/technical meeting as guided by UNFPA

Duration working schedule:       

June 15, 2024- October 15, 2024 (40 days)

Place where services are to be delivered:           

Lebanon

Delivery dates and how work will be delivered (e.g. electronic, hard copy etc.):

Delivery Date: October 15, 2024. All deliverables will be submitted electronically

Monitoring and progress control, including reporting requirements, periodicity format and deadline:
 

Supervisory arrangements:        
The consultant will work under the guidance of the Head of Office and in close collaboration with the GBV and SRH specialists. 

Expected travel:              
N/A

Required expertise, qualifications and competencies, including language requirements:

The Consultant should fulfill the following requirements:

A. Education: master’s degree in social sciences, Development Studies, Public Health, with previous work experience and considerable skills in working with municipalities

B. Experience:

• At least 7 years’ experience in social sciences, development or related subject areas.
• A strong understanding of SRHR, gender issues, and GBV programming is essential. Familiarity with international frameworks and guidelines related to these areas, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and human rights conventions, is also valuable.
• Experience in designing and implementing SRHR, gender, or GBV programs in collaboration with local authorities/municipalities. This includes developing strategies, action plans, and monitoring and evaluation frameworks for such programs.
• Demonstrated expertise in engaging and building partnerships with local authorities/municipalities, civil society organizations, community leaders, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Knowledge of advocacy strategies and policy influencing techniques to promote SRHR, gender equality, and GBV prevention and response at the local level.
• Experience working in diverse cultural contexts and sensitivity to local norms, customs, and power dynamics is essential.
• Ability to work independently and to take initiative and ownership of the task.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to establish effective and working relations with different stakeholders.
• Excellent writing and reporting skills.
• Ability to work efficiently and adhere to deadlines.
   

C. Language and other skills:

• Proficiency in oral and written English and Arabic is essential.

• Excellent written and spoken communication skills in Arabic and English.

Inputs / services to be provided by UNFPA or implementing partner (e.g support services, office space, equipment), if applicable:

UNFPA will support the consultant through:

• Selection of the municipalities
• Sharing details regarding UNFPA implementing partners
• Sharing relevant documents/reports
• Facilitating contact with the IPs
• Reviewing the consultancy tools and draft report

Application process and deadline:

Interested candidates may apply online by providing: 

• Most updated CV
• Updated P11 (click here) or document attached above.
• Cover letter mentioning the relevance of past/current experience with the requirements of the consultancy
• Mention in the email subject the post title and number

The above documents must be sent to bids_lbn@unfpa.org  by no later than May 15, 2024. Candidates who fail to submit the required documents above will not be considered for review. UNFPA Lebanon will only be responsible to respond to those applicants submitting the required documents above and in which there is further interest. ONLY individual consultants, not companies, are eligible to apply.

Candidates assessed by the panel and considered to be eligible for the appointment but who are not selected for this vacant post may be offered an assignment to another position at the same/lower grade if they meet the minimum qualifications required.