Needed Consultant – Gender and GBV

TERMS OF REFERENCE

UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and is mandated to provide assistance and protection to a population of some 5 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve their full potential in human development, pending a just solution to their plight. UNRWA’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, micro-finance and emergency assistance. UNRWA is the largest UN operation in the Middle East with more than 30,000 staff. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions.**

Consultant – Gender and GBV, Jordan

BACKGROUND

Over 120,000 Palestinian Refugees from Syria have fled to Lebanon, Jordan, and beyond since the start of the conflict in Syria. Palestine Refugees from Syria (PRS) who have moved to Jordan because of the conflict in Syria are one of the communities assisted by UNRWA, with 95% in need of sustained humanitarian assistance. Many PRS have lost their homes, livelihoods and security.

PRS have minimal access to formal employment, and as the crisis continues, traditional coping strategies are increasingly exhausted. In Jordan, 93% of PRS have been categorized as vulnerable or extremely vulnerable due to protection concerns linked to their status. their vulnerability is compounded by nearly 70 years of protracted displacement.

UNRWA is the largest direct provider of assistance to the almost 18,000 PRS in Jordan. UNRWA assistance enables PRS to meet their basic needs of food, non-food items and shelters, as well as to cope with crises and emergencies while strengthening their resilience.

In recent years UNRWA has strengthened the implementation of its protection mandate and the Agency’s approach to protection has evolved accordingly. Protection and human development are mutually reinforcing goals for UNRWA; one cannot be achieved without the other. Both are reflected in the Agency’s Medium-Term Strategy, as well as among the strategic priorities outlined in the Agency’s Syria Emergency Appeal.

UNRWA has been receiving funding for its support of PRS in and Jordan from the EU Regional Trust Fund for the Syrian Crisis, the EU Madad Trust Fund since 2016 through a multi-phased regional project entitled “Strengthening the Resilience of Palestine refugees from Syria in Jordan and Lebanon”. Under the third phase of the Trust Fund (from now on referred as Madad III), UNRWA in Jordan will continue its provision of essential services to PRS in 2020 and 2021, in alignment with its core mandate under the Syria Emergency Appeal. The overall objective of the project is to strengthen the resilience of PRS.

In Jordan, UNRWA provides relief and protection services to PRS families to enable them to meet their basic needs of food, essential non-food items and shelters, as well as to cope with sudden crises and emergencies, while strengthening their resilience. The project will enable cash-based transfers of unconditional cash assistance and emergency cash assistance to vulnerable PRS. Also, it will provide protection assistance to address legal documentation issues, gender-based violence (GBV) and child-specific vulnerabilities. Finally, the project seeks to enhance staff capacity and management so that timely and effective responses to the needs of PRS can be implemented.

Against the above background, the COVID-19 pandemic presents a new array of challenges, which are having disruptive consequences on Palestine refugees. UNRWA is aware that under current circumstances, vulnerable Palestine refugees, women and children, in particular, are further exposed to heightened protection-related risks, including but not limited to GBV, abuse and isolation.

UNRWA believes it is critical to ensure the provision of comprehensive and structured GBV services, by adapting the delivery to the present transformative operational context. As such, existing mechanisms will be strengthened and assistance will be further scaled up through enhanced partnerships and by exploring new, relevant and efficient initiatives.

To this end, UNRWA Jordan Field Office (JFO) established a post, funded by the EU MADAD Trust Fund project Strengthening Resilience of Palestine Refugees from Syria in Jordan and Lebanon, of Gender and GBV Consultant to implement/operationalize UNRWA strategies and oversee the gender and GBV responses with a particular focus on the specific needs of the Palestine refugees in Jordan and PRS currently living in Jordan.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the daily supervision of the Neutrality and Protection Unit (NPU) Team Leader, the Consultant will work closely with the Emergency Coordination Unit and the results-based monitoring focal points. The Consultant will:

· Overview the planning and implementation of the JFO Gender Action Plan and UNRWA GBV frameworks including the components relevant to the MADAD-funded project and other Syria emergency response projects and other UNRWA commitments under the “Call to Action on Protection from GBV in Emergencies”; follow up the roll out and monitoring of the MADAD gender and GBV activities and ensure timely delivery of expected results, outputs and activities; and notify the supervisor immediately as issues arise.

· Ensure Gender and GBV response is effectively mainstreamed in Madad III and other humanitarian responses in coordination with the protection officer, area protection and neutrality officers, and social workers ensuring refugee communities’ participation as much as possible.

· Provide technical support on Gender and GBV issues, Agency’s Gender Action Plan (GAP), and in responding to and managing high-risk cases.

· Review and adapt GBV response activities to COVID-19 context, including identification mechanisms, referral pathways, and remote case management and follow up and monitoring of cases.

· Maintain and strengthen partnerships with external service providers to reinforce and formalize GBV referral pathways and strengthen survivors’ resilience through access to multi-sectoral services.

· Design, conduct and monitor GBV prevention activities, including campaigns in coordination with the Programmes.

· Participate in gender related meetings at JFO level, coordinate GBV work with Gender Task Force, and support organization of monthly task force meetings.

· Actively participate in inter-agency gender and SGBV task forces or working groups, share UNRWA activities and achievements, and collaborate on joint intervention contributing to a coherent UN response in Jordan and development of new partnerships.

· Conduct awareness-raising sessions and any other initiative on gender and GBV related issues in coordination with Education, RSS, and Health Programmes as well as Human Resource Department.

· Design and coordinate gender and GBV focused small-scale projects and/or activities that may evolve in the context of the COVID-19 response.

· Ensure proper data are collected and maintained for effective monitoring of results, outputs and activities as per project indicators; provide quality progress reports, including monthly GBV case analysis for internal and external reporting purposes; document lessons learned from the different interventions for knowledge management.

· Perform other duties as may be assigned by the supervisor.

minimum Qualifications and Experience

· A Master degree or equivalent from an accredited educational institution in Development, Human Rights, Management, Gender Equality, Social Science or a related discipline.

· A minimum of 5 years of work experience in gender and GBV field including 2 years of relevant experience outside one’s home country for international candidates.

· Advanced level of knowledge of Microsoft Office and related applications.

· Excellent written and spoken English,

dESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

· Experience in the Middle East and particularly in Jordan is an advantage.

· Working or advanced knowledge of Arabic is an advantage.

· Programme and project management experience.

· UN or INGO work experience.

COMPETENCIES

· answer technical queries; Shows knowledge of Gender and GBV issues.

· Teamwork: Works harmoniously with others to complete tasks; communicates critical information with everyone involved in a task; coordinates work with others; seeks opinions; values working relationships; facilitates discussion before decision-making processes are complete.**

· Planning and Organizing: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies, identifies priority activities and assignments, monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary.

· Relating and Networking: Easily establishes good relationships with external partners and staff; builds wide and effective networks within UNRWA, within the wider UN system and with external parties; relates well to people at all levels; manages conflict; uses humor appropriately to enhance relationships with others.

· Critical Thinking/Analytical Skills: Examines and interprets a wide variety of data/ information and makes recommendations or decisions; develops results-oriented conclusions; able to apply specialized knowledge with good judgment and to relevant issues; and conceptualizes and designs strategic frameworks to overcome problems.

· Problem-Solving Skills: Identifies the existence and cause of a problem; takes and defends collaborative decisions, brainstorms potential solutions, identifies conditions that solutions must meet and stakeholders, evaluates the alternative course of action, implements solutions and evaluates results, seeks help when appropriate.

· Communication: writing and presentation skills.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The Consultant is required to reside at the duty station and will be required to travel regularly to field offices within Jordan.

CONDITIONS OF SERVICE

· The duration of the Individual Service Provider Consultancy contract is 11 months with the expected start date in September 2020, and with a possibility of extension.

· Remuneration will depend on whether the candidates have international experience of 2 years outside home country and will be at P3 level for international candidates or grade 16 level for local/ national candidates.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applicants should submit a cover letter (maximum one page) explaining how s/he meets the above-listed competencies and the most recent UN Personal History Form demonstrating the knowledge and experience required to meet the minimum requirements via [email protected] indicating the title of this consultancy “Gender and GBV Consultant” in the subject line of the message. The deadline for the submission of applications is 05 September 2020.

UNRWA is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from both women and men. UNRWA encourages applications from qualified women. Only those applicants shortlisted for interview will be contacted. UNRWA is a non-smoking environment.