Lebanon: Lebanon – A Field Coordinator in Beirut

Première Urgence Internationale (PUI) is a non-governmental, non-profit, non-political and non-religious international aid organization. Our teams are committed to supporting civilians’ victims of marginalization and exclusion, or hit by natural disasters, wars and economic collapses, by answering their fundamental needs. Our aim is to provide emergency relief to uprooted people in order to help them recover their dignity and regain self-sufficiency. The association leads in average 190 projects by year in the following sectors of intervention: food security, health, nutrition, construction and rehabilitation of infrastructures, water, sanitation, hygiene and economic recovery. PUI is providing assistance to around 5 million people in 20 countries – in Africa, Asia, Middle East, Eastern Europe and France.

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Humanitarian situation and needs :

As the Syrian Crisis is in its sixth year, the number of Syrians seeking refuge in other countries has reached an unprecedented scale. With more than 250,000 people killed, 1.2 million injured and 6.5 million people displaced, there are now 13.5 million vulnerable people inside Syria alone. Over 4.5 million refugees from Syria have fled to neighbouring countries particularly Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.

After Turkey, Lebanon is the second host country for Syrian refugees with over 1.125 million refugees registered for an overall population of less than 4.5 million (Source: LCRP 2016). Prior to this crisis, Lebanon was already hosting half a million Palestinian refugees; the pressure on the Lebanese government and local population is very high. Although Lebanon remains stable and Lebanese institutions are expected to function again after election of a new president in November 2016, increasing tensions between communities are also expected, in line with the decisions made in 2015 to put a limitation to the registration and movements of refugees.

Due to some concern of infiltration of terrorist groups in Lebanon, in March 2015, the government of Lebanon, through the General Security Directorate, is enforcing entry regularization among refugees entering from Syria. The Lebanese government has also asked the UNHCR to stop the registration process hence new refugees and new born babies cannot be registered anymore either. Since then, it is now much harder for Syrians to enter the country, while those residing in Lebanon are also facing difficulties in renewing their residency or having access to humanitarian aid or public facilities. This situation will cause an increased economic strain on the families, although the ban on work has been left (for occupations related to construction, agriculture and maintenance only) in 2016.

As the Syrian crisis is now protracted, with unprecedented number of civilians affected by the constant violation of the Humanitarian laws, there is little perspective for the refugees to return to their home country. The Syria Crisis Response Conference which took place in London in 2016 clearly intends to address the humanitarian needs of this protracted crisis, by setting up consistent multi years response tackling current issues, considering the evolution of needs and the and the necessity to provide the refugees from Syria with some perspectives and ensuring the social stability in Lebanon. The spill over of the Syrian crisis into Lebanon compounded pre-existing vulnerabilities among the Lebanese society, especially in areas where the level of social infrastructures is not developed or strong enough to cope with.

First challenge is the reduction of the aid available to tackle basic needs: in 2015 and first semester of 2016, only 56% of the funding requested were allocated to the humanitarian response to the Syrian Crisis in Lebanon.

This led to decrease in basic assistance provided to the refugees, and therefore to an escalation in negative coping mechanisms of most vulnerable households, (such as begging, child labour, child marriages, sexual services for food/accommodation, limitation of movements due to transportation costs, etc.).

What is more, if (un)conditional cash assistance is the main relevant way to respond most basic needs of registered poorest refugee families, level of indebtedness is a key factor for explanation of vulnerability In the long lasting crisis, and needs to be monitored constantly. As weather conditions are also very harsh in the winter, access to proper shelter conditions is a main priority as well. Most vulnerable Syrian refugees are mainly settled in small shelter units (SSU), collective shelters (CS) or informal settlements (IS).

The long-term crisis in Syria has had a profound effect on the Lebanese economy. Although Lebanon’s public finances were structurally weak prior to the Syrian shock, the crisis has put the country’s public finances under severe and rapidly escalating strains.

The Syrian crisis has increased the cost of living and created competition for jobs between Lebanese and Syrian workers. Moreover, according to latest LCRP plan, unemployment is nearly double the national average in some of the country’s poorest localities, putting severe strain on host communities. For the Syrian population, the lack of access to livelihoods and income has led to an increase of crisis and emergency coping mechanisms, reaching 74% of the refugee population in 2016. The latest VaSyr (2016) found that the percentage of Syrian households living under the poverty line is at 71%.

Over 2 million people, which represents almost half of the Lebanese population, live in the governorates of Beirut and Mount Lebanon, with Mount Lebanon hosting over 300,000 refugees and over 300,000 deprived Lebanese. Mount Lebanon, in specific, hosts the largest number of poor Lebanese and Syrian. The governorates are largely urban and peri-urban, however some rural areas are present in Mount Lebanon. High costs associated with urban and peri-urban life are pushing the most vulnerable households further into poverty. Rental fees are 45% higher in these governorates than in other areas with average household debt being nearly 40% higher than the rest of the country. Food vouchers are listed as the primary source of income among 48% households with working members, and in BML, this household dependency on food vouchers as the primary livelihood source has more than tripled from 11% to 35% from July 2015 to May 2016. In BML area, the average household debt is nearly 40% higher than the rest of the country mostly due to the high costs of urban and peri-urban life.

Our action in the field :

Since 2012, PUI has been actively involved in the Lebanon emergency response to the Syrian crisis with presence in the North (Akkar), Mount Lebanon and South (Saida) of Lebanon. In 2017/2018, PUI aims to reinforce the ability of each vulnerable community to become self-reliant and resilient to crisis, through 2 programs:

Humanitarian Assistance Program: to provide a protection-based humanitarian material assistance and services for the most vulnerable refugees and host communities affected by the Syrian crisis.

Resilience Program: to develop and strengthen community-level infrastructures and support household-level economic survival and well-being with regards to specific poor and vulnerable groups.

Click here for more information about our response to the crisis.

As part of our activities in Lebanon, we are looking for a Field Coordinator in Beirut.

The Field Coordinator is responsible for the overall functioning of the base and the proper implementation of programs developed on that base.

• Safety: In collaboration with the Head of Mission and with the support of the base security manager, He/She is responsible for the safety and security of the Base.
• Program: He/She is accountable for the efficient implementation of the projects. S/he ensures the coordination between the Support teams (Admin and Log) and the Deputy Field Coordinator in order to timely and qualitatively guarantee that the objectives and results of the projects are reached. S/He preventively identifies issues, gaps and delays that may impede the correct implementation of the projects and proposes mitigation plans to the HoM.
• Human Resources: He/She supervises all the teams of the Base, composed of national and international staff.
• Logistical, administrative and financial support: He/She oversees the logistical, administrative and financial components of the base for the purpose of program implementation and supports and ensures compliance with the relevant procedures, with substantive support from the Logistics Coordinator (LOGCO), the Administrative and Financial Coordinator and the HR Coordinator of the mission.
• Representation: He/She represents PUI with the stakeholders (such as donors, authorities, International/Local NGOs) and s/he guarantees full coordination with other INGOs on the ground.
• Coordination: He/she ensures proper coordination between the Base and the Coordination Office (Technical Coordinators and Deputy Head of Mission), keeping the Head of Mission always informed of core developments.
• Assessment/ Strategy: He/She understands the needs and humanitarian response and Donors’ strategies, participates in the strategy development and proposes new interventions according to needs identified in his/her field of operations.

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Training and Experience :

Training :

• Humanitarian base studies

Experience :

• At least 3 years of experience in projects development/implementation (+1M€ yearly budget);
• Experience building national staff capacity;
• Strong experience in Budget/Finance Management (cost-efficiency)
• Experience working with a variety of donors;
• Experience with qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methodologies required;

Knowledge and aptitudes :

• Project Management skills
• Team Management
• Ability to represent PUI as per the recommendations of the HoM and ensure an efficient and proactive coordination with other actors.

Computer skills :

• Pack Office

Qualities of candidate :

• Ability to work independently while taking initiatives and possessing a strong sense of responsibility
• Ability to stand pressure
• Sense of diplomacy and negotiation skills
• Analytical skills, particularly in understanding humanitarian and basic needs of populations in complex, urban context.
• Capacity to adapt and showing organizational flexibility
• Organization, rigor and ability to meet deadlines
• Ability to work and manage affairs professionally and with maturity
• Ability to represent the activities and the mandate of PUI before local authorities, donors and other humanitarian actors.
• Ability to integrate the local environment into operations, in its political, economic and historical dimensions
• Ability to work with various partners, in a spirit of openness, and with adaptable communications strategies

Languages :

• English required

• French and/or Arabic

Proposed Terms :

• Employed with a Fixed-Term Contract – 12 months

• Start date : 01 August 2017

• Monthly gross income: from 2 200€ up to 2 530€ depending on the experience in international solidarity + 50€ per semester with PUI

• Cost covered: Round-trip transportation to and from home / mission, visas, vaccines

• Insurance including medical coverage and complementary healthcare, 24/24 assistance and repatriation

• Housing in collective accommodation

• Daily living Expenses Per diem

• Break Policy : 5 working days at 3 and 9 months + break allowance

• Paid Leaves Policy : 5 weeks of paid leaves per year + return ticket every 6 months

To know more about our job offer, look at the job description on our website !

Please send your application (CV and Letter of Motivation) to Jean-Christophe Ouedraogo, Human Resources Officer for Expatriates at recrutement@premiere-urgence.org with the following subject : “FieldCo – LBN”.