Lebanon: Consultant - Youth and Adolescent Development Specialist, Beirut

CONSULTANCY - 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, microfinance 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 - Youth and Adolescent Development Specialist, Beirut

BACKGROUND

Within the framework of the 2017 UNICEF-UNRWA strategic partnership for Palestine refugee children and youth and the 2016 UNICEF-UNRWA Regional MOU; UNRWA with support from UNICEF is planning to strengthen its support to young Palestine refugees. UNICEF is seeking to deploy a qualified Youth and Adolescent Development Specialist to the new UNRWA Lebanon Field Youth Unit.

Under the direct supervision of UNRWA’s Deputy Director for Programmes, the Youth and Adolescent Development Specialist will lead the development of the new UNRWA Chief Youth Unit. The work of the Youth Unit will be of cross departmental nature, coordinating with relevant staff in the different project teams, UNRWA departments (Protection, Health, Education, Relief and Social Services and Engineering) and external partners.

Description of Duties and Responsibilities

1. UNRWA Lebanon youth strategy planning and implementation

2. Participate and/or conduct/update situation analysis and assessments to establish age and sex disaggregated evidence-based data for UNRWA’s advocacy and development of policies, frameworks and programmes to promote adolescent development and participation in the country;

3. Assess national/regional/international development priorities to identify opportunities and strategies and courses of action to enhance the delivery of services and achievement of objectives on adolescent development and participation. Work in coordination with Protection, Education, Health, Planning, Emergency, Communication and Monitoring & Evaluation to support development of a strategic framework for adolescents, across all sectors;

4. Lead UNRWA Lebanon’s youth strategy planning, implementation and preparation to provide input, advice and operational support on the integration of cross sectoral policies and framework that promote adolescent development and participation. This includes participation in the processes of UNRWA Lebanon policy formulation. Ensure alignment of adolescent policies, frameworks and interventions with the UNRWA’s Strategic Plans and coherence/integration with the UN Strategic Framework (UNSF), regional strategies and national priorities, plans and competencies;

5. Establish specific goals, objectives and strategies and implementation plans for adolescent development and participation programmes/projects across all sectors using results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM). Prepare relevant documentation for programme review and approval;

6. Work closely and collaboratively with internal/external colleagues and partners and stakeholders to discuss strategies and methodologies that enhance the realization of adolescent rights across all sectors and to promote partnerships and alliances on adolescent development and participation including partnerships with adolescents;

7. Ensure that the voices of adolescents and children are systematically taken into consideration in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the programme cycle.

8. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

9. Plan and/or collaborate with monitoring and evaluation initiatives to establish age disaggregated benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNRWA/UN system indicators, to assess and strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of sustainable results on adolescent development and participation programmes and projects;

10. Participate in major monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual reviews with government and other counterparts to assess progress and to engage stakeholders to take required action/interventions to achieve results for adolescents;

11. Prepare/assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths and weaknesses in programme and management, identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals;

12. Plan, monitor and oversee the use of programme resources (financial, human, administrative and other assets) certifying/verifying compliance with organizational rules, regulations and procedures, donor commitments and standards of accountability and integrity;

13. Ensure timely reporting and liquidation of resources;

14. Provide technical leadership to generate knowledge on the situation of adolescents, support sector specific analysis of data on adolescents and improve utilization of sex and age disaggregated data within UNRWA monitoring and evaluation tools and among partners;

15. Submit/prepare proposals, programme/project reports to donors and other partners to raise resources for adolescent interventions and keep donors informed on programme progress and critical issues.

16. Advisory services and technical support

17. Participate in strategic discussions, meetings and other international/national meetings and workshops to provide evidence based papers and inputs on adolescent development and participation to influence policy and agenda setting;

18. Provide technical advice and guidance to key government officials, NGO, UN system and other country office partners on policies, strategies, best practices and approaches on adolescent development and participation to support programme development, conceptualizing, planning, implementation and delivery of results;

19. Prepare policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use, information and consideration in development discussion and planning relating to adolescents;

20. Provide technical advice to internal sectoral staff and external partners on approaches to enhance adolescents’ participation into the policy, programming and humanitarian interventions.

21. Advocacy, networking and partnership building

22. Lead advocacy drive for adolescent rights and programming within the country office, with other UN and government and non-government partners based on improved evidence and data;

23. Build and strengthen strategic partnerships through networking and advocacy with local/national governments, UN system agency partners, donors, internationally recognized institutions, NGOs, funding organization, research institutes, youth led organizations and private sector to reinforce cooperation and/or pursue opportunities to promote goals and achieve sustainable and broad results on UNRWA’s adolescent development and participation initiatives;

24. Contribute to the preparation of advocacy and communication strategies and implementation plans and activities for maximum communication impact and outreach to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and to ensure that adolescent development and participation programmes and initiatives are adequately resourced and supported;

25. Participate and/or represent UNRWA in inter-agency (UNCT) discussions and planning on adolescent development and participation to ensure organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNSF development planning and agenda setting process. Collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues the UNSF planning and preparation of programmes/projects including emergency preparedness.

26. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

27. Promote, document and disseminate critical thinking, innovative approaches and good practices on adolescent development and participation initiatives through advocacy and technical advisory services;

28. Keep abreast, research, benchmark, introduce and implement best and cutting edge practices on adolescent development related issues. Institutionalize and disseminate best practices and knowledge learned to support development, planning, implementation and scale up;

29. Contribute to the development of policies and procedures and introduce innovation and best practices that promote the rights of adolescents and enhances their development and participation as active members of society and their community;

30. Organize/plan/implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of a wide range of internal and external partners/stakeholders to achieve sustainable results on adolescent development and participation programmes and initiatives.

minimum Qualifications and Experience

· Advanced degree (Master’s) from an accredited educational institution in anthropology, psychology, sociology, economics, education, public health, behavior communication or other social science field;

· A minimum of 8 years of professional experience in social and policy programme development planning and management, operational support and humanitarian settings in adolescent development related areas, preferably in a developing country. Relevant experience in programme/project development and management in related areas in a UN system agency or organization is highly desirable. Relevant experience in Youth programming, development and management; cross-cutting with learning and skills programmes in a UN system agency or organization is highly desirable;

● Proficiency in English and another UN language;

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

Arabic language is highly advantageous.

CONDITIONS OF SERVICE

· The duration of the consultancy is 11 months with an expected start date of February 2018;

· Remuneration for this consultancy is an equivalent of P4 and will depend on the qualifications and experience of the consultant;

· The incumbent will be based in Lebanon Field Office.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applicants should submit a cover letter and CV or UN Personal History Form demonstrating clearly the knowledge and experience required to meet the consultancy requirements via consultancy@unrwa.org indicating the title of this consultancy “**Youth and Adolescent Development Specialist**” in the subject line of the message. The deadline for the submission of applications is 18 January 2018**.**

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.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applicants should submit a cover letter and CV or UN Personal History Form demonstrating clearly the knowledge and experience required to meet the consultancy requirements via consultancy@unrwa.org indicating the title of this consultancy “**Youth and Adolescent Development Specialist**” in the subject line of the message. The deadline for the submission of applications is 18 January 2018**.**