Municipality & Community Participation_ACCD-VN2019-002

Project background:

MASAR for Local Governments is a programme funded by the EU MADAD trust fund. The overall aim of the programme is to strengthen the long-term resilience of targeted subnational governments and their host, refugee and IDP populations to deal with displacement.

Subnational governments in Iraq and Lebanon have been the first to be confronted by the repercussions of the Syrian refugee crisis: increased pressure on local services, competition for local employment opportunities, corroding social cohesion, faster urbanisation trends, rent-seeking behaviour and inflation due to externally injected funds in the local economy, and so forth.

MASAR for Local Governments focuses on the urban setting, which is the background of processes of displacement, investment, employment and service delivery.

The programme in Iraq aims to help municipal and governorate bodies in Dohuk and Ninewa. In Lebanon the programme aims to help governorates of Baalbek-Hermel, Akkar, coastal plain north of Tripoli and their unions of municipalities to deal with accelerated urbanisation caused by the crisis.

This programme will mobilise municipal experts from Iraq/Lebanon and Europe to contribute to build the capacity of subnational governments. This will include, among others, provision of technical advice; training; coaching and mentoring addressed to municipal Planning Units or Service Departments. Capacity building activities will be complemented by concrete pilot quick impact projects aiming to, for instance, designing an urban layout to improve an existing network of streets and roads to better accommodate a higher influx of traffic, or to set up a municipal solid waste sorting plant to better cope with increasing volumes of litter.

MASAR project is being implemented by a consortium of European entities: VNG International (the association of municipalities of the Netherlands), the Polish Center for International Aid (Polish acronym PCPM), the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (Catalan acronym ACCD), and Local Government Denmark (Danish acronym KL).

The successful candidate will work with ACCD under direct supervision by the Front Officer in the coastal plain north of Tripoli, including areas within the Governorate of Akkar. See annex for ACCD’s geographical area of intervention.

Aim of this assignment:

The Municipality & Community Participation officer, a national expert, will provide support to and liaise and coordinate closely with the selected subnational governments on day-to-day basis.

He/she will be under the direct supervision of the Front Officer based in Tripoli and will coordinate closely with the Team Leader based in Beirut.

Key Responsibilities:

The successful candidate will be responsible for:

• Providing technical assistance and hands-on advice to selected subnational governments on designing service delivery models that include community participation.
• Acting as interlocutor between the MASAR project team and selected subnational governments.
• Building relationships and networks with selected subnational governments and other relevant stakeholders.
• Liaising with local beneficiaries such as selected subnational governments and deconcentrated service providers of Ministries.
• Liaising with community representatives and councils; local NGOs; and private local businesses.
• Engaging with the beneficiary population (host community as well as refugees/IDP), with a focus on vulnerable groups such as women and youth, in order to assess and channel their needs.
• Supporting the establishment of dynamic community participation mechanisms making use of already existing structures in each setting as appropriate.
• Providing support to the Front Officer and act as deputy in his/her absence.
• Following up the planning, implementation and monitoring of project activities.
• Implement the activities in Lebanon as outlined in the Description of Action (DoA),
• Identify needs for experts (international and national), prepare their ToRs in close cooperation with the Front Officer.
• Organizing and facilitate community outreach activities and guaranteeing a continuous outreach presence.
• Organizing and facilitating feedback sessions with communities of selected subnational governments on the impact of service delivery and scenario planning in their urban area, including selecting benchmark indicators.
• In cooperation with the Front Officer Identifying procurement needs and priority investment projects together with subnational governments, based on the scenario plans.
• Contributing to the project narrative reports as requested.
• Perform any other duties as may be assigned.

Minimum qualifications:

1. Education:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited academic institution, preferably in journalism, political science, international affairs or other related social sciences field.
• Master’s degree will be an asset.

1. Professional Experience:

• Over 5 years of working experience with subnational governments and inter-governmental relations.
• Extensive knowledge of the local context; networks and contacts on the ground.
• Experience in writing reports.
• Experience in conducting surveys, assessments, etc.
• Excellent computer skills (Microsoft Office: Word, PowerPoint, Excel).

1. Competencies:

• Ability to work flexibly, independently and as part of a small team.
• Cultural sensitivity and cross-cultural skills (religion, ethnicity, gender).
• Ability to build collaborative relationships between diverse communities.

1. Languages:

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic.
• Working knowledge of French is an advantage.