Consultant for Research on climate, gender and security

International Alert is implementing a research project in different countries – one of which is Lebanon – to provide global guidelines and/or a programmatic product that supports stakeholders to identify and navigate key areas of engagement for the international community (institutional partners and INGO.

By the end of the project, International Alert aims to produce a guideline paper that reflects learnings on the gender, climate and security nexus. The process behind developing this paper will support internal organisational learning on the subject matter, as well as highlight key opportunities in gender, climate and security nexus programming at global, regional, and national level to support inclusive community resilience to climate

In fulfilling our goal, the process itself is quite critical providing opportunities for internal learning and external outreach with donors, government, academia, and civil society. In undergoing this process, three key objectives will be met:

1. Produce information products. In exploring the gender, climate and security nexus we will produce webinars and internal reports that cover each of the four focus areas which will in turn inform the national (and where applicable, regional) roundtable discussions and the final guideline product.

2. Facilitate internal reflection. Under each of the focus areas we will reflect on the topic in relation to the gender, climate and security nexus and use this information to inform our internal Community of Practice sessions, that in turn will support finalisation of information papers/

3. Engage in networking. In this process we will create opportunities to engage with DFID, government, academia, and civil society with the objective of exploring how we can work together to build gender, climate and security nexus policies and programming.

Focus Areas (FA) and Key Deliverables

• FA1 Evidence behind the gender, climate and security nexus. Understanding the gender, climate and security nexus both the theory and practice.
• FA2 Frameworks and Policies. Review global agendas, frameworks and/or national policies that support or have the potential to integrate the gender, climate and security nexus.
• FA3 Internal Programme Reflections. Review International Alert programming with an eye on opportunities for gender, climate and security nexus programming.
• FA4 Building partnerships to support the gender, climate and security nexus. Identify internal and external case studies on the gender, climate and security nexus or potential for development.

Process

The process includes four key steps: webinar, internal preparations, community of practice and information papers, for each of the above mentioned four focus areas.

• Webinar. These webinars will be produced by PAU and made available across the Alert family. Sessions will be pre-recorded so that PRP focus countries can access the information at any time and share internally within COs. The purpose of the webinar is to introduce the focus area topic with a global lens providing the foundation for COs to take provided information and reflect at national level.

• Internal Preparation. Approximately two weeks in length, this time period is allocated to the CO taking information from the webinar (and provided tools) and gathering necessary information on the assigned focus area (FA). Information gathered will be used to feed into the Community of Practice discussions and the corresponding Information Paper. Guidance from PAU will be provided if, and when, requested during this process.

• Community of Practice. This gathering will be facilitated by PAU and consist of all three participating countries. The discussions will be on the assigned focus area and based on the internal preparations.

• Information Paper. Each information paper will be produced according to the focus area. There will be a total of 4 short information papers coming from each country office. They will form the basis of the final guidance paper.

All these steps will be amalgamated to form the final guideline report that will be reviewed in national and, where applicable, regional level roundtable discussions. Each CO will be responsible for organising and hosting a national/regional roundtable that will reflect on the final guideline paper. It is anticipated that roundtables may be virtual, but where possible can be hosted in small group or groups.

Objectives of the assessment

The overall objective of the consultancy is to conduct research on the four focus areas that will be part of the preparation of the community-of-practice sessions and the information papers. Further information from International Alert on the content and tools of the webinars will be provided, in addition to guidance on research questions for each focus area.

Deliverables and tentative workplan

The Consultant will work closely with International Alert’s team. Alert will advise the consultant on the research methodology and tools. The Consultant will be responsible for data collection (primary and secondary) and report writing, following an agreed structure.

• Task 1: Data collection (primary and secondary)

Time: 6 days

• Task 2: Write-up of four short reports

Time: 4 days

Consultant profile

• University degree in social sciences or relevant fields
• Excellent skills in research and data collection, including remote data collection, in Lebanon
• Excellent spoken Arabic skills, and excellent writing skills in English
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Demonstrated ability to handle sensitive information with discretion and professionalism, including following data protection guidelines and establishing and observing systems for managing data safely and securely 
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
• Prior experience in context analysis, peacebuilding and conflict analysis in Lebanon is essential and experience with gender sensitivity analysis a strong plus

Education degree: Bachelor’s degree  

Experience required:

• 3 to 5 years

Languages - Arabic: Excellent English: Excellent

Period: A maximum of 10 full working days to be completed between September and November 2020.

Compensation: Competitive price offers