Vacancy Notice – Legal Expert (specialised in Municipal Governance)

Assignment Description: Preparing and delivering two half-day consultation sessions with municipal officials and line ministries to jointly reflect on the potential creation of a municipal association. 

Assignment Location: Beirut, Lebanon

Employment Type: Long-term consultancy 

Assignment Period: Across 2023

Level of Effort: Up to five expert days   

How to apply: Please send the application documents to info.lebanon@democracy-reporting.org cc’ing e.haddad@democracy-reporting.org, by 19 March 2023, 11:59 PM local time. 

DRI is looking for a Legal Expert specialised in municipal governance to design, facilitate, and report on two half-day consultation sessions with municipal officials and line ministries to jointly reflect on the potential creation of a municipal association.

To find out more about the requirements for this vacancy, please download the full procurement notice available in English below.  

Background

Democracy Reporting International (DRI) is a non-partisan, independent, not-for-profit organisation registered in Berlin. It has been established in Lebanon since 2016. DRI promotes political participation of citizens, accountability of state bodies and the development of democratic institutions worldwide. Democratic discourse is the basis of our mission and vision. In our work, we facilitate discussion and exchange about democratic government and the need for a continuous discourse adhering to democratic rules.   

In the framework of its Lebanon project “A bottom-up reform agenda for Lebanon: Supporting youth, women, and civil society actors to expand civic space”, DRI will continue facilitating a bottom-up approach to political and legal reform by providing an inclusive space for municipal officials. Building on the municipal peer-to-peer structure developed during 2021, DRI continues to support municipal officials in forming an entity to become the “voice of local authorities”, lobby the central government, and shape the municipal agenda. Therefore, DRI will organise two half-day consultation sessions between municipal officials and the line ministries to jointly reflect on common challenges and devise citizen-centric and gender-responsive local governance solutions.

To this end, DRI is recruiting a Legal Expert specialised in municipal governance to facilitate these discussion sessions and draw a roadmap for the creation of this entity based on the challenges and the recommendations discussed during the sessions. The outcome might lead to drafting potential bylaws to institutionalise the created entity.  

Duties and responsibilities

Under the supervision of DRI’s Project Coordinator, the Expert will:  

• Prepare and deliver two half days consultation sessions building on 2021 findings and contribute actively in the discussions with Lebanese municipal officials (½ expert day for the first consultation session, and ½ expert day for the second consultation session, and ½ expert day for preparations; (1½ expert days in total);
• Advise on the founding principles of municipal associations and suggest guidelines to design a successful municipal entity in Lebanon (½ expert day);
• Submit end assignment report summarising the key takeaways of the consultation sessions, providing policy recommendations for the entity’s purpose and scope of work that might lead to drafting bylaws (3 expert day).

 Your Skills & Experience  

• An advanced university degree in law, political science, public policy/administration or relevant fields;
• At least 7 years of experience working on local governance issues;
• Proven track record in developing legal materials (bylaws, statutes, regulations, etc.) related to municipal governance);
• Comparative knowledge of municipal associations in developed and developing countries is a plus;
• Strong facilitation and reporting skills;
• Working proficiency in Arabic, knowledge of English is preferred.