Senior Key Expert-Gender Based Violence Policies

1. Context and justification of the need

The 2021 Joint Communication on a “Renewed partnership with the Southern Neighborhood - A new Agenda for the Mediterranean” underlines the importance to give special attention to the promotion of the role of women in society and the economy as part of a renewed commitment to the rule of law, human and fundamental rights, equality, democracy and good governance. In line with EU external and internal policy areas set under the Gender Action Plan (GAP) III which scales up the EU contribution to reach SDG 52 in all EU internal and external policy areas and across the 2030 Agenda, the European Commission has adopted in 2022 the Action “Women Empowerment Hub in Lebanon (WE HUB)” financed under the Neighborhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI-Global Europe).

The overall objective of the action, with a budget of EUR 6,000,000, is to promote the advancement and empowerment of women for effective realization of gender equality. The specific objectives of the project are:

SO1. Increase women’s leadership and participation in political and public sphere.

SO2. Foster an enabling environment for better engagement of women in the workforce.

SO3. Enhance key legislative reform and measures that protect women from all forms of violence.

The expected results of the action are as follows:

Under SO1:

• Women feel more empowered to engage in political life.
• Women are more visible in public space. They gain competencies, networks, confidence and legitimacy.
• Policy dialogue at national level is enhanced and the political and legislative framework is more compliant with gender equality.

Under SO2:

• Women and civil society are better equipped to address discriminatory social norms and gender stereotypes.
• Policies stemming from evidence-based information and recommendations to combat gender discrimination and inequalities are adopted by different stakeholders on a systemic level.
• More women can access employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, in non-traditional and unconventional sectors.

Under SO3:

• Actors in the line of protection offer better services to VGB-survivor and their coordination with NGOs is enhanced.
• The access to justice of GBV survivors is enhanced.
• The existing legal framework for protection of women from violence is more enforced.

WE-HUB Project will be implemented by Expertise France and GIZ, as follows:

Expertise France will be in charge of components 1 and 3 and responsible for the overall coordination of the project and donor reporting. GIZ will be in charge of component 2. 

Needs justification

Expertise France is implementing a project that deals with numerous stakeholders and beneficiaries, from both the public administration and civil society. The project involves a well-defined set of deliverables that must be attained throughout its 42 months period.

The correct implimentation of component 3/SO3 will require having a specialized legal and technical expert. Therefore, the key expert will be supporting the full time key expert overviewing the first and third component by working on a regular basis on a defined set of deliverables.

The activities planned under Component 3 / SO3 are the following:

• 3.1. Assessment on the gaps in the implementation of existing laws on GBV.
• 3.2. Awareness sessions about civil rights and legal duties in case of GBVs and information about existing services to several target (to be defined in line with the assessment).
• 3.3. Capacity reinforcement of the legal taskforce.
• 3.4. Assistance to GBV survivors in coordination with NCLW, ISF (legal department and Hotline), the Ministry of Justice (the academy of judges) and the MoSA (women's affairs department).

2. Job Description / Assignment

Position’s Overall Objective and reporting lines

The Key Expert 3 is responsible of the implementation of all the activities of Component 3 “Protection of women from all forms of violence” under the supervision of the Project Leader and  the Component coordinator.

The deliverables of Key Expert 3 are:

• Ensuring the planification, correct implementation and the monitoring of all activities under Component 3, under the supervision of the Project Manager and with the support of the Component coordinator.
• Ensuring the production of data, evidence-based information about the gaps in the implementation of existing laws of GBV (assessment report of activity 3.1) and writing the resulting recommendations together with NCLW.
• Creating the content of the awareness sessions in coordination with the concerned Ministries.
• Animating the awareness sessions together with the legal force and CSOs and with the support of the Component coordinator who is responsible for organizing the sessions.
• Animate a multi-actor dialogue in favour of GBV survivors in coordination with NCLW, ISF, Ministry of Justice and the MoSA and with the support of the Component coordinator.
• Providing legal consulting services to GBV survivors through a taskforce.
• Reinforcing and supporting the legal task force: writing the action plan for sustainability, conducing additional trainings, organizing roundtables, with the support of the Component coordinator.
• Writing the terms of reference of the short-term experts and service providers working on the activities of this Component.
• Supervising and coordinating the work of the short-term experts, service providers and grantees mobilized under Component 3 with the support of the Component coordinator and ensuring the quality of their deliverables.
• Ensuring data collection of activities implemented under Component 3, in close coordination with the MEAL officer and Component coordinator.
• Ensuring, under the supervision of the Project manager and support of the Component coordinator the global coherence of component 3 with the whole WE HUB project.  
• Providing expertise and support both to the field and headquarters team (Gender Equality Unit) as per the need: contributing to the draft of concept notes regarding gender equality issues in Lebanon, identifying project opportunities, etc.

3. Technical Skills, Experience & Knowledge

• Master’s degree in Political or Social Sciences, International Development, Gender Studies, Law, or any related topic.
• A minimum of 7 years proven experience in gender equality issues, or supporting civil society and institutional actors working on gender equality.
• Excellent knowledge of Lebanese legislative framework related to gender equality (personal status, nationality laws), stakeholders, institutional reforms formulation and decision-making processes. 
• Excellent understanding of the Lebanese context regarding gender equality and mainly gender based violence.
• Proven ability to cooperate and negotiate with local and institutional partners as well as government representatives and CSOs.
• Good command of program and project management life cycle including strategic planning, development, management, monitoring and evaluation. Experience in the management of integrated multisector projects would be an asset.
• Previous experience working with the Lebanese National Gender Observatory is a great asset.
• Previous experience working on EU funded projects is an asset.
• Excellent communication skills ability to adapt to a diverse multicultural environment.
• Excellent command of English (oral and written) and Arabic. French would be an asset.

Additional skills required:

• Excellent expression and diplomatic skills.
• Capacity to promote teamwork and coordinate/communicate with project’s components and partners and external stakeholders.
• Capacity to handle pressure and adapt to changing situations and contexts.
• Ability to delegate clear tasks.