Livelihoods Consultant

1. Introduction:

With the Syria crisis now entering its sixth year, the Government of Lebanon (GoL) estimates that the country hosts 1.5 million Syrians who have fled the conflict in Syria (including 997,905 registered refugees with UNHCR) whose presence registered Syrian refugees (The Lebanese Government estimates more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees in the country based on the LCRP) is having a dramatic impact on Lebanese society and economy exacting pressure on housing, employment, economy and national security.

The International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), a member of ACT Alliance has been operating in Lebanon since 2001, implementing development and humanitarian projects covering the following sectors: Education, Health, WASH, Food Security and Livelihoods at the national level.

IOCC is looking for a livelihoods consultant who will conduct a livelihoods mapping with the aim of identifying the livelihood coping strategies, and the challenges of vulnerable host community members and refugees in entering the labor market. This mapping aims as well at identifying key livelihood opportunities that would enable refugees to access this market given the legal framework, their current skills, and the area specific work environment.

The consultant will offer services to IOCC for a period of 5 weeks in order to complete a comprehensive livelihoods service mapping in both rural and urban settings throughout Lebanon, covering representative areas of interest in Bekaa, Akkar and Beirut/Mount Lebanon. The final service mapping will be shared with relevant donors and working groups and used for future programs based on geographic data and opportunities in urban and rural settings. A specific focus should be given to agriculture related livelihood opportunities and potential linkages between rural areas (producers) and urban areas (market), as well as value chain development potentials.

2. Deliverables:

• Submission of tools: one week from assignment start date.
• Midterm report: Progress to date, outline of final report, list of actors interviewed and list of actors to be interviewed by the end, all templates to be used.
• Final report that includes the following: A Map of all livelihood actors, a livelihood context analysis in each area, with statistics on the village level.

          By location, a mapping of the NGOs’ areas of interventions and activities. A narrative on the overall livelihoods mapping findings including   saturated areas.

          Gaps in current programing based on overall coverage of programs versus the number of rights holders in the area.

3. Activities:

• Develop a detailed work plan
• Identify UN, INGO, CBO and NGO actors in the livelihoods area
• Desk review on exiting mapping implemented by other INGOs 
• Design appropriate service mapping template
• Travel to IOCC field sites and other NGO sites to gather information about specialized services through in person interviews and telephone interviews.  
• In coordination with the IOCC Livelihoods Coordinator, communicate with the Livelihood working group, Leads and Government Departments in order to gather information of available services.  
• Collate the data gathered through the interview process into a comprehensive service mapping.
• Produce a presentation on the work implemented.
• Produce a comprehensive report on the findings and recommendations

Other 

• Conduct duties in accordance with IOCC program Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs); 
• Conduct duties in strict accordance with IOCC Code of Conduct and the principle of confidentiality. 
• Ensure transparency and IOCC positive regard and reputation within communities. 

This position requires extensive travel between Beirut and remote areas, and will also require participation in community outreach. 

4.Timeline

The final report and presentation will be due on February 14th 2018.

5. Essential Qualifications and Experience: 

• At least two years of professional experience, and a University Degree. 
• Exceptional written and spoken English and Arabic is a must in order to communicate with local community.
• Self-motivated individual, able to travel throughout Lebanon
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, with demonstrated skills in coordination and conducting interviews.
• Demonstrated computer skills, with the ability to develop user-friendly databases on excel and/or Access.
• Ability to work in a multicultural context and effectively represent IOCC with a broad range of actors.  
• Field experience in relation to market assessments, socio-economic or household economy assessments.

Preferred Qualifications and Experience: 

• Prior experience in Lebanese livelihood context, main players and humanitarian livelihood arena. 
• Experience in Lebanese areas  
• Experience in the UN or NGO or voluntary sector.  

Competency profile: 

• Strong knowledge and understanding of local NGOs, CSOs and Governmental actors.  
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; 
• Punctuality and respect for applicable rules and procedures; 
• Ethical and transparent decision-making; 
• Computer/IT literacy (OS Windows/Vista/Linux, MS Office, Internet etc.); 
• Independent work, i.e. with minimal supervision and under pressure; 
• Self-motivation, goal/result-orientation and team work; 
• Flexibility, creativeness, tolerance and maturity. 
• Expertise or knowledge of livelihood programming

Languages:

Spoken and written English is essential, Arabic is mandatory to communicate with local community. 

Fees:

The consultant shall be paid 100% at the end of his/her consultancy upon full delivery of the outputs.