Disability & Older Age Specialist (Consultant) - Beirut - National Candidates Only

Background of the project

The August 4, 2020, Port of Beirut explosion compounded Lebanon’s existing economic and social challenges and disproportionally affected Beirut’s vulnerable populations. Since the explosion the efforts of civil society have been crucial for recovery and rehabilitation efforts. Several obstacles remain that challenge the effectiveness, inclusivity and sustainability of the broader recovery and rehabilitation process, which include coordination challenges between ongoing efforts and the ad hoc or temporary nature of interventions. The situation of Beirut’s population remains precarious and the need for support to recovery and reconstruction efforts urgent.

Project Description: Supporting Beirut’s Immediate Social Recovery Services

The project will focus on reducing vulnerabilities (related to physical, psychological, social factors…) which are prevalent amongst three groups affected by the blast in Beirut: (i) survivors of Gender-Based Violence (SGBV); (ii) those suffering from deteriorated psycho-social wellbeing; (iii) and/or those facing limitations related to being a person with disabilities and older persons

Already deeply constrained by pre-existing structural barriers leading to vulnerabilities and Lebanon’s multi-dimensional crises, the POB explosion has brought persons with disabilities and older people to a point of unprecedented precarity, where their access to healthcare services became even more challenging.

 Supporting Beirut’s Immediate Social Recovery Services interventions will entail providing grant financing directly to a select number of NGOs, to enable them to provide social services to reduce vulnerabilities in these groups.

This will be achieved by supporting non-government stakeholders that are engaged and have a track record in delivering social recovery services and working with target groups by improving their capacity to meaningfully participate in the broader social recovery and reconstruction processes.

The World Bank has selected the IRC to act as the Intermediary Implementing Agency (IIA) to implement the Supporting Beirut’s Immediate Social Recovery Services project. The IRC will take on project management, grant provision and/or procurement of services from NGOs and will be responsible for the fiduciary supervision of the selected NGO partners.

Scope of work & Responsibilities

The Disability and Older Age Specialist is responsible for the design and planning of the project activities for persons with disabilities and older people to ensure they can access without barriers appropriate promotive, preventive, therapeutic and rehabilitative services.

Main responsibilities are segregated as follows:

• Develop a detailed action plan for the project activities for inclusion and meaningful participation of persons with disabilities and older people
• Develop, co-facilitate, and guide the participatory needs assessment, to:
  • better understand the barriers faced, gaps in existing responses and needs of the older people and persons with disabilities
  • map organizations who are providing the same services to avoid duplication/overlapping.
  • identify preferences of these groups in terms of access to health services and participation in the response
  • propose solutions and offer adapted services accordingly while ensuring the continuing involvement of the beneficiaries in all the stages of this process
• In coordination with the health and partnership units, identify representative organizations of persons with disabilities and older people and partners to conduct the participatory needs assessment and to deliver CBR services to the older people and persons with disabilities.
• Develop tools to facilitate collection of evidence and feedback on CBR interventions from persons with disabilities and older people
• Create the training plan on the CBR approaches detailing the selection of topics, selection criteria of partners and participants, and the coordination mechanism with the stakeholders concerned.
• Plan the peer-to-peer activities and self-help groups whose objective is to maximize the efficiency of the CBR, specifying the partners, participants, structure of the groups, organization and ensuring they are accessible to persons with disabilities and older people, etc.…
• Participate in the development of an Identification, Counselling and Referral portal through a CBR program for persons with disabilities and older people.
• Using data from the participatory needs assessment, develop a detailed list of the assistive devices (like hearing, aid, vision products) enabling the procurement and distribution of these devices to the older people and persons with disabilities.

Deliverables:

• Action Plan for the project activities for persons with disabilities and older people
• Participatory Needs Assessment methods and tools
• Stakeholder Mapping, and list of partners, representative organizations and stakeholders involved in the project’s activities, along with the coordination mechanism with each one of them
• Development of tools for the data collection and feedback
• Training plan on the CBR approaches
• Planning of the peer-to-peer activities
• Detailed list of the assistive devices
• Design of a Referral Pathway for persons with disabilities and older people

Payment:

Payments will be settled upon the completion of the above-mentioned deliverables.

Requirements:

• Knowledge of the principles and practices of medical, psychological, and technical evaluations of disabilities as well as inclusion of persons with disabilities and older people
• Considerable project management experience in Community-Based Rehabilitation work focusing on persons with disabilities and older people
• Previous experience working with persons with disabilities and older people
• Leadership and communication skills.
• Demonstrable understanding of project planning and management cycles, and strong program design skills.
• Highly organized, diplomatic, close attention to detail, and ability to effectively prioritize tasks in a fluid environment.
• Professional fluency in spoken and written English; able to communicate concisely and with impact.
• Fluency in Arabic.
• Strong computer skills.