Governance And Social Stability Specialist (Re-Posted)

  Lebanon Reforestation Initiative Terms of Reference Governance and Social Stability Specialist   I. INTRODUCTION Project Background Information The Lebanon Reforestation Initiative (LRI) is a Lebanese NGO registered at the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities under no. 1186 on 18 June 2014. LRI is managing a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the United States Forest Service (USFS) that provides technical assistance and institutional support for sustainable native tree reforestation and wildfire management. With administrative offices in Beirut, LRI technical experts manage a multi-year work program of activities throughout Lebanon in collaboration with grassroots organizations and local communities.   Governance and social stability Recent economic, social and environmental developments have increased attention given to the role that good governance and sustainable engagement of local communities plays in achieving long-term development goals. Reforestation being a long-term process that requires continuous follow-up and good management, active community involvement and community ownership of this process becomes crucial for its success. LRI seeks to ensure a process of community involvement and local community-based governance that enables interested local citizens or stakeholders to meet on equal terms to facilitate a participatory decision making process. The goal is to provide local communities and their constituent stakeholders with ownership of the project to help promote success and longer-term sustainability. With the increasing Syrian refugee crisis, and the consequent accentuation of environmental and socio-economic issues in Lebanese rural areas, LRI also seeks to facilitate dialogue between the local communities of different backgrounds, and between host communities and Syrian refugees,  to support them in assessing their common environmental concerns and jointly planning solutions to those common problems.  II. PURPOSE OF THE POSITION LRI seeks a full time Governance and Social Stability Specialist to work together with LRI staff to help promote community ownership and governance of reforestation projects in each of three (3) regions of Lebanon where LRI is working to expand its reforestation activities on a biocorridor level.  The Governance and Social Stability Specialist will focus on establishing sustainable community environmental committees in each town included in LRI’s reforestation activities as well as biocorridor environmental committees in each of the three biocorridors (North, West Beqaa and Chouf), promoting local ownership of reforestation efforts and supporting them to develop their own community engagement plans, defining common environmental issues and advocating for them, and to identifying ways of bringing neighboring communities together over reforestation efforts, with emphasis on communities hosting large numbers of Syrian refugees.       The Specialist is expected to perform the following duties: Build upon previous governance and social stability work and continue to implement LRI’s strategy for Governance and Social Stability. Coach the Corridor Planning Committees (CPC) of the three Social and Environmental Corridors where LRI works and help them develop and implement community engagement strategies. Identify experts and training plans that respond to the 3 CPCs capacity development needs. Facilitate community meetings and events and create linkages among partner communities. Support local authorities by facilitating regular stakeholder dialogue in an open and transparent manner; Support communities in advocating for their common environmental issues; Develop activities among CPCs to create a better potential for exchange across regions of Lebanon; Implement activities that join Lebanese and Syrian youth and serve LRI’s social stability goals; Coordinate with LRI’s M&E officer on the collection of information and the assessment for impact on social stability of the component’s activities. Document all work accomplished and assist the communication component in showcasing community success stories Coordinate among all LRI components and communicate all components’ needs and messages to partner communities and CPCs; and Any other related activities and assistance that may reasonably be required. III. EXPECTED DELIVERABLES  In close coordination with the LRI’s Project Director, Community Engagement Specialist, and other LRI component managers, the Governance and Social Stability Specialist will follow LRI’s governance and social stability strategy for LRI and three community governance models that are implemented at the biocorridor level and work on documenting them for broader use and potential replication across Lebanon. Specific deliverables include but are not limited to: Regular reports on the development of community interest groups and strategic plans; Regular reporting on community activities and on specific M&E indicators Updated workplan tracking sheet on a monthly basis; Three (3) documented model case studies of the governance efforts for use in future community reforestation projects. A strategy for LRI on how to address the Syrian refugee crisis and encourage engagement of Syrian refugees in planning for activities tackling common environmental concerns IV. REQUIREMENTS The Governance and Social Stability Specialist should possess the following competencies, skills, and experience: •     Strong academic and proven practical knowledge in the field of community mobilization, governance and social stability approaches and programming; At least 5 years of relevant experience in the development of integrated strategies for community engagement and governance in rural areas in Lebanon; Demonstrated track record of success in achieving community mobilization and engagement; governance and social stability in diverse communities; Extensive experience working in rural areas in Lebanon; experience in the North of Lebanon and the region of West Beqaa is preferred; Strong analytical and inter-personal skills; Excellent reporting and presentation skills; Willingness to travel outside Beirut to the project sites for at least 80% of the time; Fluency in both written and spoken English and Arabic; and Possess a car and a driving license and able to use his/her car for field trips on a cost-reimbursable basis. V. Contact Information For further information or to submit a letter of interest and accompanying curriculum vitae, preferably by Friday, December 2nd, 2016, please contact: Lebanon Reforestation Initiative     info@lri-lb.org