Crisis Analytics Intern (Applications will only be accepted if submitted through the URL link provided below)

Mercy Corps responsibilities

For the duration of this internship assignment the intern will receive:

• Workstation with a computer, internal database and office resources
• All other tools, materials and communication requirements for this project to be undertaken

PROJECT & INTERNSHIP DESCRIPTION:

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.

The Program / Department / Team (Program / Department Summary)

Mercy Corps has developed a Crisis Analytics function to support our programming in the most complex contexts, including Syria, Libya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and others. The Lebanon Crisis Analytics Team, which was launched in Lebanon for the first time in August 2021, seeks to support Mercy Corps’ in-country programming as well as the wider humanitarian and crisis response in Lebanon, currently experiencing a highly volatile and rapidly developing series of concurrent crises. It does this through the provision of quality, timely and relevant analytical products.

Mercy Corps’ LCAT team aggregates and analyzes data to provide a more nuanced understanding of both the humanitarian context and its impact on markets, households, and coping strategies to enable better decision-making for donors, implementers, and policymakers in complex crises. The team directly contributes to data-driven decision-making by layering information from primary sources, open sources, and responders’ programmatic data, which is analysed by subject matter experts and data scientists. This analysis is grounded in Mercy Corps’ status as an operational NGO, keeping our products constructive and relevant for policymakers, responders and donors within a given crisis.

While current data and analytics have tended to focus on the refugee crisis and the most vulnerable Lebanese, there is an urgently growing need to provide a more comprehensive countrywide view of what data around near-daily changes in prices, devaluation, shortages, and other shocks actually mean and how they impact those living in Lebanon. They help forecast humanitarian and economic needs and anticipated knock-on effects of multiple shocks and stresses.

The LCAT seeks to provide that contextualized analysis through monthly situation updates, forecasts, scenario building, bespoke deeper dive pieces on important humanitarian and fragility issues, and urgent flash analyses of rapidly developing situations.

LCAT’s products will also guide and influence the course of Mercy Corps’ programming, serving three distinct purposes:

1. Provide analysis to program teams for more efficient, effective and targeted humanitarian program design, implementation, and evaluation;
2. Provide information to program and operations teams that enable them to appropriately design risk mitigation plans; and
3. Develop a knowledge repository and build expertise on programming landscapes and relevant actors in Lebanon, further contributing to a culture of research and learning.

LCAT products could be found on the Mercy Corps Lebanon website.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Through the internship, the intern will acquire:

• Experience in research and crisis analytics in a non-governmental organization
• The capacity to conduct contextualized research that would provide analysis and information relevant to the program and operations team for a more effective and targeted humanitarian programming
• Exposure to NGO/donor coordination and reporting;
• Increase knowledge and understanding of crisis analytics programming in a humanitarian context.

DELIVERABLES:

• Support in providing qualitative and quantitative analysis of political and economic, trends, and potential future scenarios to better guide humanitarian planning, crisis preparedness, targeting, and response.
• Support the Crisis Analyst on a study the LCAT team is conducting.
• Contribute to key analytics products for the donor, broader humanitarian response, community, and Mercy Corps program teams based on local area dynamics and under the supervision of the Lead Analyst.
• Support the overall continuation of a culture of a team, which is highly aware of the context.
• Contribute to contextual presentations to program teams on a regular basis.

IDEAL CANDIDATE SHOULD POSSESS THE FOLLOWING QUALIFICATIONS:

• Law, Politics, International Relations, Economics, conflict studies or a related field is an asset
• Analytical experience within a think-tank, UN, or NGO experience or a similar Crisis Analytics Unit is a strong asset
• Lebanese residence is a requirement with a strong depth of knowledge and experience with the Lebanese historical context and current state of multiple shocks and stresses, with a specific understanding of political, social, conflict, and security dynamics within Lebanon a definite asset
• Excellent written and spoken English must
• Excellent written and spoken Arabic is a must
• Strong research and reporting skills are required

Mercy Corps interns and volunteers represent the agency both during and outside of work hours and are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.