National Consultancy: Consultant to support Beirut Municipality to roll out the PSEAH policy developed in 2022 and its reporting channels, Home based, 12 Working Days

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, hope

UNICEF started to work in Lebanon in 1948 and established its office in 1950. For more than 70 years we’ve been working closely with the Government of Lebanon, other UN agencies, international and local NGOs, universities, and more than 100 partners to meet the needs of disadvantaged children in Lebanon. Responding to life-saving needs and ensuring equal access to quality public services, the impact of our work is felt in every aspect and every sphere of society. To learn more about our work, please refer to: https://www.unicef.org/lebanon/what-we-do

How can you make a difference?

Sexual Harassment, and sexual exploitation and abuse are among the most prominent forms of gender-based and sexual violence that women face in different aspects of their lives with grave consequences to health, security, psychosocial and socio- economic well-being.

Sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse are considered underreported everywhere in Lebanon because of its sensitive nature, lack of trust in formal systems, fear of one’s safety, the inherited social norms, victim-blaming culture, the impunity for misconduct culture and the economic dependency.

Lebanon has made evident progress to tackle this problem, most notably through passing Law No.205 in December 2020.The new law criminalizes sexual harassment and penalizes perpetrators, protects the victim and any witness who testify against the abuser, and provided for the establishment of specialized fund at the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) to cater for the different needs of victims for support.

In this context, UNICEF has actively contributed to the implementation of this law in Lebanon and the dissemination of its provisions among relevant stakeholders and the general public; whereby we have worked with Beirut Municipality since 2021 on development of PSEAH policy in line with the new sexual harassment law and other relevant laws and procedures.

The Municipality of Beirut PSEAH Policy and its reporting mechanism were prepared following a comprehensive review of international norms and standards relating to sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, and sexual abuse, along with relevant aspects of the Lebanese legal framework. This included laws relating to, inter alia: sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, and sexual abuse; the obligations of civil servants; mandatory reporting; whistle blower protection. During the process of preparation of this policy, we have reviewed some organigrams, circulars and regulations emanating from the Municipality of Beirut.

Integral to the contextualization process were the ongoing consultations with key stakeholders, including the Governor of Beirut to understand the structure, functioning and culture of the Municipality of Beirut, which in turn assisted in defining the implementation modalities as well as identifying remaining gaps. Following the launching of this policy, a PSEAH core group committee was established within the Municipality to follow on the roll out process.

Given the importance to continue this investment, Beirut Municipality with UNICEF’s support is seeking to hire a consultant to support the operationalization of the PSEAH Policy and the Reporting Mechanism in the municipality through 1) rolling out the guidelines capacity building initiatives, 2) development of tools, forms, and templates, development of complementarity protocols and policies and testing the reporting channels included in the PSEAH policy.

UNICEF will adopt a participatory, engaging and phased approach to ensure the channels created, tools developed, staff are properly trained, and indicators are relevant to the context of the municipality. This process will be done in close consultation with the governor to get his sign off for the newly developed procedures along with the established PSEA committee in the municipality, the mother and child committee and NCLW. UNICEF will also involve the PSEA In Country network Country in this roll out of this policy.

For further information on the JD please click here TOR PSEAH consultant_Beirut Municiplaity – stage 1 in 2024.pdf

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Education: BA in social work, law, or gender studies. Human rights laws, Gender, and gender-based violence related issues.
• Experience: 10 years of extensive work experience in writing/development of policy papers, studies and guidance on women’s rights and gender related issues.
• Extensive experience in training and capacity building on issues related to rights, gender, and protection.
• Excellent capacity to write in Arabic.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English and Arabic are required. Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). 

To view our competency framework, please visit  here. 

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment. 

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check. 

Remarks:  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. 

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.