Information Technology (IT) Consultant

Result of Service Upon completion of the consultancy, an internal network for the municipality to enhance municipal operations is set up, training and coaching on IT to strengthen the capacity of municipal and RTO staff is delivered, a report aimed at promoting the operations of the hotline and ensuring its sustainability and maintenance by the municipality is developed, and an assessment report of available municipal software and hardware including solutions and ways to optimize their efficiency is provided to the municipality.

Work Location Municipality of Bourj Hammoud

Expected duration 6 Months

Duties and Responsibilities Organizational Setting UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. It is the focal point for all urbanization and human settlement matters within the UN system.

UN-Habitat envisions well-planned, well-governed, efficient cities and other human settlements with adequate housing, infrastructure and universal access to employment and basic services such as water, energy and sanitation. To achieve these goals, derived from the New Urban Agenda endorsed in October 2016, UN-Habitat has set itself a medium-term strategy approach for each successive six-year period. The Strategic Plan, 2020-2023 through which it proposes to serve Member States, sub-national and local governments, and other key urban actors in the pursuit of four mutually reinforcing and integrated Domains of Change or goals: - Reduced spatial inequality and poverty in communities across the urban - rural continuum; - Enhanced shared prosperity of cities and regions; - Strengthened climate action and improved urban environment; and - Effective urban crisis prevention and response.

UN-Habitat in Lebanon The UN-Habitat country office in Lebanon was initiated in 2006, following two large-scale crises: The July 2006 war on Lebanon and the Syrian Refugees Crisis. UN-Habitat has steered most of its activities to focus on responding to emerging issues through reconstruction, shelter provision, basic services upgrading while also laying the foundation for long-term sustainable solutions.

The 2020-2022 Lebanon Country Programme draft document aims to promote the alignment of UN- Habitat normative and operational activities in Lebanon. It identified national urban development goals and priorities emphasizing the importance of local development and balanced regional development. The Country Programme document is consistent with UN-Habitat Lebanon's three interlinked and mutually reinforcing focus areas that are aligned with the United Nations Strategic Framework: - Focus Area 1: Inclusive and sustainable urban development including promotion of national urban policies and environmentally sustainable cities. - Focus Area 2: Improved planning systems and frameworks with focus on access to accurate urban data and inclusive urban and land use planning. - Focus Area 3: Effective urban crisis response involving HLP Rights and upgrading of vulnerable urban neighbourhoods.

Background The impact of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon is reaching a scale unprecedented in the history of complex, displacement-driven emergencies. While in April 2012, 32,800 Syrian refugees were registered or awaiting registration with UNHCR; by January 2018, this figure stands at just under one million refugees. When considering the Palestine refugees, this represents an increase equal to over 25% of the total Lebanese pre-crisis population, placing Lebanon first worldwide in terms of the number of refugees per capita.

Seven years into the crisis, poverty levels are high and the long-term resilience of the country’s vulnerable communities is eroding as they run out of savings and struggle to access income. At present, 1.5 million Lebanese and 76% of the Syrian refugees live below the poverty line. In response to their protracted poverty which is leading to rising food insecurity, 96 percent of Syrian households are adopting negative coping mechanisms. As a result, households are also sinking deeper into debt.

Host communities face the challenge of providing housing, public services, and jobs to both refugees and their own population. In this sense, host governments, sub-national authorities including municipalities continue to bear the burden of the political, economic, social and security spill overs of the conflict. The large increase in population since the Syria crisis began is putting public institutions under extreme pressure to deliver basic services to an increasingly high number of vulnerable people. In a context of shrinking national resources, this is testing the limits of infrastructure and public services that were already fragile before the crisis.

Within this context, municipalities have a critical role to play in the country’s response to the impact of the Syria crisis and there is growing intention to engage more municipalities at the services as well as at the social cohesion levels. However, this will require increased funding and empowered human resources at municipal level, as well as enhanced collaboration and communication with central and subnational government. 70 percent of municipalities are too small to provide basic services pre-crisis, 57 percent lack an administrative structure, and 40 percent have only a single employee (often working on a part-time or voluntary basis).

In support of the municipal role in response to the Syrian crises and in line with the Municipal Law No. 118 of 30 June 1977 and its amendments, UN-Habitat established Regional Technical Offices (RTOs) to support the administration of Unions of Municipalities and medium-to-large municipalities by providing technical assistance to municipal projects and specialised knowledge in urban and land-use planning, project management, and strategic planning. Other areas of support included policy- and decision-making processes, enhancing municipal delivery, and addressing governance issues at the local and regional levels.

The ‘Municipal Empowerment and Resilience Project’ (MERP) is a joint initiative by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN-Habitat. The project is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities (MoIM) and is funded by the European Union (EU) through EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis, the ‘Madad Fund’.

As part of its engagement, MERP established: 1) A Regional Technical Office (RTO) in the Municipality of Burj Hammoud on 2021. The MoBH RTO consist of a: Community Mobilizer, Civil Engineer, and a GIS Coordinator. 2) A Hotline for MoBH to support community needs and to address complaints.

The action aims to support the Municipality of Burj Hammoud to manage and maintain the: MoBH Hotline and the hardware and software of the municipal equipment, data, and programs by the IT Consultant. For that, UN-Habitat is intending to recruit an IT Consultant who will be part of the Regional Technical office established under the Municipality of Bourj Hammoud.

Reporting Line The Consultant will work under the supervision of UN-Habitat Field Coordinator.

Duties and responsibilities The work location for this assignment is in Municipality of Bourj Hammoudhe. The IT Consultant will be mainly filling the gap in the human resources capabilities of the RTO and the municipality in all aspects related to information technology. Responsibilities include the following:

• Maintenance of municipal software, hardware and network: - Maintain and upgrade municipal soft- and hardware including internal network and ensure adequate internet connection. - Maintain municipal servers and IT equipment and identify needs for additional items, including their specifications. - Research and develop relevant IT solutions for the implementation of projects and municipal operations. - Maintain an up-to-date inventory of municipal IT equipment. - Conduct municipal activities and events in terms of IT equipment and skills.
• Enhance the functioning of the Hotline: - Assess and track the flow of information (from community complaint/request to municipal action). - Develop and implement a plan to enhance the flow of information and ensure the overall sustainability of the Hotline. - Perform periodic testing of the hotline Chat Bot and the Hotline Customer Relationship Management System (CRM). - Issue reports using the CRM system, review and analyze data, and provide recommendations for system enhancement.
• Develop and deliver IT capacity building training and coaching sessions to municipal and RTO staff.
• In consultation with municipal staff, establish an internal network for MoBH to facilitate and enhance municipal operations (e.g. tracking workflow).

• Conduct and attend internal and external technical and coordination meetings at municipal level, as required.

  Qualifications/special skills Academic Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology is required.

Experience: Four years of experience in the field of information technology and in developing and delivering training is required. Familiarity working with municipalities and public sectors is an asset.. Previous work experience in dealing and coordinating with other NGO’s, INGOs or active agencies in the area is desirable. Experience in coordinating with a team of multidisciplinary background is favorable.

Language: Fluency in both oral and written Arabic and English languages is required. Knowledge of French language is an asset.

Additional Information Competencies: - Strong technical skills in designing networks is required. - Ability to lead and organize events in terms of IT equipment and skills is desired. - Ability to simplify complex working environments and solicit input is favorable. - Priority for local candidates from the targeted area.

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.