Senior Resource Mobilization Consultant

Result of Service Upon completion of the consultancy, municipalities and unions of municipalities will be equipped with the knowledge and skills that enable them to mitigate – to some extent – the impact of the macroeconomic, fiscal, and financial crises, hence serving their communities better. Building skills on Resource Mobilization will help local authorities to shuffle, access, and secure new and additional financial, material, and human resources to reach a specific aspired result and strategic direction. Similarly, it will allow for better management of current resources, thus ensuring municipal sustainability. Lastly, the ultimate result of this consultancy is to improve local governance by o enhance local governance by attracting and attaining resources through the implementation of a comprehensive resources mobilization plan, which will be closely aligned with the municipal strategic plan. By doing so, local authorities will be able to strengthen their resilience in the face of unexpected events and overcome various challenges and to achieve the desired impact they aspire to have.

Work Location Beirut- Lebanon

Expected duration 4.5 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.

Background The impact of the Syrian Crisis on Lebanon has reached an unprecedented scale in the history of complex, displacement-driven emergencies. In April 2012, 32,800 Syrian refugees were registered or awaiting registration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Lebanon. By October 2018, the Government of Lebanon estimated that the country was hosting an estimated 1.5 million refugees, a quarter of the total Lebanese population.

The refugee crisis places tremendous pressure on Lebanon's services and resources, particularly at the decentralized level. Municipalities face challenges in providing adequate housing, ensuring quality public services, and creating jobs for both host communities and displaced/refugee populations. Furthermore, localities with the highest concentration of displaced people from Syria, including all large cities of Lebanon and their suburbs, consistently suffer from heightened insecurity, higher levels of tensions and more exposure to violence than other areas in Lebanon.

The above situation is further exacerbated by the current economic, political and health crisis. Lebanon is facing one of the gravest economic downturns since the end of the civil war in the early 1990s. The World Bank estimates that in 2020 real GDP contracted by 20.3 percent, on the back of a 6.7 percent contraction in 2019. In fact, Lebanon’s GDP plummeted from close to US$55 billion in 2018 to an estimated US$33 billion in 2020, while GDP per capita fell by around 40 percent in dollar terms .Public debt stands at 174 percent of the gross domestic product. The latest rapid unemployment assessment by ILO found that unemployment stood at 37 percent in 2020. According to UNESCWA, in 2020 more than half of the Lebanese people lived in poverty (55.3 percent), up from 27.4 percent in 2011-2012. Amid economic uncertainty and an extremely protracted crisis, challenges continue to deepen for many displaced refugees and Lebanese who face long-term poverty. Both Lebanese and refugees perceive those long-standing inequalities are deepening and competition for shrinking job opportunities and dwindling resources and services remain drivers of tension at the local level.On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic, and on March 15, the government of Lebanon issued the governmental resolution on the General Mobilization. The first case of COVID-19 in Lebanon was confirmed on February 21, 2020. As of July 5, 2021, in Lebanon, the total number of cases rose to 545,671 cumulative cases of Covid-19, and 7,863 deaths have been reported. This complex situation puts additional pressure on the subnational authorities to deliver the quality of services and to create income generation opportunities for their communities.

The Municipal Empowerment and Resilience Project (MERP) is a joint initiative by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat). The project is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities (MoIM).The project aims to strengthen the long-term resilience of subnational authorities in Lebanon as well as host communities, refugees and displaced persons affected by the Syrian crisis. To achieve this, the project engages in a three-pronged approach: MERP aims to 1. strengthen processes, procedures and practices to enable Union of Municipalities (UoMs) and municipalities to deliver effective and efficient services in a transparent and accountable manner; 2. empower UoMs and municipalities to facilitate local economic development (LED) and to deliver basic services that address the needs of both host and refugee populations, and; 3. support communities to engage in municipal processes and procedures to ensure that UoMs and municipalities are responsive to their needs. The project’s geographic areas of intervention are the Urban Community Al Fayhaa, the federation of Municipalities of the Northern and Coastal Matn, and the UoM of Tyre with a total of 92 partner municipalities. Municipalities/UoMs play a crucial role in delivering services and local economic development activities for their residents. Unfortunately, in this area, Lebanon falls well behind countries with a similar level of economic development. Constraints in regulations, administration, and (local) revenue but also local capacity means municipal services are limited. Furthermore, the refugee crisis, the global pandemic and the economic crisis have put tremendous pressure on subnational authorities in Lebanon to effectively respond to the needs of their communities.

To assist municipalities and UoMs, MERP developed and rolled-out an entry level training course for municipal and UoM representatives on GIS, Proposal Development/Resource Mobilization, and Proposal Development/Resource Mobilization which aimed to strengthen core municipal skills required to weather the challenging political and social-economic context. As part of this training, the developed material under Proposal Development/Resource Mobilization aimed to tackle resource mobilization from the financial perspective and various mechanisms to secure funds for UoMs/municipalities. The manual aimed to familiarize participants with the basics of resource mobilization, its importance and relevance to the municipal and UoMs’ work, and the different tools that can be used to prepare for any funding opportunity. It also zoomed into proposal writing as one of the most common tools municipalities and UoMs can use to seek funding, thus detailing the importance of proposal writing, the different sections of a proposal, and tips before submitting a project proposal.

The training process included the following components: 1. The development of an entry level training on three topics including on Proposal Development/Resource Mobilization (namely a training manual, toolkit, and ToT materials);

2. The implementation of a Training of Trainers (ToT) program for master trainers representing DGLAC, the Regional Technical Offices (RTOs), union and municipal representatives as well as other local stakeholders. During the ToT, master trainers were trained utilizing the above-mentioned training manuals and toolkits, including on the topic of Proposal Development/Resource Mobilization;

3. The roll-out of 6 training workshops in MERP target areas, in which master trainers who took part in the ToT, trained municipal and union staff according to the developed curriculum, including on Proposal Development/Resource Mobilization;

4. The establishment of a Steering Committee at the national level, chaired by the Ministry of Interior (MoIM) and DGLAC. The Steering Committee was actively involved in reviewing the developed modules and toolkits and offered strategic guidance on the way toward the institutionalization of the trainings;

5. Coaching/mentoring/dissemination of the training curriculum across municipalities/UoMs. While the above process was completed, the feedback provided during the training and by the Steering Committee highlighted the need to further strengthen the Proposal Development/Resource Mobilization manual, toolkit, and ToT materials and that additional hands-on coaching for master trainers is needed to strengthen skills and build a core group of municipal trainers, including on Proposal Development/Resource Mobilization.

For this reason, UN-Habitat is seeking to contract a consultant to i) further enhance municipal knowledge and skills on Proposal Development/Resource Mobilization through the provision of hands-on training/coaching for master trainers, ii) deliver additional training workshops on Proposal Development/Resource Mobilization for municipal and union representatives, iii) update/consolidate the ToT Proposal Development/Resource Mobilization manual and toolkit based on participant/Steering Committee feedback.

Reporting Line The consultant will work under the supervision of the Capacity Building Officer and the MERP Chief Technical Adviser and in close coordination with DGLAC.

Duties and responsibilities The consultant will build a robust understanding and knowledge of Proposal Development/Resource Mobilization at unions and municipalities’ level. Specifically, the consultant will: - Update the developed Proposal Development/Resource Mobilization training curriculum including the manual, toolkit, ToT materials, etc. - Build additional skills by training and mentoring the master trainers; - Provide technical guidance to master trainers to train additional union and municipal staff through 3 (three) workshops of 2 (two) days each in MERP target areas; - Conduct policy/advocacy activities to institutionalize and apply the developed municipal curriculum across geographical areas of interventions.

Qualifications/special skills A Master’s Degree in Public Administration and Policy, Organizational Development, Human Resources Development, Social Sciences, or any other relevant field is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two (2) additional years of qualifying work experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience At least seven years of experience in building individual and institutional capacities through a combination of methods including General Trainings, On-The-Job trainings, coaching, mentoring, and Communities of Practice is required

At least seven years of experience supporting organizations in project design and implementation, organizational and legislative development, advocacy, provision of technical support related to Proposal Development/Resource Mobilization, etc. is required

Previous experience in supporting municipalities and/or government agencies in institution building, organizational development, HR systems, performance measurement and management, public policy, etc. is required

Excellent writing skills and ability to produce and develop Proposal Development/Resource Mobilization training manuals, evaluation reports, implementation plans, proposals, and presentations is strongly desirable

Languages Fluency in both oral and written Arabic and English is required. Knowledge of French is an advantage

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.