Consultant - Middle East Gender Equality and Social Inclusion - Remote

Background:

The Mercy Corps Middle East Regional Office continues to respond to humanitarian and development needs with focus on resilience with programs across Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Yemen. With a commitment to deliver quality programs that impact, influence, and innovate at a regional as well as country level, the regional structure provides support to the country offices in advancement of both individual country priorities and the collective regional strategy. This includes gender equality and social inclusion support to ensure program quality and accessibility throughout projects implemented in the region.

Purpose / Project Description:

With continued commitment to gender equality and social inclusion, Mercy Corps has developed Minimum Standards for GESI integration in our programs. The Mercy Corps Middle East Regional Office is looking for experienced GESI professionals to support multiple assignments to help our teams meet and exceed these standards. Specifically, we are looking for individuals with experience conducting GESI analyses and qualitative assessments, developing GESI strategies and capacity building activities, and strengthening measurement frameworks with a GESI lens. The activities will respond to the needs of both the humanitarian and development programs across the Middle East countries of operation.

Consultants should be available to work collaboratively with the Mercy Corps team on the ground, and flexible to work across the time zones in the region.

Consultant Activities:

Broadly, consultant activities will take the form of assessments and analyses for projects that are in the inception phase of implementation with key deliverables to the donor. Activities may also include support to proposal development at the regional or country level, and designing and running capacity building opportunities for Mercy Corps staff. Specific examples of assignments include one or more of the following areas of work:

• Proposal Development and Design:

  • Conduct rapid GESI analysis (secondary and/or primary data) to inform proposal design and contribute to proposal development by incorporating assigned sections and language relevant to GESI.
  • Contribute to the design of GESI sensitive logframes.

• GESI Analysis and Assessments:

  • Conduct secondary data collection and prepare literature review pieces.
  • Develop data collection tools, train enumerators and conduct analysis using Mercy Corps and donors guidelines.
  • Prepare GESI analysis and assessment reports.
  • Lead workshops with country teams to understand findings and provide tailored, GESI-focused recommendations for the programs.
  • Review work plans and project logframes to ensure GESI is integrated.

• Capacity Building:

  • Design GESI training material tailored to Mercy Corps programs needs.
  • Deliver GESI training at country and regional level.
  • Prepare reports on the training conducted.

• Develop standalone country and/or program level gender strategies/action plans

  • Lead participatory strategy/ action plan workshops on a program/country or regional level.
  • Draft GESI strategy documents.

Consultant Deliverables:

Specific deliverables and timeline will be determined based on the needs of each assignment. These will be discussed and agreed between the consultant, the program and the regional team at the start of the assignment.

Timeframe / Schedule:

Consultancy timeframe / schedule will be determined based on the needs of each assignment. These will be discussed and agreed between the consultant, the program and the regional team at the start of the assignment.

The Consultant will report to:

The Middle East Regional Gender Equality, Social Inclusion and Protection Advisor, with a dotted line to the Middle East Deputy Regional Director.

The Consultant will work closely with:

GESI Advisor, GESI Focal Point/Deputy Country Directors/Country Technical Teams involved in the requested task; Global GESI Team members, as needed; Technical Support Unit team members, as needed.

Required Experience & Skills:

• Master’s degree in international development, gender studies or a related field preferred.
• 5+ years’ experience working in programs that have a focus on gender equality and social inclusion.
• Proven track record in successfully conducting GESI analyses/assessments for various donor funded programs in the region in various sectors.
• Demonstrated experience in capacity strengthening for teams to ensure a strong understanding of GESI integration within the program cycle.
• Exceptional written and interpersonal communication skills.
• Demonstrated strong understanding of the Middle East context and expertise in one or more of the following program areas: humanitarian response, economic opportunities, peace and good governance, environment and climate change.
• Demonstrated familiarity with GESI guidelines from a variety of donors (including, but not limited to, USAID, FCDO and Global Affairs Canada).
• Ability to work effectively under tight deadlines and to travel (as required) on short notice.
• Native-level spoken and written English, knowledge of Arabic is preferred.

**Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
**Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment OpportunityWe are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & EthicsMercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Team members 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.