Post of Grievance Redress Mechanism Officer

Republic of Lebanon

Ministry of Social Affairs

National Poverty Targeting Program Project

TERMS OF REFERENCE

GRM Officer

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

1. Background

   Prior to the onset of the Syrian conflict and the inflow of large numbers of Syrian refugees, poverty in Lebanon was significant and regional disparities in living conditions were acute. The most recently completed Household Budget Survey (HBS 2011-12) shows that poverty in Lebanon was 27 percent (pre-Syrian crisis), which implies that about one million people had levels of consumption below the annual poverty line set at 4,729 thousand LBP per capita per year (US$3,150). Poverty is the lowest in Beirut (16%), followed by Mount Lebanon (22%) and Nabatieh (25%). The poorest regions are North Lebanon (36%) and the Bekaa (38%).

   The Syrian conflict is estimated to have increased poverty among the Lebanese population, pushing an additional 170,000 people into poverty in 2014 and making those already poor even poorer.[1] Indeed, according to the 2015-16 Lebanon Crisis Response Plan (LCRP), the total vulnerable population in Lebanon today is approximately 3.3 million, of which 1.5 million Lebanese, 1.5 million Syrian refugees and 300,000 Palestinian refugees.

   With this in mind, in 2011, the Government of Lebanon (GoL) launched the National Poverty Targeting Program (NPTP), which seeks to identify and provide poor targeted Lebanese households social assistance that includes both health and education subsidies. In 2014, in response to rising poverty levels in communities hosting refugees and in order to help mitigate tensions between the refugee and Lebanese communities, the GoL, scaled up the NPTP (Emergency NPTP) to cover an increased number of poor Lebanese households, and improve the basket of benefits through the introduction of food assistance via an electronic card (e-card) targeting the poorest Lebanese households. To-date, NPTP benefits 105,000 households (or approximately 420,000 individuals), with the poorest 10,000 households (or approximately 50,000 individuals) benefiting from the e-card food voucher, a component implemented by the World Food Program (WFP). The NPTP has established itself as Lebanon’s main social safety net program, playing a central role for donors, UN agencies, and other ministries in reaching poor and vulnerable host populations affected by the Syrian conflict. The NPTP is managed by the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

   A recently approved US$10 million grant from the Lebanon Syria Conflict Trust Fund (LSCTF) will enable the GoL to both expand the coverage and further strengthen the services that are currently provided by NPTP. Specifically, through the new grant, the GoL will be able to: (i) provide the e-card food voucher to the 10,000 poorest beneficiary households; and (ii) pilot a “graduation” project (NPTP-G)[2], which will seek to promote increased and sustainable levels of income among some of the poorest NPTP households, in order to improve their overall relative poverty levels. To achieve this objective, NPTP-G will provide self-employment opportunities to male and female members of targeted NPTP households through the delivery of a comprehensive package of services, based on the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)/Ford Foundation graduation model that has been implemented in over 20 countries with high success.                                                                                                                                  

   Specialized agencies will be competitively hired to provide the different NPTP-G services to the targeted NPTP-G households. With regards specifically to Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), Field Work coordinators and selected MOSA social workers will benefit from a Training of Trainers (ToT) that will enable them to monitor that NPTP-G activities are carried out effectively and efficiently, as well as to provide life skills/coaching to the selected member of the targeted households.

2. Objectives of the Assignment

   The GRM Officer will serve as the focal point and coordinator for MoSA NPTP’s grievance redress mechanism. The Officer’s key roles are to systematically capture community complaints and concerns, address issues that can be readily resolved, refer issues to a complaint owner within the program when substantive expertise is necessary, and follow up with both the complaint owner and community member(s) to ensure that the issue is resolved in a fair and timely manner. To achieve this, the GRM Officer will necessarily work in close coordination with NPTP staff and stakeholders to develop and pilot day-to-day procedures for effectively operating MoSA’s grievance redress system. The Officer will also work to strengthen communications and awareness around the improved grievance redress mechanism.

3. Scope of Work

   The GRM Officer’s roles and responsibilities necessarily include:

    

    

4. Managing the grievance redress mechanism and the GRM team

 

 

• Receive community complaints and concerns and record them in a database.
• Resolve complaints and concerns as appropriate.
• Assign complaints that cannot be resolved by the Grievance Officer to a complaint owner within the program. Note: A complaint owner is responsible for investigating and resolving complaints, and could either be the GRM Officer if the complaint can be resolved with limited additional information expertise or resources; or a substantive expert, such as a staff member from the area of operations implicated by the complaint, if the complaint cannot be easily or quickly resolved by the GRM Officer.
• Follow up with complaint owners to ensure complaint resolution is advancing in a timely manner and using a fair process.
• Update complaint information in the database regularly.
• Review complaints regularly and close them out when appropriate.
• Monitor any resolutions to grievances to ensure they are implemented.
• Prepare periodic reports on the grievance redress mechanism
5. Engaging with stakeholders
   • Provide information about the grievance mechanism to community stakeholders.
   • Inform management of concerns and complaints received by the grievance mechanism.
   • Work with program staff to notify community members of activities that may lead to community concerns or complaints before the program undertakes the activities.
   • Work with staff tasked with community engagement (e.g. field staff) to understand community issues before, during, and after community engagement
6. Institutionalizing the grievance redress mechanism
   • Draft and periodically update a GRM Manual with operating procedures and an organogram for grievance redress
   • Train pertinent staff on grievance redress procedures

 

 

 

 

7. Qualifications

    

   Education and Experience

• A university degree or equivalent in Economics, Social Sciences, Business Administration, Project Management, or closely related field;
• At least 5 years of relevant experience.

   

  Skills & Abilities

   

• Strong customer service focus;
• Excellent communication skills;
• Ability to work independently and with teams;
• Ability to work on issues that may lead to conflict or be emotionally charged;
• Mastery of computer skills sufficient to maintain a database of community complaints, and prepare reports and presentation of results;
• Willingness to travel around program target sites in Lebanon;
• Commitment to adhere to all MOSA policies and procedures.

 

 

Language requirement

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in Arabic and English; French is a plus.

   

   

  1. Timing and reporting

The selected candidate will be hired for an initial duration of one year with a probation period of three months, with the possibility of renewal based on satisfactory performance. Pay will be commensurate with the candidate’s capabilities and experience.

The selected candidate will work under the supervision of the NPTP Program Manager at MOSA.

He/she will provide a timesheet and monthly report along with his/her monthly invoice for payment. The selected candidate will be paid on a monthly basis, provided basic monthly reports and deliverables are in good standing, and he or she is fulfilling the obligations listed in these Terms of Reference.  

He/ She will be based in Beirut, Lebanon. Regular travel within Lebanon is expected.