Posting Title: Research Assistant

Department/Office: Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia

Duty Station: BEIRUT

Posting Period: 02 August 2023 – 08 August 2023

Job Opening Number: 23-Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia-215235-Individual Contractor

United Nations Core Values: Integrity, Professionalism, Respect for Diversity

Result of ServiceThe incumbent will be responsible for the following: – Research support in the form of written contributions to diagnostics, policy briefs, technical papers, and other publications. – Support in the organization of capacity building activities. – Support content development for the training modules on operationalizing the triple nexus in conflict-affected Arab countries. – Data gathering and visualization. – Power Point Presentations. – Reference and data verification.

Work LocationUN-House ESCWA

Expected duration6 Months

Duties andResponsibilities

The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA unescwa.org) forms part of the United Nations Secretariat and, like the other regional commissions, operates under the supervision of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. ESCWA comprises 20 Arab countries in Western Asia and North Africa. ESCWA provides a framework for the formulation and harmonization of sectoral policies for member countries, a platform for congress and coordination, a home for expertise and knowledge, and an information observatory. ESCWA activities are coordinated with the divisions and main offices of the Headquarters of the United Nations, specialized agencies, and international and regional organizations, including the League of Arab States and its subsidiary bodies, and the Gulf Cooperation Council. This position of research assistant is in Cluster 6: ‘Governance and conflict prevention’ at ESCWA. Cluster 6 acts as a pioneer and multi-stakeholder regional platform for deliberation, consensus building, peer learning and policy solutions to ensure participation and partnerships for governance and institution building, and to enhance the capacity of member States in conflict or post-conflict settings on conflict prevention for more just, equitable and inclusive societies in the Arab region. The Research Assistant reports to the Cluster Lead. Under the supervision of the Cluster Leader of the Governance and Conflict Prevention cluster and based on the guidance of the Office of the Executive Secretary, the individual contractor will be responsible for the following:

•  Collects, evaluates, interprets, analyses statistics and qualitative data and information obtained from a variety of sources on humanitarian, development, and peace issues and their nexus in the Arab region.
•  Drafts a series of analysis on fragile and conflict-affected Arab countries, including socio-economic and peacebuilding context analysis, stakeholder mapping, policy analysis, financial flows mapping, capacity assessments.
•  Support in producing manuals and training materials for capacity development modules on risk-informed policy making and the operationalization of the humanitarian development- peacebuilding nexus.
•  Assists, monitors, and backstops the implementation of capacity building activities for national public servants.
•  Assists in the organization and servicing of panels, workshops, trainings, expert group meetings, seminars, etc. on the humanitarian, development, and peace nexus.
•  Prepares briefing notes, inputs to speeches and similar material on humanitarian, development, and peace issues in a form that is meaningful to non-specialists.
•  Keeps abreast of new developments on humanitarian, development, and peace topics in fragile and conflict-affected Arab countries.
•  Conducts research and contributes to the drafting of publications and material produced by the cluster.
•  Performs other duties as required, including administrative tasks related to the assigned substantive activities.
•  Assist in the preparation for Expert Group Meetings (EGMs) and other events.
•  Attends meetings to follow discussions, takes notes and prepares summary report, notes for the file, correspondence, etc.
•  Identifies the organizational requirements for conferences and meetings and assists in the preparation of documentation and reports for these meetings.
•  Performs other related tasks as requested by the supervisor.

Qualifications/special skillsA Bachelor’s degree in social sciences or related area is required. All candidates must submit a copy of the required educational degree. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. A minimum of 3 years of work experience in research on social and economic development, humanitarian, or peacebuilding issues in the Arab region and in conflict affected settings is required. Experience in project or program management, policy-oriented work in a broad range of international development issues is desirable. Background knowledge on the impact and prevention of conflict is desirable. Knowledge and understanding of sustainable development, humanitarian-development-peace nexus, human security theories, concepts, and approaches is desirable.

LanguagesEnglish and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat; and Arabic is a working language of ESCWA. For this position, fluency in English and Arabic is required. Note: “Fluency” equals a rating of ‘fluent’ in all four areas (speak, read, write, and understand) and “Knowledge of” equals a rating of ‘confident’ in two of the four areas.

Additional InformationRecruitment for this position is on a local basis. The incumbent is required to have the legal right to live and work in the specified working location.

No FeeTHE 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.