Senior Mediation Advisor - National Consultant - Home-Based

Background:

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

In Lebanon, UN Women supports the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda by advancing women's meaningful participation and leadership in political dialogue, conflict prevention, peacebuilding and decision-making processes. Recognizing that inclusive dialogue is fundamental to sustainable peace and political stability, UN Women convenes and supports dialogue initiatives that strengthen women's engagement across political and institutional divides, foster confidence-building, and contribute to informed policy dialogue on issues of national importance.

To support these efforts, UN Women seeks to engage a Senior Mediation Advisor to provide strategic and technical expertise in the design, facilitation and documentation of a Track 1.5 dialogue process. The Advisor will support the development of dialogue methodologies, facilitate high-level discussions, produce substantive analytical outputs, and provide strategic advice to ensure the dialogue process is conflict-sensitive, gender-responsive, and aligned with good international practice in mediation and inclusive dialogue.

The consultant will report directly to the UN Women Representative.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work:

The Senior Mediation Advisor is expected to carry out the following:

• Provide strategic advice to the UN Women Representative on the design, positioning and implementation of the Track 1.5 dialogue process, ensuring alignment with the Women, Peace and Security agenda, UN Women's strategic priorities and the evolving political context in Lebanon.
• Lead the design of the dialogue architecture and methodology, including defining strategic objectives, sequencing dialogue sessions, identifying priority thematic areas, developing facilitation approaches, and proposing strategies to strengthen confidence-building and consensus among participants.
• Conduct political and stakeholder analysis to identify emerging risks, opportunities and entry points for dialogue, and provide timely recommendations to support adaptive programming and informed decision-making.
• Design, facilitate and moderate high-level dialogue sessions and retreats, applying conflict-sensitive and gender-responsive mediation approaches that foster constructive engagement, trust and meaningful participation among participants.
• Prepare and deliver high-quality technical and analytical products, including dialogue strategies, concept notes, facilitation plans, agendas, briefing notes, background papers, analytical briefs, talking points, meeting summaries, outcome documents, strategic recommendations and final reports.
• Draft and review substantive knowledge products in both English and Arabic, ensuring technical accuracy, political relevance, coherence and consistency with United Nations standards and UN Women's strategic objectives.
• Advise on engagement strategies with political actors, national institutions, civil society representatives and international partners to strengthen the effectiveness, inclusivity and sustainability of the dialogue process.
• Capture, analyse and synthesize lessons learned, emerging trends and good practices throughout the dialogue process, and develop recommendations to inform future dialogue, mediation and peacebuilding initiatives.
• Maintain close coordination with the UN Women team throughout implementation, providing regular strategic updates, identifying implementation challenges, proposing corrective measures where necessary, and ensuring the timely delivery of all agreed outputs.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. No travel is required.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework:

Functional Competencies:

• Facilitation and Mediation experience.
• Expertise in the Lebanese political context.
• Gender expertise and knowledge of issues of women, peace, and security.

Required Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in social science, peace studies, business or related degree is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level, in international affairs and conflict resolution is required.
• Experience in gender and/or women, peace and security issues in Lebanon is desirable.
• Experience engaging different tracks of dialogue across the Middle East is required.
• Experience in facilitation of high-level political dialogue is required.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) is required.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Arabic is required.
• Knowledge of French is desirable.

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.