About HelpAge
HelpAge International, either through direct implementation or its global network of 200 members in 98 countries, is committed to supporting older people to live safe, dignified, and healthy lives. By fostering partnerships and collaborations, HelpAge ensures the inclusion of older people in all aspects of society and strives for a just and equitable world for individuals of all ages.
Background
Syria Context: More than a decade of conflict, combined with economic collapse, climate shocks and large-scale displacement, has severely weakened essential services and undermined social cohesion across Syria. While recent political developments have created opportunities for recovery and return, communities continue to face significant challenges, including damaged infrastructure, overstretched public services, unresolved grievances, and increasing competition over scarce resources. Fragile return dynamics, continued insecurity and recurrent violence affecting minority communities further highlight the volatility of the context.
Water, sanitation and health systems remain under significant strain. Damaged WASH infrastructure, water scarcity, drought and extreme heat are reducing access to safe water and increasing health risks, while many health facilities remain partially operational or at risk of closure. At the same time, widespread poverty, inflation and declining livelihood opportunities have eroded household coping capacities and increased vulnerabilities, particularly among older people, women and persons with disabilities. These groups continue to face significant barriers to accessing services, participating in decision-making processes and benefiting from recovery efforts.
In this context, the proposed BMZ project seeks to strengthen community resilience and support sustainable recovery through a nexus approach that links humanitarian assistance, peacebuilding and development interventions. Building on ongoing humanitarian programmes and previous experience, the project will support the rehabilitation of essential infrastructure and services, strengthen institutional capacities, promote inclusive and climate-resilient livelihoods, and foster community-based peacebuilding mechanisms. Through these efforts, the project aims to contribute to more inclusive, resilient and peaceful communities in Syria.
Objectives
The Peace and Conflict Assessment (PCA) aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of conflict dynamics, social cohesion factors, and peacebuilding opportunities within the project’s target areas in Syria. The assessment will generate evidence to ensure that project interventions are conflict-sensitive, contextually relevant, and contribute to strengthening social cohesion, and peaceful coexistence.
1.Analyse conflict dynamics and drivers:
- Identify the key structural and proximate drivers of conflict, tension, and instability at national, and local levels especially in relation to project proposed intervention and locations (Idleb, Aleppo, Hama, Lattakia)
- Examine how factors such as displacement and return movements, competition over resources and services, economic hardship, governance challenges, social exclusion, and climate-related pressures influence local conflict dynamics.
2. Map conflict actors and stakeholder relationships:
- Identify key stakeholders, power holders, institutions, community groups, and other actors that influence conflict, cooperation, decision-making processes, and project implementation.
- Analyse relationships, interests, capacities, and potential areas of cooperation or tension among different groups.
3.Assess social cohesion capacities:
- Examine existing mechanisms that support peaceful coexistence, conflict resolution, community resilience, and collective action.
- Assess the capacities of communities, local authorities, civil society organisations, and service providers to manage disputes and respond to emerging tensions.
4.Assess risks related to project interventions:
- Identify potential risks that project activities may inadvertently exacerbate existing tensions, inequalities, exclusion, or conflict dynamics.
- Analyse conflict sensitivity considerations across the project’s sectors, including health, WASH, livelihoods, and community-based peacebuilding activities.
5.Identify opportunities for peacebuilding and social cohesion:
- Identify entry points for strengthening trust, dialogue, participation, and cooperation between communities, local institutions, returnees, internally displaced persons, and host populations.
- Explore opportunities to integrate peacebuilding outcomes within service delivery, livelihoods, and local governance interventions.
6.Support HDP Nexus programming:
- Provide practical recommendations for integrating humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding approaches within project implementation.
- Inform programme design, targeting, partnership approaches, monitoring systems, and risk mitigation measures to maximize positive peacebuilding outcomes.
Scope of Work
The consultant/team will undertake a Peace and Conflict Assessment covering the project’s target governorates and intervention areas in Syria. The assessment should adopt a participatory and conflict-sensitive approach and include both primary and secondary data collection.
Key Deliverables
1.Desk Review and Context Analysis:
- Conduct a review of relevant proposal documents, existing literature, reports, policies, and assessments relevant to conflict dynamics, social cohesion, governance, displacement, return processes, service delivery, and peacebuilding in Syria.
- Develop an inception report outlining the proposed methodology, analysis framework, stakeholder engagement plan, workplan, and data collection tools.
2.Primary Data Collection:
- Conduct key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and/or participatory workshops with relevant stakeholders.
- Ensure that data collection methods are inclusive, age-, gender-, and disability-sensitive, and adhere to ethical and conflict-sensitive principles.
- Data collection on the ground can be facilitated by local partner’s structures.
3.Validation and Reporting:
- Present preliminary findings to HelpAge International and partners through a validation workshop.
- Incorporate feedback into the final analysis
4.Partner Reflection and Project Design Workshops:
- Facilitate dedicated consultation and reflection sessions with HelpAge International and implementing partners to discuss the assessment findings and their implications for project implementation.
- Support partners in translating the PCA findings into practical, conflict-sensitive programme design and implementation measures.
- Provide tailored recommendations on targeting approaches, community engagement, social cohesion and peacebuilding activities, conflict-sensitive service delivery, partnership approaches, risk mitigation measures, and monitoring frameworks.
- Produce a brief summary note outlining the agreed recommendations and priority actions for incorporation into project implementation.
Deliverables
- Inception Report, including methodology, workplan, and data collection tools.
- Validation Workshop/Presentation of Findings incl. collected data.
- Final Peace and Conflict Assessment Report.
- Partner Reflection and Project Design Workshop.
- Brief summary note outlining the agreed recommendations
Budget and Timeline: assignment timeline must be aligned with the proposal development schedule with a completion deadline of no later than 15 August 2026.
Desk Review and inception report- 5 Days
Data collection-10 Days
Data Analysis- 3 days
Report Writing and Validation incl. sessions- 7 Days
Total-25 Days
Maximum available budget is £ 10,000; however, the contract will be awarded using a Quality and Cost-Based Selection (QCBS) methodology
Safeguarding
Everyone has a role in creating and sustaining a safe and respectful working environment, where no one comes to any harm or is maltreated. At HelpAge we take our responsibilities very seriously and will take action against wrongdoing. We will do everything we can to ensure that we do not engage people that pose a safeguarding risk and will undertake criminal record checks as required.
Diversity & Inclusion
HelpAge International is dedicated to creating a diverse and inclusive environment for all its employees/consultants while extending the culture of inclusion into our work.
We believe that our workforce should reflect the wide diversity of the communities we serve, and that diverse voices should be elevated and intentionally integrated into our work. We embrace difference and diversity of identity, experience, and thought, and actively strive for inclusive behaviours across our organisation and work regardless of gender, race, disability, age, nationality, ethnic/national origin, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, marital status, pregnancy, social status, and political beliefs.
Required Qualifications
- Proven experience conducting peace and conflict or similar contextual analyses in fragile/conflict-affected contexts; ideally previous experience in conducting analyses for BMZ or other German donors
- Sound theoretical knowledge of peace and conflict and development theory and/or experience of project management for an NGO or UN agency in delivering peacebuilding, humanitarian or development projects, ideally with a focus on inclusion
- Good knowledge and proven experience in research design, implementation, data collection and analysis; esp. participatory methods
- Expertise in designing and writing high quality documents for publication.
- Understanding of the Syrian context is an asset
- Cultural sensitivity and adherence to do no harm principle.
- Fluency in English; Fluency in Arabic is an asset
How to apply
Interested consultants are invited to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to Jobs@helpage.org with the email subject: Consultancy – Peace and Conflict Analysis – Syria. The short EOI should include:
- A short proposal (max 2 pages) outlining methodology and approach. The proposal should include an additional page with a timeline table confirming the number of days required to complete the assignment and the availability to submit all deliverables by the deadline mentioned above. In addition to a budget in sterling pound outlining daily rate (incl VAT), and any additional costs.
- CV and references
- Examples of similar past assignments
Expression of Interest (EOIs) should be submitted no later than Tuesday 23 June 2026
IMPORTANT NOTE:Â HelpAge International has also advertised a consultancy for a resilience analysis and welcomes applications covering both assignments, provided they clearly demonstrate the link between the peace and conflict analysis and the resilience analysis. If the assignments are conducted separately, data collection for both studies should be coordinated. For more information on the Resilience Analysis consultancy, please visit:Â https://www.helpage.org/vacancy/consultancy-resilience-analysis-syria/