Religious Freedom Roundtables Project Consultant At Search for Common Ground

About Search

Search for Common Ground (Search) is a non-governmental organization working to transform the way societies deal with conflicts. We have over 37 years of experience in peacebuilding and are based in 53 local offices worldwide. We strive to build sustainable peace for generations to come by working with all sides of a conflict, providing the tools needed to work together, and finding constructive solutions. While conflict is inevitable, violence is not! Our mission is to transform the way the world deals with conflict, away from adversarial approaches and toward cooperative solutions. Instead of tearing down an existing world, we focus on constructing a new one. We shift the everyday interactions between hostile groups of people, so they can work together to build up their community, choosing joint problem-solving over violent means. We first worked in Lebanon in 1996, and we opened up our office in Beirut in 2008. Since then, our activities and capacities have grown significantly. We rely on local staff as well as local partner organizations in order to ensure our work is culturally sensitive, sustainable and well-grounded in the context.

For more information, visit www.sfcg.org and https://www.facebook.com/sfcg.lebanon.

Project Background

Search is implementing a 36-month project that aims to promote religious tolerance and human rights in the Middle East and South and Central Asia regions through the inclusive, collaborative, and sustainable engagement of diverse religious actors. The project will target at least 30 key stakeholders through religious coexistence and tolerance in Lebanon, in addition to engaging online and social media audiences through collective advocacy campaigns.

The project’s overall goal in Lebanon is to promote religious tolerance and coexistence across communities in Lebanon, based on our extensive experience working on religious engagement and rights-based programming in deeply divided societies. This goal will be achieved through the realization of two specific objectives:

• Objective 1: Strengthen interreligious understanding through regular, constructive engagement.
• Objective 2: Enable collective advocacy to increase religious freedom in target countries.

Key Responsibilities and Deliverables

Search is seeking to hire a part-time Consultant who will advise and support project activities. More specifically, the Consultant will work closely alongside Search’s project team and the members of the roundtable as they develop collective advocacy campaigns.

Responsibilities and deliverables will include:

• Support in identifying a core set of at least 25 members of the roundtable from different communities in Lebanon, including the enrolment criteria;
• Support with identifying and coordinating with potential stakeholders who might be relevant to issues of religious tolerance and human rights and recruit them as participants, speakers, facilitators (as appropriate) for these events;
• Organize a kick-off meeting with the core set of members of the roundtable, including developing the meeting agenda, facilitate and lead the meeting, draft key materials for meeting discussions and any other related tasks;
• Provide general guidance and support for members of the roundtable to develop the governing framework document that outlines the purpose of the roundtable, expectations of members, and a set of common principles that will inform the group’s activities;
• Coordinate a workshop to train members of the roundtable on the Common Ground Approach to Religious Engagement;
• Facilitate one or more meetings to analyse the barriers to religious coexistence and tolerance in their own contexts and identify opportunities that they can address these concerns through joint advocacy activities.
• Recommended action items may be incorporated into the governing framework document;
• Provide ongoing guidance and support for members of the roundtable to develop and implement joint advocacy activities. This support will vary depending on the needs identified by members of the roundtable;
• Participate in regular check-in calls and meetings with Search staff to coordinate on project activities and share relevant contextual updates, as well as contribute to the visibility and communication plan of the project; and
• Produce comprehensive reports following meetings and workshops, as needed.
• Remain alert and responsive to any child safeguarding risks, acquire relevant knowledge and skills which will enable promoting strong safeguarding practices, understanding the child safeguarding policy and procedures.

Deliverables:

• Develop the criteria of the roundtable participants.
• Provide a list of at least 25 individuals for the roundtable participants
• Support in mapping potential partner organizations, target groups, and stakeholders who might be relevant to issues of religious tolerance and human rights.
• Develop a meeting agenda, facilitate and lead the meeting, draft key materials for meeting discussions and any other related tasks.
• Attend regular meetings and consultations with members of the roundtable to develop the governing framework document and implement joint advocacy activities.
• Coordinate one or two workshops to train members of the roundtable on the Common Ground Approach to Religious Engagement.
• Monthly or Bi-monthly meeting and consultation with Search staff, members of the roundtable and related stakeholders.
• Produce regular reports to highlight progress made, challenges and lessons learned.
• Duration: While the consultancy’s duration is December 01, 2021 to March 31, 2022, the consultancy may be extended based on available funds and project needs as seen by Search.

Required Qualifications and Experience:

• Master degree in human rights or any related field;
• At least five years of prior experience in international development program management, human rights programming and religious engagement;
• Experience working on religious engagement and understanding of the religious diversity in Lebanon;
• Developed network of religious stakeholders and actors in Lebanon;
• Experience in facilitating sessions on conflict resolution and strategic planning, or other related technical areas;
• Sound experience in post-conflict recovery and resilience-building programs;
• Demonstrate professional maturity and good interpersonal skills for teamwork, facilitation, and good written and verbal communication skills;
• Ability to work to meet deadlines in multiple tasking environments;
• Demonstration of their commitment of the common ground approach, working across dividing with deep respect for all involved;
• Lebanese national or experience working in Lebanon strongly preferred; and
• Excellent oral and written English skills required; proficiency in Arabic is required.

Desirable:

• Experience working in a conflict resolution setting;
• Experience working in a non-profit or similar environment;
• Experience of partnership building, with experience of influencing stakeholders and establishing and maintaining strong partnerships;
• An excellent planner with deep knowledge and experience of project management tools and processes (project planning, workplans, budget planning, etc.);
• Organisational skills and attention to detail;
• Excellent use of Excel, excellent writing and analytical skills;
• Well organised, dynamic, and creative;
• Excellent comprehension of the principles of conflict, conflict transformation, and the role of media in peacebuilding;
• A team leader, with a strong capacity to motivate oneself and others and build a team spirit;
• Ability to work under pressure and in challenging environments;
• Flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances;
• Willingness to travel regularly to Search’s field offices; and
• Proficiency in written and spoken English and Arabic.

Other relevant qualifications:

• Understand opportunities in key communities and context and requirements for peacebuilding interventions;
• Written and verbal communications skills including the ability to synthesize complicated policy issues into digestible and implementable project activities;
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment and strong interpersonal skills;
• Commitment to Search’s aims and a clear understanding of the links between policy, lobbying, campaigning, and social cohesion and peacebuilding work and of how policy change can be achieved through effective advocacy;
• Ability to responding flexibly to opportunities and requests sometimes with little notice;
• Ability to manage competing priorities in a rapidly changing environment;
• Demonstrate the capacity to adapt to a multi-cultural context, and tolerance and respect to issues related to gender, religion, race, and nationality; and
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism and solves problems in collaborative ways