Network Building Specialist

The EU funded project “Strengthening Resilience - MENA II” (SR2) in Lebanon is part of a regional project. In Lebanon the programme involves supporting the delivery of The National Strategy for Preventing Violent Extremism that has been developed by the government and was ratified during March 2018.

The support will focus particularly on the development and delivery of a National Consultation Process that will take place throughout 2019, and an accompanying communication strategy.

This set of terms of reference sets out the scope of work for an Editorial & Content Expert to join the Communications Delivery Team in support of this process.

1. Background

Lebanon’s National Strategy for Preventing Violent Extremism was developed in 2017 through a participatory process that involved all ministries facilitated by the National PVE Coordinator. It was ratified by the Council of Ministers in March 2018. The strategy defines Violent Extremism as the spread of individual and social hatred that may lead to community violence, the rejection of diversity and non-acceptance of the other and the use of violence as a means of expression and influence, and a behaviour that threatens societal values necessary for social stability.

The National Strategy has identified 9 pillars for its strategic interventions:

Pillar 01: Dialogue & Conflict Prevention

Pillar 02: The Promotion of Good Governance

Pillar 03: Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law

Pillar 04: Urban Development & Engaging Local Communities

Pillar 05: Gender Equality and Empowering Women

Pillar 06: Education, Training and Skill development

Pillar 07: Economic Development and job creation

Pillar 08: Strategic Communications including through the Internet and Social Media

Pillar 09: Empowering Youth

The vision of the government is to mainstream the PVE concepts among key society stakeholders and the public. This comes from the conviction that preventing violent extremism is a mission that requires inclusive partnership between the government and the main actors in society in order to maximize the effectiveness of public policies and programs.

The overarching objective of the Lebanese National Strategy for PVE is to pre-emptively immunise the Lebanese society from causes of susceptibility to violent extremism.

The general objectives of the strategy are:

Regaining social trust: Every public policy and program is aimed at supporting trust-building among the various components of society on the one hand, and state institutions on the other.

Promoting Citizenship: Promoting identity, citizenship and the sense of national belonging among all members of the Lebanese society.

To contribute to the vision and to the desired change and to achieve the objective, the government has planned to conduct national consultations to establish a solid network of key actors to lay the foundations for the implementation of the strategy.

The suggested processes to achieve this is highlighted in the below:

Phase one: Public consultations and PVE Network formation

Main components:

• Sectoral PVE workshops
• National PVE conference

Outcomes:

• Main ideas of action plan
• Establishment of National PVE Network

Phase 2: National Youth Participation

Main components:

• Youth setting the Agenda
• National Days of Ministerial and Sectoral Review

Outcomes:

• Feedback on youth aspirations and needs about governance reform and change in society
• Ideas for institutional reform, sustainable dialogue between society and the state, and strategically communicate PVE message.

This aims at:

• Developing the action plan for the Preventing Violent Extremism
• Building a national network of influence from the key stakeholders and actors of society, i.e., civil society, academia, private sector, and government, who are interested in PVE.
• Creating a serious and structured dialogue mechanism between young people and key stakeholders in society
• Instituting a structured participatory governance mechanism in order to increase the level of trust between young people and the society.

The strategy seeks to develop a “culture of prevention” through an ambitious programme of work that engages a wide array of Lebanese Government and society in a national effort to regain social trust, promote citizenship and achieve social justice. 

The strategy was developed through an extensive process of dialogue and engagement involving all twenty-nine government ministries. The next phase of development means running a similar engagement and consultation exercise across Lebanese society as a whole.

This National Consultation Process will begin in January 2019 and run for approximately one year. It is a vital opportunity to communicate and promote the strategy’s purpose to both governmental and public stakeholders - providing them with a sense of equity and ownership and ensuring the strategy secures a license to operate.

The National Consultation Process will therefore be accompanied by a communications campaign with two objectives in mind:

The primary objective is to raise awareness of, and encourage engagement with, the national consultation exercise around Lebanon’s National Strategy for Preventing Violent Extremism.

The secondary objective is to help deliver the National Strategy’s wider objectives to regain social trust, promote citizenship and achieve social justice.

Objectives of the role

The SR2 Project requires building lasting relationships with parties from across Lebanese society interested in the PVE issue. The sectorial PVE workshops should not be seen, by participants or others, as a flash in the pan, or an attempt simply to be seen to be engaging. Instead, the effort must form part of a genuine programme of dialogue with highly important segments of the population and society.

To this end, sustained engagement requires a framework within which it can take place, as well as a function to support it. Deep and continued engagement does not occur accidentally. The PVE Unit has recognised the value of building a ‘network’ of organisations and other parties which can help to support the achievement of mutually held objectives. They can bring together a range of players with similar interests and ambitions, and provide a space in which they can engage and support a wide range of activities linked to a particular issue or a desired outcome.  

The PVE Unit wishes to build a network which brings together relevant parties interested in and working on the PVE issue in the country. The PVE Network should include, but not be limited to, those participating in the sectoral PVE workshops. For those that have been involved, it will allow for a continuing conversation in which views can be shared, and messages can be conveyed back and forward between communities and interested parties and the PVE Unit. For those unable to participate in the workshops, involvement in the PVE Network will provide an alternative mechanism for engaging on the PVE Strategy.

To realise this ambition, a Network Building Specialist is required to help develop the policy and architecture  for the PVE Network to be constructed in Lebanon. Working with the Communications Team, as well as with the National PVE Coordinator, the specialist will be responsible for defining the purpose, structure, and operating processes of the PVE Network. This will then be operationalised by the team and a Network Manager.

Tasks

The Network Building Specialist will be responsible for developing the strategy for the Lebanon PVE Network. This will involve working with colleagues to:

• Define the precise purpose, scope and objectives of the PVE Network, ascertaining precisely the role it will be required to fulfil within the National Consultation Process around the National Strategy for Preventing Violent Extremism;
• Define the characteristics of prospective members of the network, setting out the kind of parties that should be involved and why parties of that type should be involved;
• Articulate how relevant parties will become members of the PVE Network, likely either through a managed scoping and invitation process or through an open call for participants;
• Outline the mechanisms for bringing parties into the PVE Network;
• Design a due diligence process for assessing parties’ suitability for participating in the PVE Network, taking account of relevant reputational, political and other considerations, as defined by the SR2 and colleagues;
• Define a process for initial reach out to new members to commence their engagement in the PVE Network;
• Prescribe a process and design tools for formalising and defining relationships with network members, potentially including memorandum of understanding;
• Design a process and system for ongoing engagement of network members, as well as for ‘client/account management’; and
• Define the terms of reference for a fulltime Network Manager to stand up and operationalise the strategy.

Deliverables

The Network Building Specialist will deliver the strategy and architecture to build the foundations for the PVE Network, containing sections on all of the above points. The specialist will provide an additional document setting out thoughts, and providing suggestions, about the kind of parties who might be suitable network members, going beyond those who have already participated in the sectoral PVE workshops or who are invited to forthcoming workshops.

Timeline

The deliverables will be submitted to the Communications Team by Friday 5 July 2019. Ahead of this, while there will be regular discussions between the specialist and the team, formal progress review meetings should occur once a week until final delivery.

Skills and competencies

• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Fluent in Arabic and English
• Experience of working with CSOs, NGOs, Academic Institutions and Commercial Entities
• Experience of building stakeholder engagement processes and functions
• Experience of working with government and government institutions
• Experience of working in PVE a plus

Reporting arrangements

This role will form part of the Communications Delivery Team under the auspices of the British Council SR2 Project Team. The person will report on daily basis to the Project Manager and be part of weekly calls with the communications lead expert.