Local team of consultants – Peace and conflict analysis (PCA) in the world of work (ILO Yemen)

About Interpeace

Interpeace is an international organisation for peacebuilding, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Its aim is to strengthen the capacities of societies to manage conflict in non-violent, non-coercive ways by assisting national actors in their efforts to develop social and political cohesion. Interpeace also strives to assist the international community (and in particular the UN) to play a more effective role in supporting peacebuilding efforts around the world through better understanding and response to the challenges of creating local capacities that enhance social and political cohesion. For more information about Interpeace, please visit Interpeace.org.

Background

Yemen is in the midst of a protracted political, humanitarian and developmental crisis. The country is divided. In the South, the Internationally Recognized Government is in charge, with a range of different factions vying for position and a challenging security situation. In the North, the De Facto Authorities control the largest part of the territory with the largest population (70%). Since April 2022, a Truce has been established which has largely held, allowing international aid to be distributed. However, given the lack of funding, food assistance had to be reduced substantially.

With 24.1 million people – 80 per cent of the population, in need of humanitarian aid and protection, it is now the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. More than 14 million people are in acute need and more than three million people have been displaced from their homes since 2015.

The collapse of public institutions that provide healthcare, water, sanitation and education has exacerbated an already dire situation. The Yemeni economy is also facing extraordinary fiscal challenges. Prior to the recent conflict, Yemen was already the poorest country in the Arab region. Yemen has lost 90 billion USD in economic output and more than 600,000 people have lost their jobs. Fifty-eight percent of the population is living in extreme poverty.

ILO in Yemen

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is implementing two projects in Yemen:

1. The “Support Resilient Livelihoods, Food Security, and Climate Adaption” (ERRY III) project in partnership with FAO, UNDP, and WFP. Running from March 2022 – February 2025, the programme is funded by the EU and Sweden and focuses on community conflict reduction and social cohesion, access to clean energy and climate adaptation, as well as livelihoods and food security in eight governorates in Yemen.
2. The “Employment Intensive Investment Programme and Decent Employment for Women in Yemen” project. Running from September 2021 – February 2023, the programme is funded by RBSA and aims at creating sustainable employment opportunities through the integration of EIIP approaches into existing Cash-for-Work programmes and facilitation of the application of Decent Work provisions therein.

Guided by the Recommendation No 205 (2017) on Employment and Decent work for peace and resilience, the ILO is committed to working across all three parts of the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus (HDPN). It is recognized that achieving development outcomes and reducing humanitarian need is dependent on being able to prevent violent conflict and building peace. The Decent Work Agenda is an essential element, where employment, decent working conditions and social dialogue can contribute to peace and resilience. ILO promotes decent work and social justice as key drivers of resilience and peace, addressing the underlying factors of fragility that made the society and economy particularly vulnerable to external shocks in the first place

Aim and Scope of the Assignment

The overall aim of the assignment is to develop a rapid analysis of peace and conflict dynamics in Yemen, focusing on identifying entry points to promote gender transformative approaches, conflict-sensitivity, peacebuilding and social cohesion through the pillars of ILO’s Decent Work Agenda in the framework of the HDPN and peace responsiveness. The analysis will feed into ILO’s strategy for Yemen, other assessments such as the Labour Force Survey, as well as other HDPN partner strategies and initiatives in Yemen.

More specifically, the consultant will seek to:

• Conduct a gender-responsive Peace and Conflict Analysis (PCA) of Yemen using the ILO PCA Guidance as well as Interpeace’s previous knowledge and analysis of the context; with a specific focus on the interaction between peace and conflict dynamics and the world of work; and
• Develop specific entry point analyses and recommendations on how other potential ILO projects as well as initiatives from other UN agencies and organizations can be developed to address the conflict drivers related to the world of work and decent work deficits in Yemen in the framework of the HDPN.

Conduct of the assignment

The assignment will be delivered through a close collaboration between a team of consultants, ILO, and Interpeace. The precise division of labour, as well as roles and responsibilities, will be agreed upon during the initial stage of the assignment.

Team of Consultants

The local team of consultants will act as a resource and support as part of the consultancy team for this assignment. The local team of consultants works in close collaboration with the Lead Consultant for this assignment. The local team of consultants will support the implementation of the assignment, particularly the data collection process, while providing expertise, skills and knowledge in complement to the Lead Consultant.

Interpeace

Interpeace will task manage the lead consultant and provide technical support and quality assurance throughout the assignment.

ILO

The assignment will be directed and supervised by ILO’s Regional Office for Arab States (ROAS), with input from ILO’s Coordination Support unit for Peace and Resilience (CSPR) unit. The consultant will participate in a steering committee, to be put in place by ILO ROAS, represented by the social partners and members of the UNCT, throughout the PCA process to ensure a participatory and collaborative approach. The steering committee will facilitate access to internal documentation, knowledge and informants to Interpeace and the consultant(s). If travel in the region is undertaken, it will be coordinated in consultation with ILO ROAS.

Activities, Deliverables, and Timeframe

The assignment will start the week of 16 January 2023 and is expected to end by 3 March 2023.

Activities:

1. Initial dialogue with lead consultant to agree methodology and explore and agree on the arrangements for collaboration between the lead consultant, the local team of consultants, ILO and Interpeace.
2. If necessary, participate in training by the lead consultant on data collection and all other activities required for the good execution of the assignment
3. Support the lead consultant in desk research, including in a gender-sensitive review and synthesis of existing conflict analysis in Yemen; to draw out and summarize the conflict and peace drivers most relevant to the ‘world of work’ and ILO’s pillars of engagement, as well as gender dynamics, using ILO’s PCA Guidance;
4. Under the direction and supervision of the lead consultant, carry out key informant interviews (KIIs) with relevant stakeholders at the national and district levels (Sana’a and Aden), who are familiar with the drivers of peace and conflict in the intervention areas, in order to validate findings and fill knowledge gaps from the desk research. This shall include:
   • Ministries in charge of employment, labour, and entrepreneurship, employers’ and workers’ organizations, and any representations they may have in the region.
   • If possible, the field research shall also include four to six focus group discussions with groups of IDPs, youth, women and host communities, paying particular attention to the gender identity of interviewees
   • If the security situation allows, face-to-face interviews are preferred to remotely conducted interviews.
5. Support the lead consultant in the cleaning of the collected data
6. On the basis of field data findings and in coordination with the lead consultant, support the lead consultant in producing a user-friendly summary, including with recommendations on:
   • Opportunities for building peace through decent work initiatives in the HDPN, and context-specific theories of change showing how the ILO can exploit these;
   • Conflict sensitivity risks, and how to minimize or mitigate them: On the basis of these findings, identify specific opportunities for contributing to sustaining peace as well as potential risks for unintended consequences (Do No Harm) and develop specific recommendations for maximizing the positive impact of Decent Work on social cohesion and peace; and
   • Specific entry points analyses and recommendations on how ILO’s (and the decent work agenda more largely) potential work across the HDPN in Yemen and how it can be made more conflict sensitive and make a more deliberate contribution to social cohesion and peace;
7. After submission of the draft report, support the lead consultant in planning and facilitating a one-and-a-half-day workshop in partnership with the ILO to present to the PCA steering committee, including ILO’s project staff, the results and findings of the PCA.
8. Support the validation of key conflict and peace factors and their potential interactions with the world of work with various relevant national and international stakeholders, including UNCT, ILOs constituents (i.e. employers and workers’ organisations and the Ministry of Labour together with other national government ministries), as well as civil society organisations or platforms (with a specific focus on those with a peacebuilding, social cohesion or social justice angle);
9. After the workshop and validation from key stakeholders, support the lead consultant in finalizing the PCA, taking into account the observations and recommendations that emerged from it.

Deliverables:

1. Documentation and summary of KIIs and, including list of people interviewed
2. Depending on arrangements agreed upon with lead consultant: draft gender-responsive PCA with a specific focus on the interaction between peace and conflict dynamics and the world of work to be presented to the PCA steering committee
3. Support planning and implementation of 1.5-day workshop for presentation to, and discussion with, the PCA steering committee and relevant additional stakeholders.

Management and reporting

The team of local consultants will report to the lead consultant on the overall assignment. The lead consultant is the focal point for interactions with Interpeace, ILO’s ROAS and CSPR teams throughout the assignment. The team of local consultants is expected to work in a co-creative and collaborative manner with ILO and Interpeace colleagues.

Financial proposal

Interpeace would invite applicants to submit a financial proposal along with their application. The expected time commitment for the local team of consultants is of a maximum of 24 days.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in the analysis of peace and conflict dynamics and the link with peace programming;
• Strong network of contacts in Yemen, both in civil society and in relevant local, national, and international organizations;
• Excellent knowledge of and experience in the Yemen context, its actors, and conflict dynamics;
• Experience in programmes related to employment and the world of work is an asset;
• Demonstrated experience in developing comprehensive quality analytical reports;
• Excellent knowledge of peace and conflict issues;
• Excellent synthesis, analysis and writing skills;
• Ability to prepare technical publications, reports and recommendations;
• Written and spoken Arabic and English