Vacancies

1. To analyse and document the situation of informal settlements in the Mashriq Arab States including experience of current and past upgrading programmes in selected countries with a focus on lessons learnt for city wide and or national upscaling, from the various perspectives: formation of informal settlements with relation to migration and refugees,  engineering (design and construction), financial instruments, legislative and institutional structures, socio-economic, land tenure, and management.

2. To enable regional knowledge-based policy advice on informal settlements through an established dynamic regional knowledge management platform (possibly in cooperation with leading Arab States related universities)

3. To identify key bottlenecks and suggest areas of interventions for UN-Habitat and other key stakeholders to support member states in Arab States to achieve inclusive urbanization and reporting on Sustainable Development Goal 11, Target 1.

EXPECTED OUTPUTS
To achieve the objectives, the consultancy will develop the following deliverables:

1.  Inception report
     a. Provide outline of the approach to the consultancy based on the ToR and a rationale for the approach, (3 days)

2.  Draft Final Report
     a.  Undertake analysis of existing information including desk and literature review of informal settlements issue in Arab States focusing on Mashreq states. Report will have ideally around 50 pages long, short and precise conclusion on informal settlements in Arab States but captures the important features from the various perspectives: formation of informal settlements with relation to migration and refugees, engineering (Design and construction), financial instruments, legislative and institutional structures, socio-economic, land tenure, and management. (20 days)

     b.In cooperation with Maghreb informal settlements consultant, draft methodology report on the establishment of dynamic regional knowledge management platform including suggested methodology, techniques and recommended main stakeholders. (4 days)

3.  Event moderation, feedback compilation
     a. In cooperation with Maghreb informal settlements consultant, ROAS team, and defined stakeholders: support planning and moderation of a regional event to present draft findings, moderate discussions and incorporate feedback from various participating member states. (5days)

4.  Presentation of the final report and Draft Concept note (5 pages) on Programming
     a.  In cooperation with Maghreb informal settlements consultant, draft the Final technical report combining all key data, analysis, discussion and results. (3 days)

     b.  PowerPoint file presenting issues and identified areas of action. (two days)

     c.  A short concept note summarizing key findings of the research and suggestions as well as rational for key areas of action including a thorough theory of change for identified area of programming ( two days)

The expert will be involved in the production of the 4 outputs and completion of 7 activities, as per the above tasks and responsibilities. Each output is expected to include, figures, tables, endnotes, and references, which are not intended to be published. ROAS and Slum upgrading Unit will provide feedback on the draft outputs within the development process to facilitate broad-based adaption of normative content within UN-Habitat.

There are on billion slum dwellers worldwide and it is estimated that an additional 3 billion people will need adequate housing by 2050 as population increases and people continue to move to cities.

Urban population in Arab countries grew by more than four times during the period of 1970 to 2010 . As of 2010, the Arab population was estimated at 357 million people, 56 per cent of whom live in cities. By 2030, it is expected to increase to 487 million people, 63 per cent of whom will live in cities and margins. Therefore, achieving sustainable development is vital to accommodate rapid urbanization in a positive manner.

In the Arab region, the proportion of sub-standard housing varies from country to country. In some countries, informal settlement and slum dwellings form isolated, marginalized pockets, while in others from 67 to 94 per cent of urban residents live under one or more housing deprivations. In some Gulf countries, for instance, housing conditions of low-income migrant workers are often very poor compared to the rest of the urban population.

Affordable and decent housing is a major challenge throughout the region, including in the Gulf States. In countries that have experienced continued conflict, high rates of poverty and pervasive political instability such as Libya, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Comoros, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq - these demographic trends have translated into pervasive slums, which comprise 50 to 95 per cent of total urbanization .

States of Arab Cities 2012 report indicates that the proliferation of slums and peri-urban informal settlements is the result of a scarcity of serviced land and affordable housing options. Slums in the region include older, deteriorated buildings within the urban fabric and, particularly in the Southern Tier, newly-constructed housing that is not durable and lacks most services. There is also type of informal settlements, which are mostly constructed of durable materials, often as multi-story buildings on former agricultural land, and their informality is generally the result of their unplanned nature and lack of registered titles. Their residents typically lack waterborne sewerage but, overall, have access to potable water,  electricity and some form of sanitation. These settlements attract middle-class families, with wage earners in professional or managerial occupations in the public and private sectors. Challenges in informal settlements are also exuberated with refugee influx, continued large number of internally displaced people (IDP) and effect of climate change.

To address some of this challenge and promote sustainable urbanization, the League of Arab States in cooperation with UN-Habitat has developed the Arab Strategy for Housing and Sustainable Urban Development 2030, which has two strategic objectives; i) ensuring access to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services, and prosperous living for all, ii) ensuring equity and social integration. UN-Habitat Regional Office for Arab States is the main partner for the Arab States in the implementation of this strategy.

Both objectives will not be substantially achieved without rigorously addressing challenges of informal settlements issues in the region.

In this context, UN-Habitat and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) are cooperating to promote the dissemination and implementation of the SDGs, the Habitat III agenda and framework for implementation, and the IBDG's 10 Year Strategic Plan and future Urban Sector Policy orientations, as well as the IDB President Five Year Programme (P5P), with a focus on achieving the sustainable development needs of their common Member Countries and select communities in non-member countries.

The objective of this consultancy is thus to undertake a rapid research study to analyse informal settlements issues in Mashreq Arab states (Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Iraq) based on existing and published documents, ongoing programmes such Egypt, , Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Libya, Syria, and identify areas of action that would require UN-Habitat support to member states. The research results will be discussed in a regional event and possibly presented in WUF 2020 to guide UN-Habitat on developing and programming a participatory informal settlement upgrading/urban regeneration programmes to support the Arab States in building capacity, policy and legislation assessment and review, knowledge development and sharing to deliver effectively informal settlements upgrading/ urban regeneration, and build inter regional cooperation.

The consultancy will be in the UN-Habitat Regional Office for Arab States (ROAS) in cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank and with support from the Slum Upgrading Unit of the Housing and Slum Upgrading Branch. S/he will work closely with the assigned consultant for the Maghreb Arab states be directly supervised by the Regional office for Arab States. The consultant will report directly to Regional director of Arab states. He/She will be responsible for the following as detailed in the expected outputs section:

1. Provide consultancy outline
2. Undertake desk and literature review of informal settlements issue in Arab States focusing on Mashreq states.
3. Draft Methodology report on the establishment of dynamic regional knowledge management platform

4. Defined stakeholders and support planning and moderation of a regional event
5. Presentation of the final report and Draft Concept note
6. Draft the Final technical report combining all key data, analysis, discussion and results.
7. Prepare a PowerPoint file presenting issues and identified areas of action.
8. Submit a short concept note summarizing key findings of the research and suggestions as well as rational for key areas of action including a thorough theory of change for identified area of programming

Experience:
The expert should have more than 15 years of working experience, including: 

1. A combination of research and practical experience related to issues of informal settlements upgrading including land tenure, service and infrastructure development, affordable housing development, and community development and strategic planning is required.

2. Previous experience with international organisations, NGO's and Local Communities, particularly on the participatory slum upgrading in informal settlements upgrading in Arab States is required.

3. Programme development and design, research skills to analyze data and information critically and identify and document key issues related to the informal settlements upgrading is a must.

4. Background on urban planning and participatory urban development is an asset.

5. Ability to prioritize activities and assignments

Language:
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this consultancy, fluency in oral and written English and Arabic is required.