Lead Author - Gender-Focused Regional Socio-Economic Update

Background

Prosper Global's Crisis Analytics (CA) teams, working with UNDP, produce a Regional Socio-Economic Update that monitors economic conditions, livelihoods and household welfare across Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. The past year has brought continued regional instability, pressure on prices and labour markets, and reductions in humanitarian and development financing, with effects that are not felt equally by women and men. Evidence on these gender-differentiated effects is scattered across agencies, sectors and countries, and is rarely brought together in a single regional picture that decision-makers can use.

Barely enough is not enough for anyone. Prosper Global is a humanitarian organization working alongside communities facing conflict, climate change, and economic hardship to meet urgent needs and create the conditions for lasting progress. Today's challenges demand new solutions, so we pair local knowledge with global resources to help communities build what's needed, test what's possible, and scale what's proven so that people everywhere can pursue a full life on their own terms. In 2026, we changed our name from Mercy Corps to Prosper Global, to reflect our belief that when every community can prosper, all of humanity moves forward.

Purpose / Project Description

Prosper Global seeks a consultant to research and write a special edition of the Regional Socio-Economic Update examining key socio-economic developments in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan between September 2025 and September 2026 through a gender lens. The bulletin will analyse how evolving economic conditions and regional instability are affecting women and men differently, with particular attention to livelihoods and employment, labour market participation, household income and resilience, coping strategies, mobility, and access to essential services and economic opportunities. Where data permit, it will also consider how gender intersects with age, displacement status, disability, household composition and socio-economic vulnerability. The assignment is primarily desk-based, drawing on existing socio-economic, labour market and sectoral data and analysis, and is intended to give policymakers, development partners and practitioners concise, evidence-based insights to inform more gender-responsive livelihoods, economic recovery, resilience and longer-term development programming.

Consultant Objectives

The consultancy has the following objectives:

• Consolidate and analyse available evidence on gender-differentiated socio-economic trends in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan over September 2025 – September 2026.

• Identify the groups facing heightened socio-economic vulnerability, applying a gender and intersectional lens.

• Assess how economic hardship and service disruptions shape women's and men's paid work, unpaid care responsibilities, mobility and coping strategies.

• Draw out practical considerations for gender-responsive policy and programming in livelihoods, economic recovery and resilience.

Consultant Activities

The Consultant will:

• Inception: hold a kick-off meeting with the CA team and UNDP to confirm scope, audience, length and style; review previous editions of the Regional Socio-Economic Update to ensure consistency.

• Data and literature mapping: identify, assess and map available sex-disaggregated and gender-relevant data and analysis for each country (e.g. national labour force and household surveys, ILO, UN Women, UNDP, WFP, UNHCR, REACH, VASyR, humanitarian needs overviews, sector and cluster reports, and academic and think-tank research), noting coverage, recency, comparability and gaps.

• Analytical framework: develop an analytical framework and annotated outline structured around the bulletin's proposed sections, including the approach to intersectional analysis and to handling cross-country differences in data availability.

• Section I – Regional context: analyse key socio-economic developments and regional instability over the period, how these affect women and men differently (economic participation, exposure to shocks, mobility, household responsibilities), and which groups face heightened vulnerability.

• Section II – Economic hardship: analyse gender-differentiated effects of food, fuel and transport costs and inflation; changes in employment, labour force participation and income, including for informal workers and refugee and displaced populations; the quality and security of work; unpaid care and domestic work; pressures on female-headed and other vulnerable households; and, where evidence supports it, links to negative coping strategies such as child labour and early marriage.

• Section III – Access to services and opportunities: analyse effects of economic hardship, funding cuts and instability on access to health, education, social protection, childcare, eldercare and other services; gender differences in access, affordability and use; effects of disruptions to water, energy and transport; and, where supported by evidence, implications of reduced financing for gender-responsive services.

• Limited expert consultations (as needed): hold a small number of remote consultations with sector specialists, gender focal points and partner agencies to validate trends and fill evidence gaps. No primary data collection with programme participants is foreseen.

• Drafting and revision: draft the bulletin and a one-page summary of key findings, and incorporate consolidated comments from Prosper Global and UNDP across review rounds.

• Quality and conflict sensitivity: triangulate findings across independent sources, state data limitations and period mismatches clearly, and apply Do No Harm and conflict-sensitivity principles, particularly in presenting findings on Syria, on displaced and refugee populations, and on sensitive topics such as early marriage and child labour.

Consultant Deliverables

The Consultant will:

• Inception note (max. 5 pages): analytical framework, data and literature map with identified gaps, annotated outline of the bulletin, list of proposed expert consultations, and work plan.

• First full draft of the bulletin: covering Sections I–III with a draft one-page summary of key findings, supporting charts and full referencing.

• Revised draft: incorporating consolidated feedback from Prosper Global and UNDP, accompanied by a short comment-response matrix.

• Final bulletin: an approximately 12–15 page publication-ready bulletin in English (excluding annexes), including the one-page summary, Sections I–III, and brief considerations for gender-responsive policy and programming.

• Supporting files: the underlying data tables and chart source files, and a reference list/annex of data sources with notes on coverage and limitations.

• Debrief presentation: a short slide deck and presentation of key findings to Prosper Global, UNDP and partners (remote).

Timeframe / Schedule

The consultancy is expected to require up to 15-20 working days over approximately eight weeks from contract signature, ideally by mid-November.

The Consultant Will Report to

Naji Abou Khalil, CA MENAE Senior Manager

The Consultant Will Work Closely With

• Prosper Global CA Teams in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, and UNDP

• Prosper Global gender, economic opportunities and MEL colleagues, as relevant

Required Experience and Skills

• Advanced degree in economics, development studies, gender studies, social policy or a related field (required).

• 5–10 years of experience in socio-economic, labour market or livelihoods analysis, with a substantial focus on gender analysis (required).

• Demonstrated experience applying intersectional approaches (age, displacement status, disability, household composition) to socio-economic analysis.

• Strong knowledge of the socio-economic and humanitarian contexts of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, including refugee and displaced populations; regional experience strongly preferred.

• Proven ability to work with secondary quantitative and qualitative data, including household and labour force surveys and humanitarian assessments, and to present it clearly in charts and short text.

• Track record of concise, policy-oriented publications (bulletins, briefs or reports) for policymakers, donors and practitioners; writing samples will be requested.

• Understanding of conflict sensitivity and Do No Harm principles, and of ethical handling of sensitive data.

• Excellent written English required; working knowledge of Arabic strongly preferred to access Arabic-language sources.

Team Engagement and Effectiveness

Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work.

We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to learning, improving, and growing together.

Equal Employment Opportunity