Starting date : March 2020

Duration of Mission: 12 months

Location: Saida, Lebanon

Première Urgence Internationale (PUI) is a Humanitarian, non-governmental, non-profit, non-political and non-religious international aid organization. Our teams are committed to supporting civilian victims of marginalization and exclusion, or hit by natural disasters, wars and economic collapses, by addressing their fundamental needs. Our aim is to provide emergency relief to uprooted people in order to help them recover their dignity and regain self-sufficiency. The association leads on average 200 projects per year in the following sectors of intervention: food security, health, nutrition, construction and rehabilitation of infrastructures, water, sanitation, hygiene and economic recovery. PUI is providing assistance to around 6 million people in more than 22 countries – in Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Europe.

Find out about our history and values

Humanitarian situation, needs and consequences:

As the Syrian Crisis is in its sixth year, the number of Syrians seeking refuge in other countries has reached an unprecedented scale. With more than 250,000 people killed, 1.2 million injured and 6.5 million people displaced, there are now 13.5 million vulnerable people inside Syria alone. Over 4.5 million refugees from Syria have fled to neighbouring countries particularly Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.

After Turkey, Lebanon is the second host country for Syrian refugees with over 1.125 million refugees registered for an overall population of less than 4.5 million (Source: LCRP 2016). Prior to this crisis, Lebanon was already hosting half a million Palestinian refugees; the pressure on the Lebanese government and local population is very high.

An unprecedented number of civilians (refugees and host communities) are affected by the protracted Syrian crisis, in terms of increased impoverishment and vulnerability. Syrian refugees in particular are exposed to constant violation of the Humanitarian laws, with little perspective for them to reach a sustainable solution (resettlement to a third country, local integration or return to country of origin). There are not located in camps but scattered in areas inhabited by impoverished and vulnerable Lebanese communities further stretching limited or non-existent sources of income and public services at the local level

South Lebanon (South and Nabatieh Governorates)

Saida is the third city in Lebanon in terms of population, and 396,210 individuals live in Saida district, which is part of the South governorate. Saida is located on the coastal road.

Saida district hosts:

• 43,964 displaced Syrians, including 2,814 living in ISs[1] with poor shelter and WASH conditions, and more exposed to protection issues
• 113,022 deprived Lebanese among a total of 250,602 residing in the district [2]
• 96,060 registered Palestinian refugees, mainly settled in Ein El Hilweh and Miye o Miye camps[3]. Within the whole country, Saida is the city in Lebanon hosting the highest number of Palestinian refugees.

In the absence of effective and comprehensive social safety net, the low resilience capacities and increased vulnerability of deprived population expose them precarious socio-economic conditions (exploitation, unsafe working and living conditions, risk of eviction due to high rent fees, etc.) and prevent them from accessing basic goods and services (deterioration of food security index, limited access to health care system, legal assistance, etc.)

Due to the competition for jobs and pressure, tensions between refugees and host communities are rising. Based on a mapping of inter-community tensions, UNDP classified seven villages in Saida district as having tensions, two of which with high tension (Bissarieh and A’aqbieh).

According to the VASyR 2018, the economic situation of the refugees has slightly improved in the past year. In the South governorate, 36% of the households are still earning less than the Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket and 60% under the Minimum Expenditure Basket. This situation is mostly due to the cumulative effect of severe strain on already weak services and infrastructure, leading to the depletion of assets, and the increasing number of households who face debt issues.

Coping mechanisms of Syrian refugees remain the same throughout the country in 2018, the four main strategies adopted being: 1/ reduced expenditures on food, 2/ bought food on credit, 3/ reduced essential non-food expenditures, and 4/ spent savings. However, if the first and third strategy have decreased, a higher number of households claimed buying food on credit and spending their savings. This reveals that food security is directly impacted by the lack of sustainable and sufficient source of income (VASyr 2018 prelimary results).

The socio economic situation of the country is worsening at a fast pace since October 17th and the beginning of the civil unrest. Protests have appeared, requesting the complete overall of the political system and better public services.

Our actions in the field:

Present in the country since 1996, PUI has a long experience in assisting conflict affected populations in the South. Since 2012, PUI has been actively involved in the Lebanon emergency response to the Syrian crisis with presence in the North (Akkar), Mount Lebanon and, South (Saida) of Lebanon.

In 2018, PUI aims to reinforce the ability of each vulnerable community to become self-reliant and resilient to crisis, through 3 strategic pillars targeting the most vulnerable populations (Poorest Lebanese, most vulnerable Syrians Refugees, Populations of Palestinian camps) :

• Access to quality infrastructure and services
• Access to safe, stable, sufficient and sustainable livelihoods
• Core humanitarian assistance for most vulnerable individuals

Click here for more information about our response to the crisis

As part of our actions in Lebanon, we are looking for a Field Coordinator 

The Field Coordinator is responsible for the overall functioning of the Base, and proper implementation of programs developed on that Base.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Safety: In collaboration with the Head of Mission and with the support of the Humanitarian Affairs Manager, He/She is responsible for the safety of the Base.
• Program: He/She is accountable for an adequate definition and efficient implementation of the projects. S/he ensures the coordination between the Support teams (Admin, Log and Humanitarian Affairs) and Program teams in order to timely and qualitatively guarantee that the objectives and results of the projects are reached. S/He preventively identifies issues, gaps and delays that may impede the correct implementation of the projects and proposes mitigation plan to the HoM.
• Human Resources: He/She supervises all the teams of the Base, composed of national and international staff, with substantive support from the HR Coordinator of the mission.
• Administrative and financial support: He/She oversees the administrative and financial components of the Base for the purpose of program implementation, and ensures compliance with the relevant procedures, with substantive support from the Administrative and Finance Coordinator of the mission.
• Logistical support: He/She oversees the logistical components of the base for the purpose of program implementation, and ensures compliance with the relevant procedures, with substantive support from the Logistics Coordinator of the mission.
• Representation: He/She represents PUI with the stakeholders (such as donors, authorities, International/Local NGOs).
• Coordination: He/She centralizes and disseminates information from/to the Base, and consolidates the internal and external reporting activities implemented in his/her field of operations before submitting them to the Head of mission.
• Assessment/ Strategy: He/She participates in strategy development and proposes new interventions in function of needs identified in his/her field of operations.

You’ll find more detailed informations in the job description below