UNDP Jobs - 45985- Capacity Development on Mainstreaming Disaster Ris

Capacity Development on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation

Location :

Maputo, MOZAMBIQUE

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

02-Jun-2014

Application Deadline :

23-May-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

126 man-days

Languages Required :

English Portuguese

Expected Duration of Assignment :

31 October 2014

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

UNDP and the Government of Mozambique have established a long-term partnership to enhance the country’s safety against natural extreme events. In response to the vulnerability of Mozambique to disasters, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation have become a key concern for the Government. Recognizing that the country’s persistent disaster impacts and their related consequences on household livelihoods need to be addressed urgently if the nation is to make progress towards poverty alleviation and the attainment of the MDGs, the Government has made firm commitments to mainstreaming disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and gender into development as a priority. Such commitment is reflected in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Plan (PARP) 2012 – 2015, and the recently approved National Climate Change Strategy (2013-2018).

As part of the long-term Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) process, UNDP and the Government of Mozambique are starting a comprehensive programme on Capacity development on mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation into national and provincial plans and programmes in Mozambique (2013-2015). The main objective of this programme is to support the National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC) and the Ministry for Coordination of Environmental Affairs (MICOA) to strengthen national capacities and frameworks for disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) in 3 targeted provinces (Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Gaza). Output 2 of the programme contemplates the generation of knowledge and information to understand disaster risk and utilize that information to support sound decision making and development planning. For this purpose, one of the activities to be implemented is the Flood and Cyclone risk assessments for the three selected provinces. These Terms of Reference refer to activities and expertise needed to complete the mentioned assessment satisfactorily.

The Flood and Cyclone risk assessments are the continuation of a long-term cooperation process between UNDP-BCPR and the Government of Switzerland to use Swiss expertise in DRR to enhance local capacities for Disaster Risk Assessment and Management in high-risk countries. In the specific case of Mozambique, the collaboration started in November 2011 when Swiss professionals provided a 2 weeks training to a team of local experts on Flood Risk Assessment. The Training of Trainers (TOT)-type of training has since been replicated by the local teams in several provinces of Mozambique developing the sufficient capacity that will facilitate the actual risk assessment implementation in three provinces - Gaza, Nampula and Cabo Delgado, of the country. To further enhance local capacities and develop floods and cyclones risk information to support decision making, funds have been allocated by the SWISS through the capacity development and DRR mainstreaming proposal. The funds will be used to conduct floods and cyclone risk in the three UNDP three priority provinces, noted earlier which are also known to be extremely vulnerable to floods and cyclones impact.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Head of CPR/E Unit UNDP CO, the consultant will perform flood and cyclone risk assessments for three provinces in Mozambique (Gaza, Nampula and Cabo Delgado) and produce risk information that can be utilized to improve DRR, CCA and land-use planning. To implement this consultancy, the consultant will work in close collaboration with local teams. The work covered by this consultancy should be compatible and coordinated with the other activities included in the comprehensive programme on Capacity development on mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation into national and provincial plans and programmes in Mozambique, of which risk assessment is a key component. More specifically, coordination and information exchange should be ensured with the local teams in charge of implementing the other two components of Output 2 of the comprehensive programme, namely the updating of the National Disaster Loss Database and of the National Risk Information E-Library.

Assistance to UNDP-CO in the creation of the local work team (WT) formed by technical representatives from three targeted provinces;
Preparation of a comprehensive list of needed data to be collected and assessment of their availability and quality in the targeted provinces;
Development of country-specific methodology, tools and guidelines for flood risk assessment (FRA) depending on the available data and their quality;
Assistance to UNDP-CO in the preparation of a National Workshop to launch the project and explain it to relevant stakeholders in the country.

Hazard and Risk Assessment:

Implementation of a National Workshop to launch the process in the 3 provinces and work with the local work team (WT) on the design of the data collection process and on the development of the required data-collection capacities;
Provision, as needed, of remote technical support to the WT for the collection of necessary data (land use cover, digital models, flows, rains, flood and cyclone events, satellite imagery, etc.);
Performance of hazard and risk assessment for the three provinces considering two different cases: rural floods (main rivers prone to flooding) and urban floods (main cities). While the overall impact of cyclones will be estimated by the WT (local oceanographers), the consultant will analyze the effects of cyclones on rainfall levels and the subsequent floods. Hazard and risk assessments will be done for frequent events - for contingency planning; moderate events - for development planning; and for extreme events - for insurance purposes. Considering the limitations of existing information, in terms of both completeness and quality, the consultant is expected to produce the best possible results with the available information;
Assistance to local Work Team (especially local oceanographers) with the assessment of overall impact of cyclones. In Mozambique floods are often linked to cyclones and, therefore, a link has to be defined in order to consider their influence on rainfalls, sea level and floods. The local experts, with assistance from the consultant, will analyze this aspect;
A mid-term workshop will be organized to present, discuss and validate the results of the hazard assessment and revision, in collaboration with the local WT, of the data collection process and work plan for the risk assessment.
Preparation of a set of recommendations on a) possible measures to effectively reduce the identified vulnerabilities and, therefore, reduce the overall disaster risk, and b) possible applications of the produced risk information in improving decision making and development planning (i.e. land-use planning, emergency response planning, pre-disaster recovery planning, investment planning, etc.).

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment

Functional Competencies:

Excellent writing skills in the compilation of high level quality documents in English language;
Demonstrable analytical skills;
Self-motivated, good sense of humor combined with seriousness about quality and timeliness of work.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, team oriented work style, interest and experience of working in multi-cultural environment;
Proficiency in the use of the computer.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

At least a Master’s Degree in Geography, Physical Sciences or Engineering.

Experience:

Ten years experience in hydrology, hydraulics, spatial and GIS analysis or equivalent experience in an area relevant to Flood Risk Assessment;
Experience in climate change (CC) risk assessment and adaptation;
Experience in leading working groups in a multi-disciplinary environment and with diverse local experts
Experience in working with data and information available in less developed countries, in the region;
Proven experience in editing, proof reading and writing;

Language Requirements:

Excellent command of written and spoken English;
Knowledge of Portuguese will be an advantage.

Application procedure:

The Terms of Reference and relevant documents can be access via the following site: http://procurement-notices.undp.org

Please follow the following steps:

Click on “Apply Now”;
Complete the personal information including short motivational note (max 1000 characters);
Cut and paste your CV (in the next box);
Click on Submit application;
On next page click on browse and upload the following document as one file:
P11;
Technical Proposal;
Financial Proposal.