UNDP Jobs - 48334- Technical Specialist (Volunteering in Disaster Ris

Technical Specialist (Volunteering in Disaster Risk Reduction)

Location :

Port-au-Prince, HAITI

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

11-Aug-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-3

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 Year

Languages Required :

English French

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has an established record of supporting disaster risk reduction (DRR) in Haiti – through a major programme, which has been operational since 1999. It is a trusted partner of government institutions working in this area.

UNDP’s current programme on Disaster risk reduction focuses on five priority areas:

Support for institutional capacity development to government and coordination;
Disaster preparedness and recovery;
Risk identification, with a particular focus on seismic risk reduction;
Public information/awareness raising, training and information technology; and
Integration of disaster risk reduction into recovery and development, with a particular focus on urban risk reduction.

The programme has an important component of supporting continued and expanded support to the Civil Protection Agency (DPC) at both national and departmental levels. The DPC is the lead body within government for emergency preparedness and response. Since its creation, important progress has been made in terms of its capacity and expertise.

In 2011, the European Union and the DPC developed a project that resulted in the training more than 3,000 volunteers on first aid and disaster response throughout the country. This initiative increased significantly the capacity of the municipalities to respond to an emergency. However, evaluations have shown that given the absence of formal volunteering coordination mechanism the sustainability of this initiative was not ensured.

Following the evaluations’ recommendations, UNDP with the support of the European Union, has launched a new project that aims at sustaining the response capacity made by the training of the 3,000 volunteers. This will be done by strengthening the coordination and management of the DRR volunteer’s network, by assessing the equipment used by the volunteers for their interventions, and by providing additional training to increase the skills of the volunteers in first aid emergency response. The project is implemented through a national implementation modality whereby the National Coordinator of the Project is the Director of DPC. A key partner of the project will also be the Haitian Red Cross.

Under the leadership of the National coordinator of the project; the supervision of the head of the DRR Unit and in close collaboration with the head of the project, the Technical Specialist carry out the following functions:

Technical support;
Project support;
Knowledge management.

Duties and Responsibilities

Technical support:

Provide technical input for the design, development, and implementation of the National DRR volunteer network in support of the national government;
Evaluate and analyze the status of volunteering and its structure within the National system for disaster risk management and in the light of the work that is being done by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Civic Action on this topic;
Propose solutions, based on experience in other similar country contexts, to establish a more sustainable set up for DRR volunteering with the civil protection committees at municipal level and the National system for disaster risk management;
Support the development of mechanisms and tools for monitoring the DRR volunteers’ network;
Contribute to identifying financial solutions for the sustainability of the DRR volunteers’ network and its coordination;
Provide assistance to transfer capacities of coordinating and monitoring the DRR volunteers’ network to the national counterpart;
Propose solutions for the sustainability of the system i.e. in terms of human resources, expertise/skills maintenance and deployment;
Provide assistance to coordination with other organizations and projects that intervene in the field of volunteering in Haiti – in particular with the Haitian Red Cross;
Provide assistance in identifying potential opportunities for resource mobilization in support of the DRR volunteers’ network. This may include support from bilateral development partners, the international financial institutions, as well as cost-sharing with the host government;
Seek complementarities and integration with ongoing projects in other UN agencies or programmes such as the UNV.

Project support:

Provide support to the National project director in order to ensure quality monitoring of activities implemented by the project;
Contribute to the development of Annual Work Plans and other planning tools.

Knowledge management:

Distil lessons learned and good practices and share them with the CO, the UNCT, BCPR, the CPR Network and the wider disaster reduction community of practice (COP);
Identify good practices from other countries and share them with DPC, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Civic Action, Haitian Red Cross and other relevant agencies in Haiti;
Advocate, promote awareness and understanding of the links and mutually supportive goals and objectives of volunteering and the broader disaster reduction and sustainable development agenda.

Impact of Results

The key results will strengthen the Government of Haiti’s role and capacities in preparation and response to disasters, as well as significant improvement in the DRM programme achievements as it relates to the use of corporate resources.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates high moral 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.

Functional Competencies:

Effective communication skills and ability to establish good working relationships with national and local authorities, and international interlocutors;
Ability to work and act under pressure;
Excellent computer literacy;
Capability to mobilize resources, maintain co-ordination with the donors and UN Agencies and formulate programme and projects;
Excellent networking skills;
Self-motivated, ability to work with minimum supervision;
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, team oriented work style.

Knowledge Management and Learning:

Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the sub project’s offices.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in international development, government administration, social development and/or related fields.

Experience:

A minimum of 5 years of experience in support of volunteering, disaster preparedness and response and DRR;
Experience in developing/application of databases and information management tools at different levels;
Extensive exposure and comprehensive knowledge of a wide range of emergency intervention related issues as well as volunteering particularly in the developing countries, both at technical and policy levels;
Experience of working with local government in developing countries would be an asset;
Experience in technical advisory would be an asset;
Experience with UNDP and/or UN or the Red Cross / Crescent movement would be an asset;
Experience of working in Haiti would be an asset.

Language:

Proficiency in French and English, with excellent writing skills;
Knowledge of Créole would be an asset