Background

Pakistan is highly vulnerable to various natural hazards such as cyclones, floods, landslides, earthquakes, and droughts. The floods of 1950, 1988, 1992 and 1998 resulted in a large number of deaths and severe loss of property. The July 2010 floods, described as the worst in the last eighty years, affected nearly 20 million people with an estimated 1,800 deaths. The country's seismic risk vulnerability was proven in October 2005 when a major earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale hit nine districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), formerly North Western Frontier Province (NWFP), and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), killing over 73,000 people and damaging/destroying about 450,000 houses. The droughts of 2000-2002 and fourteen cyclones recorded in the period of 1971-2001 caused a significant amount of damage.

In view of a high level of risk and vulnerability in the country, UNDP, Pakistan along with other UN agencies implemented the One UN DRM programme during 2009 to 2012 in partnership with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The programme has important achievements to its credit, including expanding the agenda of DRM considerably in Pakistan.   The One UN DRM programme adopted a multi-hazard approach and carried out various interventions to mitigate the impacts from floods, cyclones, earthquakes, tsunamis, and landslides. Some of the interventions such as those for landslide mitigation are cited as examples of good practices.

As the One UN DRM programme is coming to a conclusion (march 2012), UNDP, Pakistan proposes to develop a new DRR programme in accordance with SPA 3 of the One UN Programme II (2013 – 2017). The programme will reflect the key priorities as outlined in various policy and framework documents, as well as needs assessment reports. The programme will be implemented over a period of five years in partnership with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs), and other agencies of Pakistan.

The new programme will be developed and implemented in accordance with the Strategic Priority Area (SPA) 3 of the One UN Programme II, which relates to disaster risk management. The programme will also work towards implementing the draft Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) policy, which has been prepared with UNDP’s assistance and approved by the Government of Pakistan. It will also draw upon the National Disaster Management Plan prepared by JICA, National Disaster Management Framework prepared by the NDMA in 2007, and Disaster Risk Management Needs Report developed by the NDMA in 2012 on the basis of national consultations. These reports provide us a wealth of analysis, knowledge, and vision about improving the DRR system in Pakistan. They also help to identify key DRR issues and priorities in Pakistan.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Technical Specialist DRM will be responsible for the operational management of the project under the supervision of the DRR Adviser. The key responsibilities would include:

• Support the strategic direction, and provide technical guidance and supervising Disaster Risk Reduction programming in support of UNDP Pakistan, government institutions and other stakeholders;
• Advise and assist the UNDP Project Manager and advisors team on redesigning the risk reduction project for Pakistan;
• Assist technically on development of RFPs and selection of bidders /individuals consultants for the implementation of sub projects;
• Provide advisory services to UNDP/Government, National and international stakeholders on disaster management policy issues as well as disaster and climate risk reduction initiatives;
• Provide strategic guidance and supervision to the contractors and project implementation team;
• Serve as interface between the project team, CPR Unit and the Government of Pakistan (including with government technical departments );
• Assessment of capacity building needs of the government and partner agencies and identifying opportunities for making improvements in current and future programming of UNDP for effective risks reduction programme;
• Creation of strategic partnerships among key stakeholders, including, UN agencies, government keys ministries, donors, international and national NGOs, and other international and regional professionals and institutions involved in risk reduction programme with a view to advancing the overall objectives;
• Advocate for and assist the government in implementing disaster risk management strategy and mainstreaming disaster risk reduction approaches in government’s policies plans, and monitoring systems across sectors at central and local levels;
• Support the mobilization of resources to support the continuation of risk reduction efforts in Pakistan.

Specific responsibilities:

• Take responsibility to provide technical guidance to project team;
• Review of technical documents, study reports, assessments and evaluations and policy drafts, and provide inputs to ensure quality of these documents;
• Assist with the evaluation of the bids and implementation of subproject as required;
• Collect necessary information from identified people and relevant documents to facilitate and improve the phase II implementation of the project;
• Contribute to the strengthening of capacity for the staff involved in the development of action plans for reduction of risks;
• Explore opportunities for cross learning with other country’s experiences within the region and outside and support UNDP DRR programme team and partners to be actively engaged in those kinds of learning and experience sharing events;
• Identify key partnerships with stakeholders in the project area, nationally and internationally to help advance to DRR Project and its overall objectives as well as broader risk reduction in Pakistan.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of the UN;
• 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;
• Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office;
• 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.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master Degree in Environmental Sciences, Management, Disaster Risk Management and/or relevant fields

Experience:

• At least 5 years’ experience in managing Disaster Risk Management/Reduction projects and/or working as DRM adviser on mitigation measures with at least 1 year experience in developing National Building Codes and Bye-Laws or floods mitigation measures adaptation measures;
• Experience in working in developing countries, working experience in Asia is an asset
• Experience in working with Government Institutions is a strong asset
• Previous UN experience is an asset
• Experience in working in Pakistan is an asset
• Good computer skills are essential.

Language:

• Excellent spoken and written English skills

Note:

“UNDP provides the Equal Opportunity for all equally qualified male & female including the physically challenged candidates, female candidates are particularly encouraged to apply’’.

“United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) does not charge fee at any stage of the recruitment process including application, interviews, selection or induction etc. Moreover, UNDP does not concern itself with any information on the applicants’ bank accounts.”