UNDP Jobs - 54037- Programme Spécialiste Disaster Risk Reduction

Programme Spécialiste Disaster Risk Reduction

Location :

Nouakchott, MAURITANIA

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

08-Mar-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

One 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

Growth and development are increasingly at risk. UNDP works closely with governments to build capacities at the regional, national and local levels for reducing exposure and vulnerability to disaster and climate risks. Conflicts, climate change, disaster risks and environmental degradation represent interrelated challenges that are impairing the ability of Sahel countries to advance human development. The region’s resilience to disaster risks and climate related stress remains relatively weak especially with regard to risk reduction and preparedness.
The Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) promotes an integrated approach to disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, environment protection and energy. It provides advisory support to UNDP Country Offices in high-risk countries / regions to support the design and implementation of resilience building strategies and risk reduction initiatives to strengthen resilience of systems and communities to shocks and long-term stress.

Under the overall authority of the RC-RR and the supervision of the Deputy Resident Representative (Programmes) of the Country Office and the technical supervision of the Regional Disaster Reduction Advisor, the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Advisor is responsible for providing technical advice and strategic direction for the development and implementation of disaster risk reduction and post disaster recovery initiatives in Mauritania.

Country Context

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania, located in the north-western part of the African continent, is a vast but sparsely populated country of approximately 3.9 million inhabitants (2013).

Economically, Mauritania has one of the lowest GDP rates in Africa, despite being rich in natural resources. Mauritania remains among the world’s poorest countries, ranked 161st of 187 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index in 2014. Poverty still affects close to 42% of the Mauritanian population, despite a steady decrease in the level of poverty for more than a decade. Rural poverty is aggravated by the acute lack of basic infrastructure such as water, energy and transport. The rather poor performance of the social sectors indicates the likelihood that the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) will not be achieved by 2015.

The country is particularly vulnerable to climate risks, in particular due the high exposure of the population and assets to drought and floods (the highest density of population is recorded in the coastal cities, where a third of Mauritanians live and along the Senegal River in the southern part of the country) and the dependency of the population on agriculture and livestock, that are highly climate sensitive, for their livelihoods. Urbanization is now close to 50% of the population as most of the nomads and many subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by recurrent droughts in the 1970s and 1980s.

Mauritania is highly vulnerable to climate and disaster risks. Climate Change has manifested through changing rainfall patterns, sea rise level, heat and water stress, soil moisture changes, and extreme weather events such as storms, floods and drought. Mauritania has experienced a succession of droughts that, coupled with food price increases and limited availability of cereals on the market have resulted in severe food security crisis (2005, 2010, 2012). Floods have had disastrous socio-economic impact in recent years in particular in urban areas.

The Ministere de l’Environnement et du Developpement Durable oversees the government’s response to climate hazards and risks while the Civil Protection is responsible to coordinate disaster response and preparedness. There is no legislation/policy on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) but the national climate adaptation plan, the national environment plan and the national action plan on desertification contribute to DRR. Overall the capacity to address climate change impacts and disaster risks in Mauritania is still limited. The national and local administrations have limited systematic knowledge of disaster risk reduction and post disaster recovery requirements, adaptation needs and options; and individual, institutional and systemic capacities to act on such risks remain low. In 2014, the Government of Mauritania has requested the support of the UN through the inter-agency CADRI initiative, to facilitate a capacity assessment to identify key areas to strengthen in the area of disaster risk reduction. A national action plan on DRR will be developed on the basis of the main recommendations emerging from the capacity assessment to address critical issues in the area of risk knowledge, early warning, preparedness, and risk reduction with a special focus on urban risks

UNDP support on DRR in Mauritania

UNDP has supported national and local authorities and communities in disaster risk and climate risk management through various initiatives. UNDP has supported the strengthening of disaster preparedness and response with a special focus on post disaster early recovery / recovery and livelihoods restoration as well as the design of the national disaster management plan in 2009. UNDP also supports agro-sylvo-pastoral communities in sustainable natural resource management and participates in a joint program on climate resilient development and food security with other UN agencies. UNDP is expected to play a key role in support of the development and implementation of the national plan of action on DRR in 2015-2016, and to support the reinforcement of disaster risk management institutional and legal framework and the inclusion of DRR and climate risk management into national policies and development plans.

The Disaster Risk Reduction Advisor will support the government, UNDP and the UNCT in the implementation of the national plan of action on DRR and will assist UNDP in integrating climate and disaster risk reduction in existing program and projects and design specific disaster risk reduction initiatives together with other partners at national and local level.

This is a Management Project Funded (MPF).

Duties and Responsibilities

The Disaster Risk Reduction Advisor will perform the following duties:

Programmes

Analyze the socio-economic environment and governance context to provide leadership and technical inputs to the design, development, and implementation of UNDP/ UN disaster risk reduction initiatives in support of the government, ensuring strong linkages with climate change adaptation and natural resource management portfolio;
Support the design of capacity development initiatives on disaster risk and climate risk management, in particular in: policy / institutional development, risk information, urban risks management, and post disaster needs recovery;
In post-disaster emergency situations advise the Country Office on post disaster recovery planning: utilization of emergency grants; post-disaster assessments; formulation of early recovery frameworks; planning for longer term recovery and reorientation, as appropriate, of existing CO projects to meet recovery needs;
Identify and follow up on potential opportunities for partnership building and resource mobilization (bi/multi / government cost-sharing) in support of disaster risk reduction / resilience programming;
When relevant, provide oversight to project implementation including discussing project work plans, progress and performance; participating in joint project visits to monitor and assess implementation; resolve problems in execution and implementation streamlining relations between national project directors, consultants and executing agencies;
Provide advisory support to UNDP programme team in resilience programming (disaster risk reduction, climate risk management, local governance, environmental management, recovery and diversified climate sensitive livelihoods) and identify specific entry points in the UNDP country programmes where risk reduction can be integrated / mainstreamed;
Ensure that DRR / CCA interventions are programmed following a conflict sensitive approach especially in relation to management of natural resources (water and land) and inclusive post disaster recovery programming. This will be pursued notably by promoting integration of DRR/CCA with conflict prevention and local mediation initiatives. In this respect, the DRR Adviser will work closely with the governance experts, recovery experts and Peace and Development Advisor to ensure that there is a comprehensive approach to resilience building in the country;
Ensure gender-responsive approach in the design and implementation of disaster and climate risk management initiatives through the conduct of gender responsive analysis (advocating for the collection of sex-disaggregated data on the differentiated impact of disasters and CC on men and women and the role of men and women; and the conduct of gender-specific needs assessment), through advocating for women to take up leadership roles in disaster management at community level and disaster risk reduction in sectors programs;
Coordinate UNDP disaster risk reduction initiatives with the other partners – government agencies, UN agencies, the World Bank, national and international NGOs, academic and technical institutions;
Serve as a resource for the UN system in ensuring that the national government receives a coherent package of support from the UN System in Disaster Risk Reduction in support of the implementation of the National Plan of Action on DRR;
Contribute substantively to the work of the UN cluster on Early Recovery that UNDP is coordinating;
As required, provide targeted support to the UN Resident Coordinator in coordinating disaster risk management efforts and more broadly UN efforts in support of national resilience priorities in the framework of AGIR, the Global Alliance for Resilience in the Sahel;
As required, provide support to corporate global / regional initiatives such as the implementation of the regional strategy for the Sahel, the global post disaster recovery project, and the implementation of the regional program for Africa.

Knowledge management

Distil lessons learned and good practices and share them with the CO, the UNCT, BPPS and the UNDP Regional Center and the wider disaster reduction community of practice (COP). Participate in regional and global practice development meetings on disaster risk reduction, climate risk management and post disaster recovery;
Mentor UNDP/ UN system staff members and/ or project personnel working on disaster reduction issues and resilience building approaches.

Policy

Advocate, promote awareness and understanding of the links and mutually supportive goals and objectives of the post 2015 disaster reduction agreement, the global climate change agreement, and the post 2015 sustainable development goals.
As appropriate, on behalf of UNDP/ UN system provide policy level advice to the host government in development of institutional, legislative and policy frameworks for disaster risk reduction and recovery in line with the post 2015 disaster reduction agreement, the global climate change agreement, and the post 2015 sustainable development goals.
As needed, provide inputs for the formulation of UNDP/ UN global or regional policies, guidelines and practice notes on disaster risk reduction, post disaster recovery and resilience building. Report on key trends at the country level and its policy implications.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Integrity and fairness

Eembodies UN values and promotes the well-being of all individuals regardless of gender, religion, race, nationality, or age.

Cultural sensitivity and adaptability

Communicates effectively with and relates to people of significant contributions to corporate priorities or initiatives led by other UNDP offices and bureaus.

Functional competencies:

Knowledge of the international disaster reduction system;
Knowledge of country’s hazards, vulnerabilities and risks;
Ability to provide inputs for disaster risk assessment and its application to risk management decision-making.

Managerial

Ability to build strong relationships with external actors – cultivate productive relationships with donors, partners and other important institutions and individuals;
Excellent oral and written communication skills;
Ability to anticipate and understand client needs, formulate clear strategic plans, prioritize interventions, and allocate resources according to priorities;
Ability to develop innovative solutions - encourages and contributes creative solutions to address challenging situations.

Behavioral

Ability to establish effective working relations in a multicultural team environment;
Resourcefulness, initiative, and maturity of judgment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree in social sciences or discipline relevant to disaster reduction with internationally recognized contributions to the theory and practice of disaster reduction.

Experience:

Proven record of achievement over 7 years of increasingly responsible experience in planning and managing technical co-operation strategies and relevant advocacy programs in disaster reduction and post-disaster recovery. Extensive field experience in high risk disaster environments;
Previous experience working in the Sahel region or Horn of Africa region an advantage;
High degree of technical knowledge of disaster risk reduction, ability to quickly analyze and understand the country context, build partnerships, develop innovative solutions and mobilize regional and global knowledge to meet the specific country needs;
Application of theoretical knowledge in the design, management and evaluation of complex, multi-disciplinary capacity building programs involving national governments, civil society and international organizations;
Well proven analytical and writing skills;
Demonstrated abilities and contributions to policy and guideline formulation, resource mobilization, team building, team leadership and management, preferably in a capacity related to the UN system;
Experience in establishing inter-organizational networks and partnerships at the operational level.

Language:

Fluency in French essential;
Proficiency in English necessary;
Other UN official langages an asset.