UNDP Jobs - 58227- Consultant for Development of Disaster Risk Reduct

Consultant for Development of Disaster Risk Reduction Country Profiles for High Risk Countries in the Region of Europe and CIS.

Location :

Home Based with One Travel to Istanbul, Turkey

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

30-Jul-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Estimated 01 September 2015 – 30 November 2015

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Up to 50 working days

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

Historically the world has seen significant human suffering and severe disruption of social and economic development as a result of disasters. The threat of climate change has increased the level of risk and vulnerability of many of the world’s population to climatic hazards, adding to the urgency with which these issues must be addressed. Over the past couple decades there has been increasing awareness of the negative socio economic impacts of disasters and concerted efforts have been made to both respond to and mitigate against these impacts.

The global efforts at Disaster Risk Reduction are underpinned by a number of international strategies and agreements including the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, The International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, The Yokohama Strategy and Plan of Action for a Safer World, The Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 and Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. These agreements reflect the evolution of the awareness that disaster management must become an integral part of a country’s development policy.

Building on the Hyogo Framework for Action, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 aims to achieve the following outcome over the next 15 years: The substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries. To attain the expected outcome, the following goal must be pursued: Prevent new and reduce existing disaster risk through the implementation of integrated and inclusive economic, structural, legal, social, health, cultural, educational, environmental, technological, political and institutional measures that prevent and reduce hazard exposure and vulnerability to disaster, increase preparedness for response and recovery, and thus strengthen resilience.

Within the frame of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 following four Priorities for Action have been agreed:

Understanding disaster risk;
Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk;
Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience;
Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response, and to “Build Back Better” in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

In order to support the implementation of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, UNDP announced the 5-10-50 initiative. Which mean:
5 Components: The central objective of this programme is to build the capacity of national and sub-national actors to reduce and manage their disaster and climate risks through a series of five interrelated components, all contributing to risk-informed development
10 Years: The programme will have a 10-year duration with a major review to be carried out in the 5th year of its implementation.
50 Countries: UNDP will work with member states across 50 countries with relatively high disaster and climate risk and low levels of national and sub-national risk governance capacity.

One of the most critical components of UNDP intervention is Risk Assessment and Communication. The systematic assessment of risks (hazards, vulnerabilities and exposure) must provide the evidence base for risk-informed development. The involvement of decision-makers and communities in the risk assessment process and the communication of that process’s results are crucial to ensuring the application of risk information. That is why in order to structure and strengthen the DRR actions in the regions of ECIS, the IRH initiated the development of disaster risk reduction country profiles for high risk countries.

Duties and Responsibilities

The main objective of the assignment is to develop a disaster risk reduction (DRR) country profiles in ECIS high risk countries consisting from a comprehensive overview of the status of DRR, the progress made in reducing risk, the definition of priorities and strategies, the major challenges faced in reducing loss of life as well as the economic, social and environmental impacts which risks generate.

It is expected that each of the produced profiles will be the national reference document used by all relevant stakeholders to guide the organization of coordinated and complementary actions for DRR in priority intervention sectors.

Using this information as a foundation, the profiles should be continuously updated with value added information so that the data remains current and relevant. Ultimately, the profiles should become the institutional DRR memory for the participating countries.

Specific tasks are as follows:

In consultation with UNDP IRH to identify up to 5 high risk countries.

Develop DRR country profiles for up to 5 countries in following format:

Regional DRR context:

National context

Physical environment; Socio- economic context (population and demography, economy, poverty and unemployment, most vulnerable groups, gender); Governance structure; Development context;
Legal, Normative and Institutional profile.

The state of Disaster risk in the country:

Historic data analysis (Floods, droughts, landslides, rock falls, earthquakes, fires, etc. including lessons learned); Hazards/threats (natural hazards, anthropogenic hazards, emergencies affecting public health and safety); Vulnerability (analytic criteria and methodology, vulnerability analyses based on selected criteria);
Capacity (analytic criteria and methodology, institutional and coordination mapping, tool inventory); Reduction of Underlying risk factors;
Climate change and Disaster Risk;
Disaster risk analysis on the country (analytic criteria and methodology; definition of risk scenarios, prioritization of risk scenarios and areas of intervention);
Strategic directions for DRR (high priority, medium priority, priority for immediate actions) and identification of 3 most urgent programming priorities;
Conclusions and recommendation (Main conclusions, Recommendations (Regulatory frameworks for DRM; budget for preparedness and emergency response; development of hazards maps based on probability criteria; enhancing the capacity of institutional response structure; etc.)

Deliverables and payment schedule:

First installment (30%) payable upon submission of following deliverables:

List of DRR high risk countries identified and country specific requirements for DRR profiles agreed with each respective CO ( by 15 September 2015);
Draft report for each of the participating countries: Regional DRR context; National context; Legal, Normative and Institutional profile (by 15 September 2015);
Draft report on the state of Disaster risk in the country for each of the participating countries (by 30 September 2015).

Second installment (30%) payable upon submission of following deliverables:

Draft report for each of the participating countries on: Disaster risk analysis on the country, Strategic directions for DRR and Conclusions and recommendation (by 30 October 2015).

Third installment (40%) payable upon submission of following deliverables:

Final disaster risk reduction country profile for each of the participating countries corrected in line with COs and IRH comments (by 25 November 2015).

The methodology used for this assignment included the following, viz:

Literature reviews and in-depth desk research on the existing policies, procedures and legal framework impacting Disaster Risk Reduction in Grenada;
Comprehensive reviews and synthesis of relevant documentation;
Stakeholder Skype/phone interviews with key informants from the relevant institutions and organizations.

Management and organizational arrangements
The consultant will work under the guidance and technical supervision of DRR Team Leader of UNDP for ECIS. She/he will also work closely with participating UNDP Country Offices and other partners. Within the duration of the contract the consultant should visit Istanbul, Turkey (up to 5 days) to consult with the UNDP IRH. The cost of travel should be included into the financial proposal.

Consultancy is estimated to start on 1 September 2015 and will be completed no later than 30 November 2015.

Competencies

Good communication and time management skills, ability to work in a team;
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

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Minimum master’s degree in disaster risk reduction, environment science, urban land development or other relevant field.

Experience:

At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in the area of disaster risk reduction/management;
Professional experience in ECIS region, in particularly knowledge of DRR and climate risks in the region;
Experience in writing reports.

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English is required for this assignment;
Knowledge of Russian would is an asset.

Evaluation of Applicants

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.
The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (desk review and interviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 35 points;
Criteria A – Relevant university degree(s) completed – max points: 5;
Criteria B – Demonstrated relevant work experience for at least 5 years - max points: 10;
Criteria C – Demonstrated relevant experience in ECIS region - max points: 10;
Criteria D – Demonstrated writing reports - max points: 5;
Criteria E – Interviews (Overall technical and language skills) - max points: 5 (Only highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job based on the CV desk review with minimum passing threshold 70% will be invited for an interview).

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 15 points

Only those individual consultants who obtained at least 70% of points in each of the steps of the process will be considered for financial proposal evaluation.

Application procedures

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application;
Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc ); please upload the P11 instead of your CV;
Financial Proposal - specifying a total lump sum amount in USD for the tasks specified in this announcement. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days, costs related to mission (travel costs, accommodation, per diems, etc.) and any other possible costs);
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

*Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive, include travel and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, travel costs, per diems vaccination and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...).

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org
General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.
Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.