Lao PDR experiences a high degree of seasonal meteorological variety each year, including the southwest monsoon.  The geographical location, land characteristics, abundance of rivers, and the monsoon climate render the country highly vulnerable to natural hazards, specifically floods. Natural hazards increase the vulnerability of local communities and slow down the process of socioeconomic development.

Significant country features include:

• A vast network of rivers and channels
• An enormous discharge of water from the Mekong and its tributaries that is heavily laden with sediments
• A significant section of mountainous (forest) areas are extracted, increasing the risk of flash floods

Natural and human-induced hazards such as floods, cyclones, droughts, river erosion, fire, infrastructure collapse, epidemic, and various forms of pollution are frequent occurrences. Not only have the damages caused by many of these hazards increased its frequency and intensity in recent years due to the impact of climate change, but the vulnerability of the people is also rapidly increasing due to the current economic crisis of the country.

UNDP has been supporting the Government of Lao PDR in enhancing disaster risk management (DRM) in the country for many decades, working extensively with the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Many other development partners are also supporting DRM in Lao PDR and the government has made significant progress in developing laws, strategies, and plans on DRM in the past five to ten years. However, challenges remain in the effective implementation of these policies, especially in coordination between different ministries and departments, between central and local governments, and with development partners. In addition, the national policies and plans are not fully integrated with sub-national DRM plans, which is necessary to enable the country to respond comprehensively during and post-disasters.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this assignment is to analyze the current structure and challenges of disaster governance in Lao PDR through consultations with the government stakeholders and development partners engaged in DRM and propose a 10-year assistance strategy for UNDP Lao PDR in this field in line with UNDP’s global and regional strategies.

SCOPE OF WORK

The successful applicant will be expected to be responsible for the following:

Task 1: Literature review

• Review and analyze existing DRM laws, strategies, policies, and plans of the Government of Lao PDR, including data management and analysis, inclusive policy planning and implementation, financing mechanisms, and accountability.
• Review DRM governance structures, policies, and trends in the other ASEAN countries.
• Review UNDP’s global and regional strategies on DRM, as well as documents of recent UNDP projects in Lao PDR.
• Summarize and analyze DRM projects of current and recent past in Lao PDR and conduct donor mapping.

Task 2: Stakeholder consultations

• Conduct consultations with the following stakeholders (individual interviews or focus groups):
  • UNDP (Bangkok Regional Hub, Country Office in Lao PDR, Project Teams)
  • Ministries, Departments, and other relevant government agencies of Lao PDR
  • Selected sub-national government offices
  • Selected development partners (UN agencies, bilateral donors, NGO/CSOs)

Task 3: Develop a 10-year assistance strategy for UNDP Lao PDR

• Submit a draft strategy including the following items:
  • Executive Summary
  • Objective
  • Contextual Analysis
    • Summary and analysis of the DRM governance structure
    • Review of existing policies and programmes
    • Capacity assessment of relevant government agencies at the national and sub-national levels in data management and analysis, inclusive policy planning and implementation, financing mechanisms, and accountability to the donors and beneficiaries
    • Donor mapping
  • Strategy for UNDP Lao PDR
    • Achievements and lessons learned from the past projects
    • UNDP’s comparative advantage
    • Proposed areas of intervention with timeline and indicators
    • Potential donors, government partners, and private sector partners
• Conduct a consultation meeting with UNDP
• Submit the final strategy

• Strong analytical skills
• Competency in the usage of computers and office software packages (Microsoft word, Power Point and Excel)
• Proven excellent communication and report writing skills in English

• A Master’s degree in disaster risk management or a related field. PhD is preferred 
• At least 8 years of experience working as a technical expert in disaster risk management, emergency response and coordination, or a related field 
• Record of writing a policy analysis and planning in disaster risk management. Must submit a list of publications related to this assignment and 1-2 work samples.
• Previous work experience in Southeast Asia 

LANGUAGE :   Excellent verbal and written skills in English 

Requirements for submission of proposals 

All interested and qualified International or National Independent Consultant should apply on-line using the following links: 

UNDP Lao PDR Country Office website at https://www.undp.org/laopdr/jobs

In order to make your submission, please read the relevant documents available on the link below 

1.     TOR RPS_277_2022   (Annex I)

2.     IC General Terms and  Conditions Annex II

3.     Offerors Letter to UNDP Annex III

4.     P11 Form

5.     IC - Contract Template

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications: 

1.     Technical Proposal (Free-Form):

• Explaining why you are the most suitable for the work; 
• Providing a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work, including the work schedule for the delivery of outputs/deliverables; 
• P11 Form: Education and work experience, including past experience in similar projects and contact references of at least three references for whom you have rendered preferably the similar services; 

       2. Financial Form (OFFEROR's LETTER): Lump sum offer with clear cost breakdown against each deliverable.

Instructions for Online Submissions: 

• Step 1:  Please prepare all required documents electronically; 
• Step 2: Combine all the required documents in ONE SINGLE FILE (preferably in PDF; however, Word format can also be accepted) and upload to the UNDP Jobs website using the link above; 
• Step 3: After that, you will receive an auto-reply from the UNDP Jobs website if your offer is received successfully. 

Incomplete Proposals or Proposals received after the deadline will be rejected. 

Note:  Any request for clarification must be sent in writing before the submission deadline to the following email: surith.sengsavang@undp.org