UNDP Jobs - 85939- Individual Consultant for Assessment of Gaps and C

Individual Consultant for Assessment of Gaps and Challenges pertaining to Government DRR initiatives in Shimla and Shillong

Location :

Shillong & Shimla, INDIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

15-Jul-2019

Application Deadline :

30-Jun-19 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

2 months (30 working days)

Languages Required :

English

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 GoI-UNDP programme “Developing Resilient Cities through Risk Reduction to Disaster and Climate Change” is being implemented in 6 cities viz Cuttack (Odisha), Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra), Shillong (Meghalaya), Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), Vishakhapatnam and Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) with support of USAID for the period of four years (from 2016 to 2020). One of the key outcomes of the project is to reduce disaster risks in urban areas by enhancing institutional capacities to integrate climate risk reduction measures in development programs as well as undertake mitigation activities based on scientific analysis. One of the intended outputs of this particular outcome is to enhance the capacities of the Staff at the Municipal Corporations especially for risk sensitive planning.

The ability of policy makers to integrate hazards and risks into city planning has been strengthened through a lot of Government thrust over the last few years. However, in spite of this, risk sensitive planning is still a nascent field in India. In order to achieve its development objectives, cities need a holistic approach in understanding the potential threats and managing disaster risk must be adopted. This can be achieved only by engaging local government decision makers, various officials and departments, academia, business and citizens in the planning, implementation and monitoring. An effective organizational structure for sound decision making and practical disaster risk reduction actions should foster collaboration and partnership among all the stake-holders for prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery and rehabilitation.

In this context, UNDP is looking for individuals for the positions of Consultant to provide support to the Government Authorities of the cities of Shimla and Shillong to assess their capacities for Disaster Risk Reduction and risk sensitive planning.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Individual Consultant will work under the overall supervision of the Project Coordinator (Resilience), UNDP and will receive support from the City Project Coordinator based in the cities to carry out the following tasks:

To map and understand existing gaps and challenges in disaster risk reduction in the selected cities. This would be in the form of a multi-stakeholder consultation process which will include local government authorities, civil society organisations, local academia, the business community and community-based organisations etc.
To facilitate the administration of a questionnaire survey (in line with the UNISDR LGSAT tool and feedback mechanism) that can highlight the gaps and challenges in disaster risk reduction.
Key questions aligned to the targets and priorities of the Sendai framework for DRR shall be discussed with the local government in which the level of achievement per indicator shall be identified.
The consultant will have to develop a status report based on the findings of the questionnaire survey and stakeholder consultation.
The report should be analytical and should provide a crisp snapshot of the level of preparedness along with recommendations for course correction. This report will have to be submitted to UNDP and the local government for feedback and the recommendations of the government and UNDP will have to be incorporated into the report.

Schedule of work

Submission of inception report which details the methodology and timelines within 5 days of signing of the contract;
Submission of a draft report for Shimla and Shillong within 40 days from the date of signing of the contract;
Submission of the final revised Report within 10 days after receiving comments from UNDP.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Strong Oral and Communication skills.
Strong analytical, assessment and writing skills.
Ability to apply conceptual models in support of facilitating the LGSAT questionnaire
Good knowledge of DRR and Resilience Building activities/initiatives;
Good working Knowledge of Computers, MS Office, ICT Tools;
Good networking and liasoning skills
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;

Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards

Required Skills and Experience

Educational Qualification

Essential – Post Graduate/Master’s Degree in Social Sciences – Development Studies, Disaster Management or Geography.

Desirable- Knowledge of Customs and Manners of Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.

Experience:

Minimum 7 years work experience in Disaster Management or sector relevant to Disaster Management
Experience of undertaking independent consultancy work in the development sector
Proven experience of having prepared plans, policies and or other documents for the government or non-government sector pertaining to disaster management
Having experience of facilitating consultations with middle and senior government officials and as well as representatives of civil society organization representatives

Desirable – Having work experience in the Disaster Management Sector of Meghalaya and Himachal Pradesh preferably with the government

Language requirement:

Fluency of English language is required.

Duration of the Work:

The consultant will have to complete the assignment over a period of 2 months. S/he will have to prepare a timeline for the assignment so as to achieve the deliverables mentioned above.

Deliverable:

On acceptance of the Inception report which details the methodology and timelines within 5 days of signing of contract- 20% of the total amount to be released
On submission of Draft report for Shillong and Shimla within 40 days- 50% of the total amount to be released
On submission of Final revised report within 50 days- 30% of the total amount to be released

Documentation required:

Technical proposal
Detailed CV with contact details of three references;
Financial Proposal specifying per day consultancy fee. The local governments along with the City Project Coordinators of UNDP will provide support relating to getting appointments, approval s etc. All the costs will have to be borne directly by the consultant from the consultancy fees paid by UNDP.

Evaluation Method and Criteria:

Shortlisting would be done based on the following criteria:

Educational Qualification 20% Marks;
Relevant Experience 50% Marks;
Financial Proposal 30% Marks.

Travel

In the case of travel, payment of travel costs includes tickets, lodging and terminal expenses will be on actual basis.

Only shortlisted candidates shall be called for an interview which will be based on the competencies (skills) required as per the ToR. The contract shall be awarded on a merit basis. For any clarifications, please write to ic.india@undp.org