Historique

Although natural hazards claim around 1.35 million lives per year, Disaster Risk Reduction measures and Preparedness planning are enormously underfunded. This underinvestment leads to inadequate policy, planning and legislation, and limited capacities in; early warning, logistics, communications, stockpiling, information management and response coordination.

In order to address this gap, and to create a more systematic approach for financing and supporting risk-prone countries, the Vulnerable Twenty Group (V20) of countries together with multilateral organizations established the Global Preparedness Partnership (GPP) at the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in 2016.

The GPP offers a strong and inclusive partnership between affected governments, donor states and multilateral organisations and builds on existing international and national initiatives to make high risk countries ready to respond to, and recover from, natural disasters of all kinds.

The goal of the partnership is for countries to reach a minimum level of readiness so that disaster events can be better managed locally with reduced need for international assistance. The GPP will leverage international technical capacity through links to existing organisations and initiatives to strengthen risk analysis and early warning, national institutional and legislative frameworks, resource allocation and funding processes. It will promote joint national and international coordination, information management and communication systems, as well as common preparedness and contingency planning at community, state and national levels.

More specifically, the GPP will assist national and international training and exercises, and support state emergency services in equipment prepositioning and supply stockpiling. As its core principles, the GPP will ensure national ownership; context based joint planning and a catalytic approach that builds on existing national risk management policies and frameworks. Financed by a Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF), the partnership will operate initially in 15 countries, to ensure that they attain a minimum level of readiness by 2020.

Besides the V20 group of countries, other partners include the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the World Bank / Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (WB/GFDRR), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World Food Programme (WFP). The GPP will be governed by a Steering Committee (SC) that is responsible for setting the priorities and strategic direction. The GPP Steering Committee will be supported by a Secretariat, hosted by the CVF/V20 Support Project within UNDP Geneva. The GPP Secretariat will coordinate general partnership operations, communications, fundraising and reporting processes. 

Devoirs et responsabilités

Generally, the Secretariat Support Specialist will manage the GPP Secretariat and carry out administrative tasks necessary for the functioning of the secretariat and provide direct support to the GPP Steering Committee in executing the overall work plan of the partnership.

Reporting, the Secretariat Support Specialist will be hosted in the V20 based in UNDP Geneva. The Secretariat Support Specialist will provide direct support to the GPP Steering Committee and other GPP partners. For administrative and contractual purposes, the specialist will report to the Partnership Adviser for Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction of UNDP Geneva.

Tasks and deliverables

  • Assist in establishing the GPP Steering Committee in April/May 2017;
  • Act as a focal point to the V20 group of countries and to the other GPP partners, including donors;
  • Prepare an annual work plan of the GPP for Steering Committee approval;
  • EITHER - Process, evaluate and follow up on individual applications for country support based on criteria set by the Steering Committee OR - Review country support applications and prepare and prioritise these for steering committee consideration – basing decisions on the GPP Operational Manual and Proposal. Which decision making approach will be followed will be determined by Steering Committee decision and volume of applications;
  • Notify the MPTF trustee of funding requests approved by the Steering Committee;
  • Develop and draft knowledge products and identify advocacy opportunities for the partnership;
  • Offer guidance to GPP partners on the processes and requirements as laid out by the Steering Committee;
  • Provide external information on GPP activities on existing Agenda for Humanity website, research and propose options for a stand along website;
  • In consultation with the GPP Steering Committee, manage and coordinate resource mobilisation efforts and support the delivery of grants through the MPTF;
  • Undertake preparatory and follow-up work for meetings and prepare documentation for records, including publicly-available minutes of Steering Committee meetings;
  • Monitor progress and performance and prepare brief quarterly reports and a more detailed annual report for the Steering Committee;
  • Recommend the adjustment of the standard operating guidelines and principles of the GPP as experience evolves;
  • Any other tasks required by the Steering Committee.

Compétences

Communication

  • Excellent personal and professional communication and presentation skills, with strong organisational abilities.

Teamwork

  • Strong interpersonal skills demonstrated by the ability to lead and gain the assistance and cooperation of others in a team endeavour;
  • Ability to build trust through operating with transparency and creating an open, positive and enabling environment;
  • Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment.

Technical Competencies

  • Knowledge of DRR concepts, global policy frameworks and principles and ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations;
  • Ability to build strong relationships with both internal and external actors - cultivate productive relationships with donors, and other partners;
  • Strong administrative skills with the ability to manage several projects at once, including prioritising one against another.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education

Advanced University degree in international relations, or development-related area of study or a first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience.

Experience

  • At least 7 years of relevant professional experience in emergency preparedness, crisis response, post-crisis relief, disaster risk management, climate change, partnership programme development, fundraising, and/or relevant fields;
  • Management or project experience in the UN, World Bank or other multilateral agency, and proven ability to engage at a senior level with donors and member states;
  • In-depth experience of working on project and programme development and implementation related to disaster preparedness;
  • Experience acting in a coordination role in preparedness or response, for the UN, World Bank or other multilateral agency;
  • Administrative experience in acting in a Secretariat or similar role highly regarded.

Languages

  • Exceptional written and oral English skills;
  • Working knowledge of another UN language desirable.

Recommended Presentation of Offer

The following documents should be submitted:

  • Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP; http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=45780 ;
  • Personal CV or P11 http://sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc, indicating all your past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) and at least three (3) professional references;
  • A description of why you consider yourself as the most suitable for the assignment is required for this assignment. A description of how you have played a similar coordination/secretariat role in the past will be highly regarded. Supplying an example of a communications product you have developed previously would be advantageous to your application;
  • Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.  For this assignment, all mission travel costs will be supported by the World Bank, and do not need to be included in the Financial Proposal. If you are employed by an organization/company/institution, and you expect your employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing you to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), you must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP. 

Applicants must apply online and submit all above to mahmood.zahir@undp.org , with the following subject heading: “71216 - Secretariat Support Specialist" by the deadline for this vacancy. Applications received without a financial proposal and applications received after the deadline will be rejected.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Candidates will be evaluated using a combined scoring method with the qualifications and methodology weighted at 70% and the financial proposal weighted at 30%.  Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49% (out of 70%) points on the technical qualifications part will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Criteria for evaluation of qualifications and methodology (70% points maximum):

  • Relevance of University degree (5%);
  • Experience acting in a coordination or secretariat role in preparedness or response, for the UN, World Bank or other multilateral agency (20%);
  • Experience working in either emergency preparedness, crisis response, post-crisis relief, disaster risk management, and/or relevant fields (15%);
  • Familiarity with global preparedness policy, and experience in country level preparedness practice in the UN system, and/or national governments, multi-lateral, academic or other international and national institutions, (15%);
  • Excellent oral and demonstrated written communication skills in English (15%).

Criteria for financial evaluation (30 points maximum):

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal: p = y (µ/z)

  • Where p=points for the financial proposal being evaluated;
  • y=maximum number of points for the financial proposal;
  • µ=price of the lowest priced proposal;
  • z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

Annexes to the TOR