Disaster Risk Reduction Advisor

Result of Service - Provide technical advice and support to the National Coherence consultants on the alignment of agendas during the updating of the national DRR strategies Comoros, Djibouti, Mauritania and Sudan. - Review the zero, revised and final drafts of the National Strategies that is coherent with the Paris Agenda for Climate Change. - Review the zero, revised and final drafts of the coordination mechanism for disaster risk reduction (National Platform for DRR). - Develop monthly narrative reports on the progress of implementation of the project and submit to UNDRR ROAS.

Work Location International Consultant

Expected duration 12 Months

Duties and Responsibilities Created in December 1999, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction is the designated focal point in the United Nations system for the coordination of efforts to reduce disasters and to ensure synergies among the disaster reduction activities of the United Nations and regional organizations and activities in both developed and less developed countries. Led by the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction (SRSG), United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has over 100 staff located in its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and in regional offices. Specifically, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction guides, monitors, analyses and reports on progress in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, supports regional and national implementation of the Framework and catalyzes action and increases global awareness to reduce disaster risk working with U.N. Member States and a broad range of partners and stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, parliamentarians and the science and technology community.

This consultancy position is located in the Regional Office for Arab States of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR ROAS). The consultant will work directly under the supervision of the deputy chief of the regional office and in coordination with the Risk Knowledge Programme officer and the Sendai Framework Monitor Programme Officer.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Regional Assessment Report (RAR- Arab states 2nd edition) is an initiative of the UNDRR- Regional Office for Arab States (ROAS) that contributes to the achievement of the Sendai Framework by presenting an overview of the state of disaster risks and risk reduction efforts in the region. The RAR will be a starting point to examine rapidly increasing disasters’ exposure in the Arab region towards addressing the challenges of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation within a broad framework of sustainable development and poverty reduction.

The RAR is a collaborative effort of several UN and international organizations and being coordinated by UNDRR ROAS under the overall guidance of the Chief of Office. To guarantee credibility and impartiality, the development of RAR is guided by an independent Editorial Committee (EC). A Scoping Paper for the RAR was developed and discussed with Chapter Lead Agencies in October 2022 based on the survey and after-action review was done in October 2022 and 4th meeting of EC members was conducted during the sidelines of 6th Arab partnership meeting.

In 2015 countries adopted three main policy documents that stress the need to strengthen disaster and climate resilience; namely the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) 2015-2030, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Agreement. So far, these agendas are not fully streamlined, although cross-cutting approaches have a strong potential to improve disaster risk reduction, adapt to the adverse effects of climate change and to foster sustainable development. UNDRR launched an initiative that aims to bring coherence between the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Paris Agreement in national policies and strategies at country level, with focus on least developed countries in the pilot phase; namely, Comoros, Djibouti, Mauritania and Sudan in the Arab region.

Under the overall direction of the Deputy Chief of UNDRR ROAS and supervision of Risk Knowledge Programme Officer and the Sendai Monitoring Officer, the international consultant will coordinate among the partners of RAR and provide technical advice to the content of the report towards developing the zero draft Regional Assessment Report. Furthermore the consultant will oversee, coordinate and ensure the successful implementation of the context specific coherence initiative activities at the national level in Comoros, Djibouti, Mauritania and Sudan.

More specifically, the Consultant will:

• Provide technical advice to UNDRR and its partners during the drafting of the RAR chapters based on the scoping paper,
• Undertake technical review of chapters and coordinate with their leads and contributors to incorporate necessary changes,
• Develop the RAR’s template and table of content per the final RAR scoping paper,
• Develop, contribute and edit the parts of the RAR where the UNDRR are the lead author
• Draft the introduction and conclusion section based on the submitted chapters by UNDRR and its partners,
• Edit all chapters of the RAR in order to develop a zero draft of the RAR, ensuring a common understanding of DRR concepts and terminologies and consistency and flow of key messages across the different chapters and sections
• Facilitate the RAR review process with Editorial Committee Members and Peer Reviewers,
• Submit the final Regional Assessment Report and RAR Executive Summary for further editing and printing.
• Coordinate all project-related activities and monitor progress as per the project action plans to ensure that activities are implemented in an effective and timely manner.

• Coordinate, maintain and initiate effective dialogue with the key counterparts and stakeholders at the regional, national and local levels that are involved in the project implementation.

  Qualifications/special skills Education: Advanced university degree in disaster risk management or relevant field is required.

Experience: 1. At least 10 years of experience in developing technical reports and working in Disaster Risk Management, poverty reduction, water resource management, climate change, contribution to UN reports and publications, and related thematic areas of expertise is required; 2. Excellent knowledge of disaster management and multi-disciplinary development approaches in general is required; 3. Proven experience in research is required; 4. Proven experience in training and building capacity of trainees is desired; 5. Ability to work with stakeholders and other technical agencies is desired.

Languages Fluency in English and Arabic (both oral and written) are required.

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.