Individual Consultancy to Support strengthening national capacities in disaster risk-prone areas

Contract

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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, safety

With almost all types of natural hazards present, countries of Central Asia have a history of recurrent natural disasters that have caused significant economic and human losses. Earthquakes are most destructive, causing losses of human life and damage to infrastructure, while also triggering secondary events like landslides or floods. The history of this region provides evidence of the wide distribution of significant seismic hazard e.g., Jalal-Abad 1992 (Kyrgyzstan), Gissar 1989 (Tajikistan), Ashgabat 1948 (Turkmenistan) and Almaty 1911 (Kazakhstan). With ongoing urbanization, an increasing number of people are exposed to seismic hazard.

Natural disasters, climate change and conflicts place the population, and in particular children and adolescents, at greater risk of poverty, deprivation, disease, loss of livelihoods and food insecurity. These effects are more likely to fall upon those living in disaster-prone areas. Women and g****irls are disadvantaged by discriminatory gender norms that heighten their risks and weaken their resilience to shocks, and continue to disproportionately bear the harmful impacts of climate change

Purpose of Consultancy

The National Consultant will support implementation of activities under the Programme Document “Strengthening Local and National Capacities for Emergency Preparedness and Response in High Earthquake Risk and Natural Hazard Prone Countries of Central Asia” signed between UNICEF CO and National Red Crescent Society of Turkmenistan (NRCST) with active engagement of Ministry of Education, through contributing into 4 areas:

1. Strengthening community-based and child-centered emergency preparedness and response including WASH, Gender in Emergency, Accountability to Affected Population components;
2. Enhancement of children’s and their community’s preparedness for possible disasters and reduce their impact through disaster risk reduction interventions and school safety, including non-structural safety measures;
3. Engagement of young volunteers, adolescent girls and boys in disaster risk-prone areas in community disaster preparedness and school safety through implementation of school-based and community-based interventions.

In addition to the above focus areas, national consultant is expected:

To provide technical support to the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan in implementation of nationwide assessment of secondary schools and pre-schools for safety

Scope of Work:

Under the supervision of Emergency, Climate Change and DRR Officer and in collaboration with Social and Behavior Change Officer and with support of international expertise provided by Regional Office, to:

• Develop and align with local context the training materials to build capacities of target groups in Gender in Emergency, WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) in Emergency, Accountability to Affected Population and other relevant subjects;
• Facilitate strengthening capacities of government partners and sub-national (velayat and etrap) emergency authorities and local municipalities in effective response to emergencies in the country;
• Develop training materials and facilitate capacity development training activities for the staff and volunteers of NRCST, administrative and teaching personnel of target schools in gender in emergencies (GiE) and GBV risk mitigation;
• Facilitate consultations and provide support in drafting the Country Action Plan on WASH in Emergency, including implementation of WASH preparedness activities, development of WASH in emergency tools and mechanisms including for water supply, sanitation hygiene and coordination component

For more details please see ToR ToR_BHA_DRR_Preparedness_SSA_National Consultncy_draft_vd_an.pdf

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have

• An advanced university degree (Bachelor's, Master’s ) in ** University degree in law, social sciences, international relations, or other relevant field; advanced degree in the same fields will be an asset .*
• Experience - Solid experience in working with government partners in the areas related to legislation, human rights, youth policy, education, gender aspects and construction; -Work experience in international projects or programmes with focus on climate change, DRR, emergency and gender is an asset; -Good communication and networking skills; -Knowledge of Turkmenistan’s context and government structures as well as operational aspects of work with the ministries; - Good technical knowledge and experience of disaster risk reduction/climate change projects implementation at community and school level; - Extensive experience in interactive training methodologies for adults and children along with strong facilitation skills; - Experience in assessment of schools and pre-schools for safety; - Experience in data collection, analysis and research; Language requirements - Proficient knowledge of Turkmen and Russian

The technical proposal should include - A cover letter, including • A summary of experience in similar assignments; • Links to/attachments of examples of similar work; - CV of the candidate - References

Financial Proposal Candidates are expected to submit a lump sum financial proposal including travel expenses in USD to complete the entire assignment based on the terms of reference. The lump sum should cover deliverables indicated above for the period of 06 March -31 December 2023. The lump sum should indicate separately (1) the consultancy fee for the deliverables indicated above for the period of 06 March -31 December 2023 and (2) the travel costs

References For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.