Infrastructure Resilience Policy Consultant

Result of Service The consultant, in coordination with other relevant expert(s), will: a. Conduct and convene ISO meetings as the project leader to build consensus for developing the standard using the Principles for Resilient Infrastructure. b. Engage stakeholders in the development of the ISO standard process. c. Attend workshops, webinars and events to present the development of the ISO standard on the Principles for Resilient Infrastructure. d. Produce a draft of the ISO standard using the Principles for Resilient Infrastructure.

Work Location Home based

Expected duration 7.5 months

Duties and Responsibilities Background:

Created in December 1999, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) is the designated focal point in the United Nations system for the coordination of disaster reduction and to ensure synergies among the disaster reduction activities of the United Nations and regional organizations and activities in socio-economic and humanitarian fields. Led by the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNDRR has around 100 staff located in its HQ in Geneva, Switzerland, and 5 regional offices and other field presences. Specifically, UNDRR coordinates international efforts in disaster risk reduction, and guides, monitors and reports on the progress of the implementation of the international strategy for disaster reduction, now the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, 2015-2030; campaigns to create global awareness of disaster risk reduction benefits and empower people to reduce their vulnerability to hazards; advocates for greater investments in disaster risk reduction to protect people's lives and assets, and for increased and informed participation of men and women of all stakeholder groups in reducing disaster risk; and informs and connects people by providing practical services and tools such as PreventionWeb, publications on good practices, and by leading the preparation of the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction and the organisation of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction.

In the upcoming years, the strong commitment and involvement of political leadership in every country and partnerships at all levels are required to achieve the outcome set by the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction: “The substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries”. As highlighted by the Sendai Framework and other international agreements such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement, a resilient future for all is only possible with an all-of-society engagement for comprehensive and coordinated action.

Building resilience and promoting disaster risk reduction is a collective responsibility and challenge which calls for coordinated actions. UNDRR works closely at all levels with a wide variety of partners and stakeholders towards a global and comprehensive effort in support of country-level actions.

The goal of engaging with partners and stakeholders is to build and enable systematic engagement and action between governments and stakeholders to reduce existing risks and prevent the creation of new risks for resilient socio-economic development at the global, national and local level.

UNDRR’s work is guided by a Partnership and Engagement Strategy and directly supports paragraph 35 of the Sendai Framework: "While States have the overall responsibility for reducing disaster risk, it is a shared responsibility between Governments and relevant stakeholders. In particular, non-state stakeholders play an important role as enablers in providing support to states, in accordance with national policies, laws and regulations, in the implementation of the present framework at local, national, regional and global levels. Their commitment, goodwill, knowledge, experience and resources will be required."

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) is the designated focal point in the United Nations system for the coordination of efforts to reduce disaster risk and to ensure synergies among the disaster reduction activities of the United Nations.

This consultancy supports the implementation of UNDRR's engagement in the infrastructure resilience sector through assisting in the development of policy guidance materials and knowledge products of relevance to the objectives of UNDRR. Since its establishment UNDRR has advocated for and supported a wide variety of stakeholders to understand the importance of resilient infrastructure, particularly critical infrastructure, and supported efforts to increase investments in resilient infrastructure globally. With the adoption of the Sendai Framework in 2015, UNDRR increased emphasis on the topic, as one of the seven global targets measures reductions in damage to critical infrastructure through building resilience. UNDRR further scaled-up focus on the topic following the Global Platform (GP) 2017 Declaration. This momentum was further strengthened with the launch of Coalition for Disaster Risk Reduction at the Secretary General’s (SG's) Climate Summit in 2019. UNDRR was a founding member of Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and currently supports its efforts throughout.

Duties and Responsibilities:

UNDRR has recognized that there is currently a gap in the understanding of what “resilient infrastructure” means and entails in terms of policy, planning, and practical measures which public and private sectors can refer to when developing infrastructure projects. A set of Principles for Resilient Infrastructure has now been developed to raise awareness and set a common basic understanding of what “resilient infrastructure” constitutes. A handbook for implementation of the Principles for Resilient Infrastructure has also been developed along with a set of indicators for monitoring. The next step is to develop the Principles for Resilient Infrastructure into an internationally recognized standard through International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The consultant will support the ISO development process and serve as a project leader for this work.

The consultant will be responsible for the following: - Be the project leader for the development of the ISO standard using the Principles, this means engaging with stakeholders and building consensus with experts. This may involve bilateral meetings, project team leadership meetings and other engagements related to duties as a project leader. - Attend and convene ISO meetings relating to the development of the Principles for Resilient Infrastructure into an international standard. - Work with the British Standards Institute in developing the Principles into an ISO standard, this involves attending meetings for the UK committee and promoting the development of the standard. - Review all documents and provide feedback during the ISO development process. - Socialize and promote the ISO development of the Principles for Resilient Infrastructure into an international standard when needed and appropriate.

Qualifications/special skills Advanced university degree (Phd or equivalent) in engineering, complex systems or related area is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

A minimum of 15 years of working experience in the field of infrastructure resilience, climate change adaptation, sustainable development, disaster risk reduction, or related areas is required. Experience of engaging infrastructure regulators and global infrastructure stakeholders is desirable

Languages Fluency in written and spoken English is required. Knowledge of another UN language is an asset.

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.