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 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/ASG), UNDRR has over 140 staff located in its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and in regional offices. UNDRR guides, monitors, analyses, and reports on progress in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. It supports regional and national implementation of the Framework and catalyzes action and increases global awareness to reduce disaster risk working with UN Member States and a broad range of partners and stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, parliamentarians and the science and technology community. One of the UNDRR’s strategic areas of work in Lao PDR is to support the country’s efforts to strengthen disaster risk governance and risk information for planning and implementation of disaster risk reduction and early warnings system. In November 2022, the UN Secretary General launched the Early Warnings for All (EW4ALL) initiative to advance the efforts to protect everyone in the world by the end-to-end multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWS). The Government of Lao PDR developed EW4ALL country roadmap 2024-2027, which lays out the countries’ priorities for strengthening end-to-end MHEWS. Risk knowledge for early warning systems is one of the main pillars of the roadmap and it identified the availability of historical data on losses and damages from disasters as a priority action to enable better targeted early warnings and impact-based forecasting. In Lao PDR, the DSW maintains LaoDi (originally established in 2016) to track disaster losses and damages across the country. MoLSW plans to improve LaoDi by addressing some of the persisting challenges in data loss and availability and taking further steps to apply data for the government reporting and decision-making process of the government. The national information technology consultant will work closely with DSW of MoLSW, UNDRR Regional Office for Asia-Pacific, and relevant stakeholders to improve existing LaoDi in three aspects: i) data recovery, ii) system enhancement, reconfiguration, and integration, and iii) data governance. The consultant will be based in Lao, PDR and work closely with UNDRR’s Climate and Disaster-Resilient Development Specialist based in Vientiane, Lao PDR under supervision of Programme Management Officer, UNDRR Regional Office for Asisa and the Pacific (ROAP). Specific Tasks: a) Data recovery - Recover and restore any lost data for the LaoDi from its backup system in a timely and efficient manner. - System enhancement, reconfiguration and integration - Configure and deploy a new virtual server to support the LaoDi system, ensuring it is optimized and ready for the system's requirements. - Install, set up and configure antivirus for the new server - Install, set up, and configure a web server to ensure optimal performance and functionality for users accessing the LaoDi system via the web. - Install, set up and configure the database server to store and manage the data effectively for the LaoDi system, ensuring reliability and security. - Install and configure the WINAMP server to enable audio streaming or media services on he LaoDi system. - Migrate and import the recovered data from the LaoDi backups into the new system seamlessly, ensuring data integrity and completeness. - Conduct extensive testing of the LaoDi system internally to identify and resolve any issues or bugs before deployment to ensure smooth operation. - Identify and resolve any issues or performance problems within the web database for the LaoDi system to ensure uninterrupted access and functionality. - Add users of focal points from other ministries into the LaoDi system, ensuring seamless access and collaboration across different departments or organizations. - Establish a link between Emergency Preparedness and Response (ERP) data and LaoDi system to enable data sharing for MoLSW’s reporting purpose. - Structure the system and database to ensure interoperability with other databases and platforms outside existing LaoDi such as the UNDRR disaster loss and damages tracking system. This may be in the form of an API or structured exportable data. b) Data Governance - Develop a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for data sharing among ministries to enhance collaboration among users.

Qualifications/special skills

A first-level university degree in computer science, information communication technology, data science, or related domain is required. At least 7 years of working experience working in an IT professional in system development, design and implement the management information system, e-learning tools, data collection and analysis required. Experience in designing and implementing websites and database systems is required. Experience in using data analysis and visualization tools and software is desirable. Experience in the disaster historic data, disaster profile, disaster response procedures of Lao PDR is desirable.

Languages

Fluency in Laotian and English languages is required.

Additional Information

Due to the high volume of applications received, only successful candidates will be contacted.

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.

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Added 1 month ago - Updated 1 month ago - Source: careers.un.org