Risk Knowledge Consultant for the Caribbean Region

Consultant Finance & Economy Programme & Policy

Overview

Enhance resilience and disaster preparedness in Caribbean nations through MHEWS.

You have:

• First level university degree in disaster risk reduction, climate change, sustainable development, or other related areas is required.
• At least four (4) years of experience in disaster risk management is required.
• Experience with national stakeholders in areas of disaster risk management, climate change, early warning systems, or identification of vulnerabilities and exposures is required.
• Experience with information management systems is desirable.
• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of Spanish, French, or Portuguese is desirable.

Contract

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Result of Service

The ultimate result of the consultancy is to significantly enhance the resilience and disaster preparedness of Caribbean nations by developing and strengthening national and regional Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS), ensuring comprehensive risk data ecosystems, fostering multi-sectoral collaboration, and promoting inclusive, sustainable, and well-coordinated approaches to disaster risk reduction and management.

Work Location

Home based

Expected duration

18 months

Duties and Responsibilities

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), UNDRR has over 150 staff located in its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and in regional offices. Specifically, UNDRR 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 United Nations Member States and a broad range of partners and stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, parliamentarians and the science and technology community. The Caribbean region is highly exposed and vulnerable to hydro-meteorological hazards, including hurricanes, tropical storms, heavy rainfall, and flooding. This vulnerability is exacerbated by its geographical location, spanning the hurricane belt, and the socio-economic factors of the region, including densely populated coastal areas and reliance on tourism and agriculture. Climate change intensifies these risks by increasing the frequency and severity of some weather events, and changing precipitation patterns. These factors combine to create a complex disaster risk landscape that requires robust and proactive management strategies to protect lives, property, and critical infrastructure. The Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) Initiative plays a crucial role in strengthening the resilience of Caribbean nations in respect to hydro-meteorological risks. Launched to enhance multi-hazard early warning systems, component two focuses on improving disaster risk knowledge at a regional, national and community level within the Caribbean. Improved disaster risk knowledge at all levels, which must start by a proper quantification of disaster risk, supports better monitoring and forecasting, stronger warning and dissemination capabilities, and enhanced response capabilities of individuals, communities, business and institutions and organizations, with a special focus on reaching and involving the last mile and the most vulnerable groups. The main objective of the component is to strengthen the capacities of National Disaster Risk Management Organizations (NDRMOs) in establishing enhanced risk information management systems with disaggregated data, ensuring that methodologies for data collection and analysis are congruent to effective information chains between national stakeholders. In doing that, this project will contribute to the goals of the Early Warning for All (EW4All) Initiative and other international frameworks, such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the Sustainable Development Goals, or the Paris Agreement, as outlined further below. Building on the achievements of Phase 1, CREWS 2.0 Caribbean aims to further enhance the region's resilience to climate-related hazards by addressing remaining gaps and emerging challenges. This phase focuses on expanding and deepening the reach of early warning systems to ensure that all communities, especially the most vulnerable, have access to timely and actionable information. By leveraging risk information, countries will be better able to conduct risk assessments and impact-based forecasting, thus enabling effective Multi Hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS) that are more robust and inclusive the Caribbean, ensuring sustainable development and safety for its inhabitants. Particularly goals are: 1. Development of quality risk data 2. Enhancement of disaster risk management data platforms 3. MHEWS risk information chains developed for the region. 4. NDRMOs capacities strengthened for impact-based forecasting, data collection and analysis. The consultancy will facilitate the activities planned to be implemented within component 2 of the CREWS Caribbean 2.0 initiative; and including facilitating dialogue among regional, and national stakeholders, members of the United Nations Country Team in different Caribbean countries, and other important partners. Duties and responsibilities The consultant will be home based and report to the UNDRR Risk Knowledge Officer of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean (ROAC). Provide support to UNDRR for implementing the Component 2 of CREWS Caribbean 2.0 initiative by helping facilitate, where needed: • Lead the preparation and establishment of a Caribbean level regional risk knowledge workshop including the development of the concept note, logistics note, agenda and workshop report. • Guide NDRMOs on the enhancement and/or development of information chain for MHEWS, articulating the process from data collection to analysis that will support impact-based forecasting by the NDRMO and National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS) in at least four Caribbean countries. • Provide technical guidance for the integration of local level risk knowledge within the Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR 2030) initiative through desk review of existing and available exposure, vulnerability and risk assessments in cities where the MCR Addendum would be applied. • Provide technical support for Risk Knowledge activities in the Caribbean countries, aligned with UNDRR's risk knowledge offer including safety function monitoring (SFM), disaster tracking system (DTS) and guidance on the use of risk model outputs and metrics. • Develop multi-hazard risk scenarios for the selected countries based on available hazard, exposure, vulnerability and/or risk data. • Provide direct support to the Department of Emergency Management and Coastal Zone Management Unit in Barbados with the integration and interoperability of the National Coastal risk Information and Planning Platform (NCRIPP) and Disaster Risk Information Management System (DRIMS) including complete documentation of quality control and assurance through an operationalized Geographic Information System (GIS) database and server. • Map vulnerable populations in selected Caribbean countries engaged on the EW4All Initiative using information from the Ministry of Social Transformation, University of the West Indies (UWI), and other stakeholders for internal use only. • Update the emergency public shelters shapefile for Barbados with as many exposure attributes as possible. • Model the potential impacts of flooding and high wind hazards on emergency shelters. • Support the strengthening and/or development of disaster risk data management systems in selected target countries, and through them the Caribbean Risk Information System (CRIS). • Foster collaboration among national and community-level multi-sectoral platforms for disaster risk reduction and management, particularly in discussions related to Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS), data-sharing, and standard operating procedures. 2. Under the supervision of the UNDRR Risk Knowledge Officer, liaise with Headquarters and the Regional Offices, as required, to facilitate streamlined communication across country officials and regional and global partners. 3. Raise awareness and promote advocacy for the CREWS Caribbean 2.0 initiative at regional, country-level and among the UN Country Team, including sharing information products, convening meetings, making presentations, media outreach and communications, etc.

Qualifications/special skills

First level university degree in disaster risk reduction, climate change, sustainable development, or other related areas is required. At least four (4) years of experience in disaster risk management is required. Experience with national stakeholders in areas of disaster risk management, climate change, early warning systems, or identification of vulnerabilities and exposures is required. Experience with information management systems is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the two working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of Spanish, French, or Portuguese is desirable.

Additional Information

FEMALE CANDIDATES ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY. UNDRR values diversity among its staff. We welcome applications from qualified women, men, and people with disabilities. 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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Potential interview questions

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