Urban Resilience Project and Partnerships Expert

Result of Service MAIN OBJECTIVE

The overall objective of this project is to build more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient cities, by strengthening the capacity of key public, private and civil society stakeholders to measure, make decisions, plan and develop actions for building resilience to ensure that public and private investments are risk-informed and that early interventions in crisis-prone cities are linked to longer-term development goals in line with the actions of the New Urban Agenda. This joint initiative aims at improving local government and stakeholder understanding of, and capacity for, developing and implementing resilience action plans.

Work Location HOMEBASE

Expected duration SIX(6) months

Duties and Responsibilities BACKGROUND

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the agency for human settlements mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. UN-Habitat helps the urban poor by transforming cities into safer and healthier places with better opportunities. It works with organizations at every level, including all spheres of government, civil society and the private sector.

As the main UN Agency responsible for ensuring the sustainable development of cities, towns, and other human settlements, UN-Habitat is strategically placed to coordinate the humanitarian and development efforts of multiple actors and policy makers at all levels in the common pursuit of urban resilience. UN-Habitat’s approach to strengthening urban resilience as a key determinant for ensuring the effectiveness of response interventions during times of crises, and subsequent sustainable development, is embodied in its City Resilience Global Programme (CRGP).

The CRGP goes beyond conventional approaches to ‘risk reduction’, delivering a forward-looking, multi- sectoral, multi-hazard, multi-stakeholder model for building resilience that recognizes the complexities and unique value of cities, and the inherent interdependencies of each part of an urban system.

Fast growing cities and urban areas of the world are engines of growth and wealth accumulation. This growth can have positive social, cultural and educational impacts. On the other hand, evidence demonstrates that fast economic growth, combined with rapid sprawling population expansion in urban areas, also increases disaster vulnerability and exposure. The level of urbanization is far higher in the developed world; however, the annual ‘urbanization rate ’ is much faster in the developing world. The primary urban agglomerations with the highest concentrations of people and economic activity mostly overlap with the areas of extreme or high risk related to disasters such as coastal areas, along rivers and in flood plains.

UN-Habitat will focus on supporting local capacities from crisis-prone cities, and humanitarian partners, in measuring their resilience status and have an action plan in order to build resilience.

The action builds on the achievements of the Hyogo Framework for Action – Building the Resilience of Nations 2005-2015 and paves the way toward the implementation of the Sendai Framework for DRR (Disaster Risk Reduction) 2015-2030 at the local level and the New Urban Agenda adopted at Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador October 2016. The Action will also contribute to the European Commission’s Action Plan for Resilience in Crisis Prone Countries 2013-2020 and The EU Approach to Resilience: Learning from Food Security Crises.

The project will work with local government institutions, to plan, coordinate, implement and support the various outlined activities. The primary and most direct beneficiaries will be local stakeholders, city authorities and civil society. Women, children and other at-risk groups, often disproportionately affected by crises situations, will be engaged and receive additional attention.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the direct supervision of the Head of the City Resilience Global Programme (CRGP), the consultant will provide substantive and strategic support to the Programme and will undertake the following tasks:

Task 1: Provide technical advisory services on city operations for resilience projects implemented in partnership with Barcelona City Council and the Generalitat. o Prepare written inputs for consultations with project partners on behalf of CRGP and provide advisory services on implementation in one beneficiary city or territory. o Compile CRGP technical team inputs to write project implementation reports and monitoring reports. o Collaborate with CRGP technical team to elaborate and edit final substantive documents and outputs.

Task 2: Provide technical deliverables to projects being implementing using the CRGP methodology and recommendations to strengthen the CRGP in global networks. o Provide inputs on workshops and project planning approach being adopted in CRGP cities to promote synergies and capture lessons learned. o Provide advisory services in the form of a report to position CRGP within relevant global networks and platforms to identify and build strategic partnerships and synergies. o Make recommendations to increase the efficiency and impact of CRGP approach in terms of process, approach and outputs.

Task 3: Develop proposals to engage new cities and partners in resilience building activities using the CRGP methodology. o Conceptualise, draft and edit project proposals (at least two) in partnership with the CRGP technical team and office management to help secure funding.

Task 4: Deliver donor reports and propose strategic approaches to positioning CRGP in partner-led events, networks and coalitions, to strengthen the presence of the CRGP. o Gather inputs from technical leads and beneficiaries to draft annual reports for donors (at least two) and capture impact and outputs from projects. o Provide inputs to other reporting mechanisms related to CRGP, including UN-Habitat agency-wide reporting.

Ultimate result of the service

The expected results are: 1. Increased commitments to build local-level resilience from cities, territories and partners. 2. Local resilience and investments measured in beneficiary cities. 3. Key issues and challenges identified in linking early interventions in crisis-prone cities to long-term sustainable development inputs. 4. Capacity is built in cities and local governments to develop and implement integrated local climate and disaster resilience action plans. 5. Crisis-prone cities have enhanced capacity to develop and implement plans to increase their resiliency.

Qualifications/special skills A 1st level university degree in Social Studies, International Studies, Urban or Regional Planning, Architecture, Development Studies, or similar fields is required. Advanced university degree is desirable. Ability to work with minimal supervision and with good sense of initiative to keep the supervisor regularly informed of progress. Ability to work effectively under pressure. Good communications, reporting and representation skills. Excellent computer skills in Microsoft Office, spreadsheets and other software packages required. Good teamwork and drive for results. Ability to work co-operatively with other staff and share experience.

Languages - Fluency in spoken and written English and French is required. - Knowledge of other languages (Spanish) would be an additional 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.