Programme specialist, disaster risk reduction - P4

Background

UNDP works closely with governments in high disaster-risk countries to build capacities at the national, sub-national and local levels for reducing disaster risk. A major role of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) is to support UNDP Country Offices in the formulation and implementation of programme and projects for disaster risk reduction. As part of this support, BCPR fields Disaster Risk Reduction Advisors (national or international) in selected high disaster-risk countries.

Under the overall authority of the RC-RR and the supervision of the Deputy Resident Representative (Programmes) of the Country Office and the technical supervision of the BCPR Regional CPR/ Disaster Reduction Advisor for West and Central Africa, the Disaster Risk Reduction Advisor is responsible for providing technical advice and strategic direction for the development and implementation of disaster risk reduction and recovery programmes at the country level.

Country Context

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania, located in the north-western part of the African continent, is a vast but sparsely populated country of approximately 3.2 million inhabitants (2011), which also has a highest rate of desertification. The highest density is recorded in the coastal cities of Nouakchott, where a third of Mauritanians live, Nouadhibou and along the Senegal River in the southern part of the country.

Mauritania remains among the world’s poorest countries, ranked 155th of 184 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index in 2012. Poverty still affects close to 42% of the Mauritanian population, despite a steady decrease in the level of poverty for more than a decade. Rural poverty is aggravated by the acute lack of basic infrastructure such as water, energy and transport. The rather poor performance of the social sectors indicates the likelihood that the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) will not be achieved by 2015.

Economically, Mauritania has one of the lowest GDP rates in Africa, despite being rich in natural resources. A majority of the population still depends on agriculture and livestock for a livelihood, even though most of the nomads and many subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by recurrent droughts in the 1970s and 1980s.

Mauritania is highly vulnerable to extreme climate events such as severe storms, high temperatures, rising sea-levels and irregular rainfall patterns that are sometimes inadequate leading to droughts, and at other times leading to flooding and inundation.

Mauritania is currently experiencing a slow-onset, drought-related food security crisis as a result of severe rainfall shortage in 2011. Findings of the last food security assessment (December 2011) indicate that in rural areas, 24.6 percent of households are in severe or moderate food security insecurity. Besides this already critical situation, a sudden humanitarian crisis emerged since January 2012 following the Tuareg armed conflict in northern Mali. To date, more than 70,000 refugees crossed the border to Mauritania and are mostly concentrated in south-east of the country. The combined effects of low rainfall, a deficit in pastures , a decline in animal stocks, continuing price increases and limited availability of cereals on the market resulted in an estimated 700,000 people affected by food insecurity in 2012. In addition, population movements into Mauritania as a result of fighting in Northern Mali, add to the strain being placed on local food markets.

The Ministere Delegue Aupres du Premier Ministre Charge de l’Environnement et Developpement Durable oversees the government’s respose to climante hazards and risks. Several ‘dispositifs’ guide the policy and response to climate change challenges in Mauritania, namely : The Plan D’Action National pour l’Environnement (PANE), the Strategie Nationale de Developpement Durable (SNDD), Plan D’Action National de Lutte Contre la Desertification (PAN-LCD), and Programme D’ Action National D’Adaptation (PANA) and Cadre Strategique de Lutte Contre la Pauvrete (CSLP).

Despite some attempts to adapt to these climate hazards, the capacity to address climate change impacts in Mauritania is still limited. The national and local administrations have limited systematic knowledge of disaster risk reduction and recovery, adaptation needs and options, and individual, institutional and systemic capacities to act on such risks remain low.

UNDP support on DRR in Mauritania

UNDP is advocating for a focus on early recovery in the emergency response, therefore preparing the ground for sustainable recovery and the return to longer-term development. This should be planned from the outset of the humanitarian emergency, with a focus on strengthening resilience of affected populations, as well as creating conditions for future development. UNDP has immediately recruited a humanitarian coordination expert, with an early recovery background, and is also considering up scaling existing community development interventions to support food security efforts.

The reinforcement and consolidation of disaster risk management institutional and legal framework in the country; inclusion of DRR into national policies and development programmes; capacity building at national and local level; reinforcement of existing early warning systems; provision of human, financial and logistical resources to implement disaster risk reduction programmes are some of the main challenges that Mauritania is facing in the area of disaster risk reduction. Through the Disaster Reduction Advisor, UNDP will be able to provide the necessary technical expertise to local institutions and facilitate coordination with other UN agencies, IFIs and other development partners.


Duties and Responsibilities

The Disaster Risk Reduction Advisor will perform the following duties:

Programmes

- Provide leadership and technical input for the design, development, and implementation of UNDP/ UN disaster risk reduction initiatives in support of the national governments;
- Identify specific needs and demands of the country programmes in different technical areas – climate change, risk identification, urban risk management, pre-disaster recovery planning, post disaster recovery processes – and help build partnerships at the national, regional or global levels to meet those needs. Where possible, serve as a broker in harnessing regional and global support through BCPR to respond to such needs;
- Analyse the socio-economic environment, disaster-risk and institutional context to provide advisory services in the field of disaster rick reduction and recovery, identifying catalytic areas where disaster risk reduction can be integrated and add value to other, ongoing or planned UNDP support interventions;
- Identify and follow up on potential opportunities for resource mobilization in support of disaster risk reduction programmes. This may include support from bilateral development partners, the international financial institutions, as well as cost-sharing with the host government. As needed, advise the Country Office on preparation of project proposals for submission to BCPR Project Appraisal Committee (BPAC) for resource allocation;
- Monitor ongoing projects substantively through discussing project work plans, progress and performance; conduct evaluation missions and write TORs for consultants; propose direction and solutions in steering committee meetings, visit project sites to monitor and assess implementation; resolve problems in execution and implementation streamlining relations between national project directors, consultants and executing agencies.
- Seek complementarities and integration with ongoing projects in other portfolios;
- Promote integration of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery programming with other Crisis Prevention and Recovery related interventions (security sector reform, reintegration of ex combatants, conflict prevention and local mediation initiatives) and ensure overall coherence between DRR programming and other resilience building interventions. In particular, the Disaster Risk Reduction Adviser will work closely with the other CPR advisers and Peace and Development Advisor when relevant to ensure that there is a comprehensive approach to resilience building in the country;
- Ensure that DRR interventions are programmed following a conflict sensitive approach especially in relation to natural resource management, access to water etc;
- Promote gender-responsive Disaster Risk Reduction through the conduct of gender responsive analysis, advocating for the collection of sex-disaggregated data across various line ministries and agencies on the impact of disasters on men and women; through the conduct of gender-specific needs assessment (including PDNA), through the promotion of women to take up leadership roles in disaster management activities at the community level; through ensuring that gender is integrated into DRR programming and monitoring;
- Coordinate UNDP disaster risk reduction efforts with the other ISDR system partners – government agencies, UN agencies, the World Bank, national and international NGOs, academic and technical institutions -- at the country level. Where suitable (such as in One-UN Pilot Countries), serve as a resource for the ISDR system in ensuring that the national government receives a coherent package of support from the UN System;
- As required, provide targeted support to the UN RC office for coordinating UN and other relevant stakeholders recovery and disaster risk management efforts;
- Contribute substantively to the work of the UN working group on Early Recovery that UNDP is coordinating;
- In post-disaster situations, in coordination with the Regional Disaster Reduction Advisor (and other support available from regional and global level) advise the Country Office on recovery issues including: utilization of emergency grants; post-disaster assessments; formulation of early recovery frameworks/ programmes; preparing and planning for longer term recovery and reorientation, as appropriate, of existing CO programmes to meet recovery needs;
- As required, provide support to corporate BCPR Disaster Risk Reduction initiatives at global or regional level; in particular contribute to deliverables of the global BCPR DRR workplan, to the implementation of the regional strategy for the Sahel, to the implementation of the corporate resilience building strategy and to the implementation of the BCPR eight points agenda for gender;
- Ensure appropriate linkages, coherence and integration between DRR programming and climate change adaptation programming, notably through the documentation of lessons learnt from the implementation of the African Climate Adaptation Programme and the Climate Risk Management technical Assistance.

Knowledge management

- Distil lessons learned and good practices and share them with the CO, the UNCT, BCPR, the CPR Network and the wider disaster reduction community of practice (COP);
- Participate in regional and global practice development meetings on disaster risk reduction and recovery.

Mentor UNDP/ UN system staff members and/ or project personnel working on disaster reduction issues policy:

- Advocate, promote awareness and understanding of the links and mutually supportive goals and objectives of disaster reduction, sustainable development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
- As appropriate, on behalf of UNDP/ UN system provide policy level advice to the host government in development of institutional, legislative and policy frameworks for disaster risk reduction and recovery.
- As needed, based on country level experience, provide inputs for the formulation of UNDP/ UN system policy, guidelines and practice notes on disaster risk reduction and recovery. Report on key trends in UNDP/ UN system programme portfolio at the country level and its policy implications.
- Facilitate advocacy efforts related to mainstreaming disaster reduction into UNDP/ UN system supported development initiatives in the country.

Competencies

Corporate competencies

- Integrity and fairness -- embodies UN values and promotes the well-being of all individuals regardless of gender, religion, race, nationality, or age;
- Cultural sensitivity and adaptability – communicates effectively with and relates to people of significant contributions to corporate priorities or initiatives led by other UNDP offices and bureaus.

Functional

- Knowledge of the international disaster reduction system;
- Knowledge of country’s hazards, vulnerabilities and risks;
- Ability to provide inputs for disaster risk assessment and its application to risk management decision-making.

Managerial

- Ability to build strong relationships with external actors – cultivate productive relationships with donors, partners and other important institutions and individuals;
- Excellent oral and written communication skills;
- Ability to anticipate and understand client needs, formulate clear strategic plans, prioritize interventions, and allocate resources according to priorities;
- Ability to develop innovative solutions - encourages and contributes creative solutions to address challenging situations.

Behavioral

- Ability to establish effective working relations in a multicultural team environment;
- Resourcefulness, initiative, and maturity of judgment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

- Advanced university degree in social sciences or discipline relevant to disaster reduction with internationally recognised contributions to the theory and practice of disaster reduction.

Experience:

- Proven record of achievement over 7 years of increasingly responsible experience in planning and managing technical co-operation strategies and relevant advocacy programmes in disaster reduction, emergency response and post-disaster recovery;
- Extensive field experience in disaster environments and an in-depth knowledge of issues in the country;
- High degree of technical knowledge of disaster risk reduction, ability to quickly analyze and understand the country context, build partnerships, develop innovative solutions and mobilize regional and global knowledge to meet the specific country needs;
- Application of theoretical knowledge in the design, management and evaluation of complex, multi-disciplinary capacity building programmes involving national governments, civil society and international organisations. Well proven analytical and writing skills;
- Demonstrated abilities and contributions to policy and guideline formulation, resource mobilisation, team building, team leadership and management, preferably in a capacity related to the UN system;
- Experience in establishing inter-organisational networks and partnerships at the operational level.

Language: Fluency in French essential;

- Proficiency in English necessary;
- Other UN official languages an asset.

Note:

- This is a Development Project Funded (DPF) post.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.