Junior Research Associate - Pakistan

City/location:

Islamabad

Organization:

About Asian Disaster Preparedness Center

ADPC is an intergovernmental regional organization with a vision to reduce disaster and climate risk impacts on communities and countries in Asia and the Pacific by working with governments, development partners, international organizations, NGOs, civil society, private sector, media, and other key stakeholders. Established in 1986 as a technical capacity building center, ADPC has grown and diversified its expertise across social and physical sciences to support sustainable solutions for risk reduction across a broad range of specialist areas. With over 100 staff from 19 different nationalities and a wide range of professional expertise from atmospheric scientists to social scientists with experiences from all levels of engagement typically required for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Resilience (CR) in an effective manner. ADPC is a competent regional resource center and has seven thematic departments: ADPC Academy, Risk Governance, Climate Resilience, Urban Resilience, Health Risk Management, Preparedness for Response and Recovery, Geospatial Information. These are supported by Finance, Human Resources and Administration, and Strategic Planning departments. In addition to the departments, ADPC works on three cross-cutting themes: Gender and Diversity, Poverty and Livelihoods, and Regional and Transboundary Cooperation through permanent working committees. ADPC Strategy 2020 guides the organization in providing comprehensive risk reduction support to countries and communities in Asia and the Pacific. ADPC recognizes the importance of examining the linkages between disaster risk management, poverty reduction, gender equality, sustainability, rights-based approaches, climate change and regional cooperation. For details please refer to ADPC website at http://www.adpc.net/

Background

Disasters take a huge toll on the development agenda of SAR countries. Between 2000 and 2017, disasters in South Asia incurred estimated damages of US$ 149.27 billion. Public expenditure is under stress by the repeated need to reallocate capital budgets away from long term development planning and towards reconstruction activities in post-disaster environments. For example, since 2005, Pakistan has suffered losses on the order of US$ 16 billion due to natural disasters. In Bangladesh, 2007 Cyclone Sidr resulted in damages and losses of US$1.7 billion, or 2.6 per cent of GDP. To increase resilience and achieve climate commitments, there is a need for a transformational shift towards policies and institutions that enable climate resilient investments. Investing in more resilient infrastructure is both profitable and urgent as disruptions are extremely costly for governments, households and private sector and large ongoing investments in infrastructure assets will have long-lasting repercussions as poor maintenance and natural disasters result in a vulnerable stock. With the financial support from the World Bank Group, ADPC will be implementing a five years’ project, titled “Climate Adaptation and Resilience Project for South Asia” (CARE). The project aims to create an enabling environment for climate resilience policies and investments across South Asia. This objective will be achieved through enhanced regional cooperation and knowledge exchange for climate resilience and adaptation and mainstreaming of resilience and adaptation in national policies, plans and investments. Scaling up the climate resilient policy, planning, and financing is vital to satisfactorily implement all the required components of the project. It would involve review of national policies to support in development of climate resilient frameworks in planning and financing. Accordingly, a qualified and motivated Junior Research Associate will be required to support in reviewing relevant literature and frameworks, coordinate with the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives (MoPDSI) on a day-to-day basis for the implementation of tasks under component 2, and maintaining a close coordination with the CARE project country team assigned to work with MoPDSI. S/he will be selected on a competitive basis following the World Bank Procurement Regulations.

Statement of Intent

The Junior Research Associate will play a supporting role in the program’s presence in Pakistan to ensure research and coordination support to MoPDSI. The position will be based in Islamabad, Pakistan. Note: It is not the intent of this Terms of Reference to cover every aspect of the position requirements, rather to highlight the most important areas of personal and joint responsibilities.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Junior Research Associate shall provide the following inputs:

Assist in undertaking research and desk review of national policies related to climate change, agriculture, water and irrigation to support in development of climate resilient frameworks in planning and financing linked to the CARE for South Asia project activities;
Maintain strong liaison with project leadership and focal person (s) at MoPDSI in coordinating and implementing the technical project activities;
Provide support in preparing drafts for essential content for example meeting minutes and reports of national workshops and seminars, etc.;
Perform other relevant tasks as assigned by the supervisor.

Qualifications

A Master’s degree in Social Sciences or other relevant discipline;
A minimum of 2-3 years of experience) in conducting research and analytical work in similar role is required;
Knowledge of international and national Climate Change Acts, Policies and Frameworks such as the Pakistan’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (PAK-INDC), would be an advantage;
Proven record of strong research and analytical skills are required;
Excellent verbal and written communication skills;
Cross cultural awareness and ability to work amongst a diverse group of staff, and partners;
Required computer proficiencies: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Microsoft Teams.