National Expert, Climate Resilience - Bangladesh

Asian Disaster Preparedness Center

Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) is an autonomous international 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 has six strategic themes supported by seven 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 also 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/

Climate Adaptation and Resilience for South Asia Project

South Asia has experienced a long period of robust economic growth, which has translated into declining poverty and impressive improvements in human development. However, these long-term development gains are increasingly threatened by the staggering social and economic impacts of climate-related hazards. A recent World Bank study[1] concluded that 800 million (or 44 percent) people in South Asia today live in locations that would become moderate or severe climate hotspots by 2050 without climate action. Therefore, countries in the region need to preserve and enhance their social and economic growth by investing in climate-resilient development.

With the financial support from the World Bank Group, ADPC and the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES) are jointly implementing a five-year (2020-2025) project, titled “Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CARE) for South Asia”. The project aims to create an enabling environment for climate resilience policies and investments in Climate Resilient Agriculture, Integrated Water Resources Management, Resilient Transport Infrastructure, and Policy, Planning and Finance sectors. Through its regional portfolio, ADPC will also facilitate high-level dialogues for institutional cooperation and knowledge exchange, develop climate-resilient guidelines, and promote innovation and adoption of disruptive technology at national and regional levels. The national-level activities will initially be implemented in Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.

CARE for South Asia project’s proposed activities are aligned with the priority sectors identified by the Government of Bangladesh covering water, agriculture, and infrastructure sectors for mainstreaming adaptation. This shall include interventions to (i) develop and/or strengthen strategic and policy frameworks for climate smart agriculture and integrated water resources; (ii) support the roll-out of existing Develop Bangladesh Climate Fiscal Framework (BCFF) implementation plan; and (iii) provide climate risk analysis for water accounting and support the drafting of the Digital-based M&E policy framework under the Bangladesh Delta Plan implementation. Furthermore, the project will support in developing sector-specific climate-resilience strategies and guidelines to enhance gender-informed resilience in priority sectors when the gender-disaggregated data analytics becomes available.

In the above context, ADPC will procure the services of an experienced National Expert on Climate Resilience – Bangladesh who provides technical advisory and support to ensure implementation and achievement of the project objectives for the ADPC’s country office in Bangladesh. S/he will be selected on a competitive basis following World Bank Procurement Regulations and retained on a part-time basis.

The National Expert’s primary role covers:

· Providing expert advice and consultative support to the members of ADPC’s country office in Bangladesh, especially to the Country Project Lead, on country and region specific issues of and policy strategies for climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and climate resilient development;

· Supporting the capacity and relationship building to meet the wider needs of the stakeholders to be reached out and to benefit from the existing climate adaptation institutions and initiatives in the country; and

· Participating in national, regional and global events to highlight best practices and learning of the CARE for South Asia project in the country as part of wider knowledge-sharing.

Statement of Intent

National Expert on Climate Resilience­ – Bangladesh will help to improve output performance and increase the quality of the technical products and outcomes based on standards set by the World Bank.

It is also expected that National Expert will support the project’s sustainability by strengthening in-house technical capacities of ADPC’s country office in Bangladesh in key sectors and facilitate wider dissemination of the project outputs and outcomes beyond the geographical confines of the project.

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 detailed functions of the National Expert on Climate Resilience­ – Bangladesh include:

1. Advisory and consultative support

⁃ Provide strategic advice to the Country Project Lead and sector specialists on the implementation of the activities and achievements of the project’s goals and objectives.

⁃ Review and ensure that project outputs and reports are delivered to the required quality standard, in line with agreed specifications of the Work Plan and other commitments.

⁃ Undertake periodic review of the implementation strategies of the ADPC’s country office in Bangladesh, identifying potential gaps and solutions and ensuring incorporation of lessons learned into ongoing implementation.

⁃ Provide advice and support in technical updates on climate resilience, including new technology and innovations, tools and approaches that can be applied in the project.

⁃ Work with and support the Country Project Lead to coordinate with Sector Focal Points (SFP) of the Project from participating Government departments in Bangladesh and other stakeholders to maximize program impacts and deepen partnership of program stakeholders.

2. National level capacity and relationship-building

⁃ Provide technical inputs to the project's national activities and initiatives such as policy dialogues, thematic fora, and other outreach events and missions.

⁃ Represent ADPC at relevant regional/global meetings, where required, expand exposure, disseminate impact and lessons learned, and involve in the promotion or follow-up of the project.

⁃ Establish effective communication channels and develop close ties with existing and instrumental national and regional partners and initiatives.

⁃ Provide technical support for the national initiative of demand-driven scientific research and advisory services targeting subnational public institutions and agencies in collaboration with regional and national centers of excellence.

Qualifications

The candidate should hold a Master’s degree (Ph.D. is desired) and have a minimum of 15 years of professional experience in climate change adaptation and resilient/sustainable development

Professional record should include experiences in:

· Strategic analysis, policy making, planning and programming for climate resilience and mainstreaming

· Leading and maintaining policy dialogue with high-level government counterparts

· Excellent English writing and communications skills

Experience in working with Government of Bangladesh is highly desired. Bangladeshi nationals are preferred for this position.

Reporting Relationships

The National Expert will report to the Project Director and work in close coordination with the Bangladesh’s Country Project Lead.

The expert will submit a time-charging sheet every month explaining the type of inputs and a summary of deliverables every quarter to ascertain the level of efforts.

Contract Duration

The contract duration will be 120 days stretched over a period of 1 year. It will be a time-based contract.

Selection Method

The consultant will be selected in accordance with ADPC’s recruitment process and in compliance with the World Bank Procurement Regulations.

How to apply

Interested Candidates can submit the completed ADPC application form (downloadable from www.adpc.net), resume, copy of degrees/certificate(s) together with a cover letter, to: adpcjobs@adpc.net

Female candidates are especially encouraged to apply. ADPC encourages diversity in its workplace and supports an inclusive work environment.**