Advertisement for Individual Consultant (National)

Background

The Solomon Islands is highly vulnerable to a range of natural hazards, including tropical cyclones, earthquakes, tsunamis and floods. Strengthening disaster risk reduction and early warning systems is a national priority, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the United Nations' Early Warnings for All Initiative.

This consultancy aims to strengthen understanding of the Solomon Islands' vulnerability landscape by identifying, collecting and consolidating hazard and socio-economic vulnerability data, as part of supporting the development of an accessible and sustainable data management system.

The development of a national data platform will support disaster preparedness, response planning and the sustainable management of risk-related data.

Scope of the assignment

Under the overall authority and direct supervision of the UNESCO Natural Sciences Programme Specialist in Apia, the Individual Consultant shall serve as project manager and provide UNESCO staff and experts with technical support to enhance the capacity of national stakeholders to collect, manage and apply disaster risk data, in order to foster effective early warning and disaster risk reduction in the Solomon Islands. The Individual Consultant shall:

• support the development and institutionalization of a data platform that integrates existing hazard, exposure and socio-economic vulnerability data to improve decision-making;
• lead capacity-building initiatives to manage the platform through training workshops, seminars and knowledge-sharing events;
• develop policy briefs and guidelines based on a data and risk analysis to inform decision-makers and stakeholders.

Specific Tasks

Specific tasks include but are not limited to the following:

Task 1: Conduct a Stakeholder Engagement and Needs Assessment

The Individual Consultant Shall:

• engage with relevant government ministries, disaster management authorities, academic institutions, the private sector, non-governmental organisations and community groups to understand their data needs and determine what data systems already exist;
• conduct an assessment in collaboration with the UNESCO experts of existing data sources, platforms and information systems of relevance to hazards and socio-economic vulnerabilities. This should include data and information of relevance for disaster prevention, response and recovery, such as any assessment of the conformity of strategic infrastructure with national building codes (e.g. hospitals, schools, water reservoirs, etc), population centres and the location of strategic resources needed in a disaster (e.g. hospitals, aquifers, food storage warehouses, community centres, etc).

Task 2: Support Data Identification and Consolidation

• support the identification, collection and cataloguing of natural hazard data by UNESCO experts to inform disaster prevention, response and recovery (on the occurrence of, and lessons learned from, past cyclones, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, droughts, etc.);
• support the identification and compilation by UNESCO experts of socio-economic vulnerability data, including population demographics, health indicators, infrastructure, education, livelihoods and marginalized groups.
• ensure that data on individuals are disaggregated by gender, age and other key vulnerability factors.

Task 3: Support the development of the Disaster Risk Reduction Platform

• support the development by the UNESCO experts of a user-friendly digital platform to consolidate and visualize the hazard and vulnerability data that have been identified and compiled;
• assist in ensuring that the platform enables data-sharing among stakeholders while maintaining data privacy and security protocols.

Task 4: Provide Capacity Building and Training

Work with the UNESCO experts to design and deliver a comprehensive capacity-building programme, including:

• the organisation of workshops on risk data collection, management and application to reduce disaster risk and lay the foundations for early warning systems;
• the organisation of training sessions on the use and maintenance of the data platform;
• the organisation of community-based training for local government and at-risk communities on risk communication and early warning;
• supporting the development of training materials, manuals and toolkits tailored to the needs of stakeholders at national and provincial levels;
• providing ongoing technical support and coaching to national institutions.

Task 5: Knowledge Management

• draft policy briefs and documents providing technical guidance and recommendations to inform national strategies for reducing disaster risk and early warning protocols, as well as contingency planning, based on the knowledge garnered by the project;
• disseminate knowledge products through presentations, seminars and policy dialogues;
• draft the final project report, including recommendations and a roadmap for scaling-up the project and ensuring its sustainability;
• support UNESCO staff and experts in other ways as necessary.

Task 6: Sustainability and Institutionalization

• Support the establishment of mechanisms for long-term management, including data governance frameworks.
• support institutional arrangements for regular data updates and platform maintenance;
• support the exploration of options for financing and resource mobilization to sustain the platform.

Deliverables

Required qualifications and experience

Required education:

• A Master's degree in Geography, Environmental Sciences or related discipline.

Required experience:

• At least one similar assignment conducted in collaboration with UN agencies or Ministries of Technology demonstrating extensive knowledge of building or maintaining platforms in Asia Pacific.
• At least 5 years of experience in supporting platform development

Required skills/competencies:

• Relevant experience working with national stakeholders on developing tools and support systems for platform development.

Language Requirement:

• Fluency in English is required.

How to apply

Interested candidates are kindly requested to submit a:

1. Curriculum Vitae or Resume
2. Technical proposal (3 pages maximum) explaining their methodology for undertaking the assignment
3. Financial proposal, indicating a monthly rate (in US dollars), for undertaking the assignment outlined above. Applications submitted without a monthly rate shall not be considered.
4. The contact details of three referees.

Please submit your application to [email protected] before Midnight Samoa time on 20 May 2025.

Please note that only pre-selected candidates shall be contacted.