Consultant

Indian Ocean Consortium:

In order to assist the national efforts towards developing tsunami warning and mitigation system within a multi-hazard approach to disaster reduction, ISDR System partners formed a “consortium” to offer an immediate package of advisory support to Indian Ocean Governments. The offer included assistance to develop national plans and specific priority tasks, and support for resource mobilization efforts to implement the plans. This consortium was launched at the Third International Early Warning Conference (Bonn, Germany 27-29 March 2006) and has been endorsed by the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, President Clinton. The consortium partners are the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO/IOC), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Environment Programme (UNEP), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), World Bank (WB) and the UNISDR secretariat.

As part of the members’ commitment to support coherent implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) the UNISDR-coordinated IO Consortium aims to support:

• Linking IO Consortium goals and activities to the UNISDR programme

• Linking ongoing regional tsunami early warning activities.

• Considering National Platforms for DRR and similar coordinating mechanisms and strengthen them Met Services and other national actors and ISDR system partners to develop coherence tsunami early warning systems.

• Support the Implementation of National Action Plans for DRR, in which tsunami early warning systems have to be considered.

One important output is the provision of coordination, information exchange and learning among targeted countries. The year 2009 marks the five year anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. It will be important to highlight progress on establishing early warning system at regional and national level since the devastating event.

Duties and responsibilities

• Collect best practices and lessons learned on DRR and from IO Consortium partner’s actions and advocate for their application and adoption elsewhere.
• Convene inter-agency meeting in Bonn receiving input on status on tsunami preparedness 5 years after the Indian Ocean tsunami (e.g. UNU-EHS, UNSPIDER, UNESCO-IOC, UNV).
• Prepare four page document highlighting activities of partner agencies incorporating inputs from partners located in Geneva (e.g. WMO, UNDP, UNOCHA), Bangkok and Africa.
• Prepare inputs to press release.
• Support the consultation with national stakeholders and governmental representatives in Mozambique, Tanzania, Comoros and Somalia as well as representatives from participating UN agencies in prioritizing workplans and preparations of Indian Ocean national project proposals.
• Guide the preparation for the stocktaking study of UNISDR Bonn office on early warning activities monitoring climate change and identifying implications for adaptations strategies of communities.

Tangible and measurable outputs of the work assignment:

(a) Inter-agency meeting convened in Bonn
(b) Four page document highlighting progress on tsunami early warning preparedness since 2004
(c) Press release finalized and submitted to UNISDR Communication Unit
(d) Partnership agreements reviewed of implementing organizations in Comoros, Tanzania, Mozambique and Somalia
(e) Input provided to the grant agreement on the stocktaking study of UNISDR Bonn office

Competencies

Professionalism: Knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts and approaches relevant to disaster risk reduction (in the field of political affairs, sustainable development policy and humanitarian action); practical experience in Programme/project management and administration; good research, analytical and problem-solving skills, including ability to identify and participate in the resolution of issues/problems; familiarity with and experience in the use of various research methodologies and sources, including electronic sources on the internet, intranet and other databases; ability to apply good judgment in the context of assignments give; ability to plan own work and manage conflicting priorities.
Communications: Good communication (spoken and written) skills, including the ability to draft/edit a variety of written reports, studies and other communications and to articulate ideas in a clear, concise style. Gender Mainstreaming: Ability to identify and address relevant gender perspectives in substantive work.
Creativity: Ability to actively seek to improve programmes/services, offer new and different options to solve problems/meet client needs, and promote and persuade others to consider new ideas.
Technological Awareness: Fully proficient computer skills and use of relevant software and other applications, e.g. word processing, spreadsheets and other statistical applications, internet, etc.
Teamwork: Good interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity, including gender balance.
Client Orientation: Ability to identify clients’ needs and develop appropriate solutions; ability to establish and maintain productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; meet timeline for delivery of products/services to clients. Judgment/Decision-making: Ability to identify key issues in complex situations; propose course of action based on available information; demonstrate sound judgment and initiative, resourcefulness, and tact in resolving a range of issues/problems.

Qualifications

Education: Postgraduate degree in Oceanography or Geography with sufficient technical experience in Tsunami Early Warning, Marine Modelling, Hazard Risk Assessment, Research Analysis and Disaster Risk Reduction strategies.

Experience: At least 10 years of experience at the national and international levels in the field of Ocean sciences disaster preparedness, mitigation, risk reduction, research and early warning; Experience in modelling, handling of scientific instrumentation and data analysis; Demonstrated analytical, communication and report writing skills

Languages: Fluency in written and spoken English is essential; fluency in one or more official UN languages is highly desirable.

Other skills: Familiarity with disaster risk reduction, the ISDR system and its partners, and the Hyogo Framework for Action; Good knowledge of the major stakeholders in disaster risk reduction and tsunami early warning systems in Africa; Working experience in developing countries; Basic knowledge of relevant institutional mandates, policies, guidelines; Knowledge of the institutions of the UN system.