Consultant for editing service

Background:

The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), established in 1986, is a regional non-profit foundation with headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand supporting the advancement of safer communities and sustainable development, through implementing programs that reduce impacts of disasters upon countries and communities in Asia and the Pacific. The primary geographical focus of ADPC’s activities is Asia with the South, South East and East Asia being the primary sub-regions. In 2005, nine countries, namely Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, and Sri Lanka signed an intergovernmental charter establishing ADPC as an inter-governmental organization.

ADPC has 25 years of work experience in Asia Pacific region supporting the national and local Governments of its charter member countries as well as countries of the Regional Consultative Committee on Disaster Management (RCC); a regional mechanism established by ADPC in 2000 comprising of head of national disaster management offices of 26 countries in Asia and the Pacific. ADPC also shares a close partnership with sub-regional inter-government agencies, such as Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Secretariat for Pacific Community (previously known as SOPAC) on various DRR related themes including capacity building, strengthening institutions and systems, knowledge management and mainstreaming DRR into development. It works closely with a range of UN Agencies including UNDP, UNICEF, UNESCAP, WHO, WMO, UNISDR, UNOCHA, UN-Habitat, etc. on DRR related projects and consultancy services. ADPC works with international and local NGOs, national technical and training institutions, Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Further details on ADPC and its programs can be found at www.adpc.net

The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) with support from AusAID is implementing Mainstreaming DRR into Development (MDRD) program in several countries across Asia, including Afghanistan, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar and the Philippines. This work has a diverse array of outputs, of which research and capacity development documents including research reports, policy recommendations, case studies, and manuals figure prominently.

ADPC’s technical staff and national and international consultants are engaged to prepare these documents to be used by national governments and international organizations. In view of this, such documents require careful editing before circulation for wider dissemination.

The consultant is required to provide editing services to ADPC in order to:

• Ensure that the English language is correct;
• Render the language more fluid, crisp, readable and attractive;
• Ensure consistency across documents in terms of style and approach;
• Optimize these documents from a communications point of view;
• Provide light occasional additional ad-hoc research in order to meet the above objectives.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The contract will involve editing the following categories of documents:

• Country-specific studies on Mainstreaming DRR into Development (MDRD)
• Proceedings and summaries of regional meetings on DRR
• Capacity development manuals on land use planning, CBDRM an local development planning, etc.
• MDRD manual for national and regional trainings
• Research studies on MDRD, Climate Change, Ecosystem, DRR and livelihood, DRR and the Private Sector, etc.

In addition to these indicated documents, a range of other related and therefore similar documents are likely to be developed and will also require editing. These will be specified at a later date and will be negotiated with the consultant once developed.

Language

Language must be clear, crisp and lightly technical and follow US English. Jargon should be avoided and shorter sentences are preferred. Sentences should be as specific and relevant as possible in order to avoid generic information. Formatting should follow the ultimate goal of all texts, which is ‘clarity’.

Timeline

Submission of the documents listed above will be staggered over the course of June – November. 2014. Editing of these documents and return dates of edited texts to ADPC will be discussed on a case-by-case basis with the consultant.

Required Qualifications

• Masters in Disaster Management, development studies, economics, planning and any other social-science discipline;
• Very good understanding of DRR-related issues especially in Asia-Pacific context
• At least 7 years of practical experience in the development sector with a good understanding of issues on development and DRR
• At least 3 years of practical experience of technical editing of documents in English language on DRR and other developmental issues