Disaster risk reduction project manager

Ref.PH/RRC v1.0

CONTEXT OF THE PROJECT:

Humanitarian issues faced by the population

• Isolated population, vulnerable to natural hazards and climate change

People living on the islands of the South Pacific are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. The geographical dispersion of the islands, the lack of information on natural hazards (non-existent or unreliable warning systems), the lack of access to basic disaster response materials, and the difficulties in logistical supply are the major problems in this context. In addition, the Pacific is also one of the most vulnerable regions to the risks of disasters due to climate change. This is the case of several lowlying coral islands. In the international scientific community, it is generally accepted that these small islands have characteristics that make them particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, rising sea levels and extreme weather events. Among other things, it is expected that the various manifestations of climate change have impacts on infrastructure, human settlements and coastal resources, biodiversity and aquatic and land on water resources for many islands.

• An unresolved ethnic conflict

Solomon Islands were a protectorate of the United Kingdom from 1890 until recent independence on 7 July 1978. This country has had a turbulent history and has been the scene of fierce fighting between the United States of America and Japan during World War II. 2012 also marked the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal, which has played a central role in the fighting in the Pacific at that time. But this country has mostly been marked by a period of strong ethnic tensions between 1999 and 2003 with the populations of Malaita and Guadalcanal stemming mainly from land rivalries. This conflict has caused the death of hundreds of people and displacing 20,000 others. In July 2003, the Governor General of the Solomon Islands has issued a formal request for international assistance that has been approved by the government. An important international security contingent, the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) has been deployed in August 2003. Commissioned by Australia and New Zealand and consisting of soldiers and police from a dozen other Pacific nations (mainly Tonga, Fiji and Papua New Guinea), this mission has put an end to clashes. The causes of conflict are nevertheless still unresolved and animosities persist between people of the two islands. Although the situation is now peaceful, the country still awaits the peace and reconciliation but tensions may resurface sporadically. On 23 November 2011, for example, a spontaneous riot took place in downtown Honiara in protest at the election of the new Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo. Following several natural disasters, many tribes of different islands were moved to the capital Honiara. These movements and grouping populations only strengthen inter-community tensions. In view of the current calm situation, the army component of RAMSI left the country in July 2013, but the administrative component fits in the long term to help strengthen government capacity.

FRC past activities in country
Following the earthquake (magnitude 8.1) in April 2, 2007 forty kilometers south coast of the island of Gizo, a tsunami was generated, which impacted coastal populations. Gizo was the most affected and, because of a higher concentration of people, there were many displaced people unlike other islands. In addition, many schools and health centers/hospitals were destroyed or damaged. The FRC responded to the emergency funded by ECHO. This project was implemented in the regions of Choiseul, Tepakaza (Voza) Babatana (Sassamunga) and Viviri for 5 and half months. The FRC has implemented a project of € 350,000 to distribute tools, shelter kits and basic materials (plastic buckets…), rehabilitated water points and water supply networks, established rainwater harvesting system and community latrines.

At the same time, the FRC opened a delegation in Vanuatu in June 2007, which was composed of a Head of Delegation and an administrative assistant, based in Port Vila, on Efate Island. The main objective was to strengthen the capacity of the Vanuatu Red Cross and to support the development, and at the same time monitor the possible humanitarian issues.

End of 2009, an evaluation was carried out and a project targeting the most vulnerable population to natural disaster risk was presented to ECHO (DIPECHO funding) and accepted. Entitled “Becoming resilient together” (TBR), the project began in 2010 and ended in mid-June 2011. This is a regional project that includes two countries: Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

In its second phase of implementation (June 2011-December 2012), this project’s main objective has been community action to reduce the risks of natural disasters based on participatory approaches of the Red Cross movement (VCA, CBDP, CBFA, etc…). This second phase has consolidated the activities implemented during the first phase and extended the communities of action.

Work Context
Although located in the Pacific, in an idyllic and peaceful environment, the Solomon Islands delegation does not offer ideal working conditions which might be expected. On the one hand, the entire FRC team is based in Honiara on the island of Guadalcanal, while the activities are implemented on other Provinces in isolated communities with which comunication is an issue with a limited mobile phone network. Project monitoring and implementation with communities is not easy. The field trips must be scheduled and require whenever prolonged absences from the central office. Targeted communities are small and hardly offer any service (even small businesses), which reinforces the isolation and sometimes discomfort during these trips.
In addition, the Solomons are based on a tribal organization and customary law, which sometimes lead to conflicts at local level (particularly in relation to land ownership) that can be complicated for delegates to understand. In addition, there is a very ethnical diversity due to the geography of the archipelago: the people of Western will be very close to Papua New Guinea when the people from Renbell are of Polynesian origin.
The pace of work sometimes in the Pacific is also particular. "Stress" is not really accepted in this context, there is often a detachment or demotivation of the teams as soon as the workload becomes too important or the expectations are too high. This results in a very high turnover of staff throughout the project. It is therefore imperative to find a balance between the objectives of the project on time and the pace of work of the peaceful environment while supporting local teams daily.
Implementation of activities, in close coordination with the SIRCS (Solomon Islands Red Cross Society) can sometimes cause delays. The staffs of the National Society need ongoing support and capacity building. Procedures and parallel activities with SIRCS are not always easy either the implementation of projects.
The Solomon Islands are ranked 143rd on the Human Development Index. The living conditions in this country are unique. The expatriate population is predominantly Australian, particularly because of the presence of RAMSI. The health situation is not good and there is really no satisfactory medical infrastructure (except in the compound of RAMSI, but that is not open to civilians).

FRC activities today
The delegation is based in Honiara, capital of Solomon Islands, on the island of Guadalcanal. The Solomon Islands delegation comes from the recent division of a single delegation comprising the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, which was under the responsibility of a single Head of Delegation.
The Delegation of the Solomon Islands is currently composed of a Head of Delegation and two project representatives. An evaluator is also present on mission until the end of January 2014. The mission is supported by an administrative and financial coordinator and logistical coordinator (until end of 2013) covering two delegations of Vanuatu and Solomon Islands. This recruitment marks the final separation of the two delegations Vanuatu and Solomon, since each of the two missions will now include an administrative/logistics coordinator and manager.
Currently, four projects are underway:

o A mitigation project called " Together Becoming Resilient - Supporting Community Planning for More Resilient Solomon Islands " aka SCP, OFDA funded ( July 2012 - July 2014 ), a similar project is implemented in Vanuatu.

o The second phase of the project "Supporting Community Planning: Mitigating the Impact of Disasters by Copying with Water Challenges ( SCP2 )", officially began in September 2013 until the end of February 2015. It aims to diversify the access to water and improve hygiene practices in targeted communities in Solomon Islands.

o A project to establish a SIRCS branch in the province of Renbell funded by EuropeAid (NSA - Non- State Actors , 24 months , March 2012 - March 2014 ) . The main project activities are building knowledge and capacity of communities towards disaster risk and the development of health activities and primary health care in vulnerable communities across the province;

o A community based disaster and risk reduction project ( TBR3 - May 2013-July 2014 ) to implement an exit strategy for 24 targeted communities in the Solomon Islands and propose innovative mechanisms for replication of CBDRR activities.

In line with this project and to keep on replicating the TBR approach, FRC on close cooperation with SIRCS, is starting a 4th phase of TBR initiative, through the project called Together becoming resilient: let’s be ready to face natural disasters!. The project, funded by OFDA (Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance) is expecting to start on August 1st 2014, for 18 months.
This recruitment takes place in the frame of the start and implementation of this project specifically.

POSITION OBJECTIVES

The Coordinator of the DRR project will have to ensure the implementation of the following activities:

o To lead, supervise and monitor the project activities implementation;
o To maintain, boost and strengthen working relationship with Solomon Island Red Cross Society (SIRCS), as well as national and local partners such as NDMO (National Disaster Management Office), Ministry of Education and NGOs;
o To strengthen SIRCS and NDMO coordination and disaster response capacities;
o To use, develop and adapt the DRR common approach set up in the pacific area by the FRC to promote synergies with the other FRC ongoing DRR projects (in Vanuatu), define lessons learnt and capitalize on experience.

TASKS

- OBJ 1: To lead, supervise and monitor the project activities implementation.

• Act as DRR technical advisor for the FRC mission and follow the DRR strategy and way of working created by the FRC;
• Lead, support, and supervise the work carried out by the SIRCS and NDMO;
• Monitor the program implementation and ensure the quality of the action;
• Work closely with the SIRCS members (staffs and volunteers) to ensure that DRR activities will contribute to capacity building.
• Prepare monthly and annual narrative reports as requested by FRC and SIRCS;
• Ensure that the activities are conducted in line with agreed financial, administrative and logistic procedures (participate in logistic, administrative, human resources and financial planning and overview of the DRR project);
• Establish mechanisms and tools to ensure an appropriate project implementation in order to match with the objectives, indicators and sources of verification as mentioned in the project proposal;
• Organise awareness campaigns, trainings and workshops in DRR in order to strengthen project partners capacities;
• Make sure that all the DRR components (national capacity building, DRR at school and DRR to cope with volcano issues) will be implemented in an appropriate manner ensuring that all of them will be handled with the same energy.


- OBJ 2: To maintain, boost and strengthen working relationship with SIRCS (Solomon Island Red Cross Society), as well as national and local partners such as NDMO (National Disaster Management Office), Ministry of Education and NGOs.

• Involve the project local authorities and others local partners from the beginning of the project in order to ensure that they will support the activities and make sure that these activities match with their needs;
• Set up working sessions with Red Cross partners and NGOs involved in Solomon Islands to ensure the sustainability of the approach developed in the previous DIPECHO programs (regarding DRR methodology, tools and strategy)
• Represent the FRC in external DRR meetings (clusters, working groups, workshops, forums) in the country;
• Set up monthly meetings with partners and design the action plan for the following months in collaboration with them to establish smooth working relationship.
• Build up SIRCS staff capacities related to DRR, DM and Climate change.

- OBJ 3: To strengthen SIRCS and NDMO coordination and disaster response capacities

• Develop stakeholders networking mechanisms in order to ensure their involvement and an effective exchange of information;
• Design training curricula in collaboration with SIRCS and NDMO and make sure that both stakeholders will be actively involved in the training process;
• Support the capacity building of SIRCS and NDMO to ensure the appropriation of the disaster preparedness activities; Ensure quality coordination with DRR partners and project stakeholders to further their commitment during the project and in case of disaster;
• Promote the involvement of both stakeholders in order to ensure their commitment in the project and to strengthen their leadership in disaster management.
• Use all the activities written in the logical framework as part of a capacity building process;


- OBJ 4: To use, develop and adapt the DRR common approach set up in the pacific area by the FRC to promote synergies with the other ongoing DRR project of FRC in Vanuatu, define lessons learnt and capitalize on experience.

• Coordinate this project with the other FRC projects to ensure a common way of working;
• Support the capitalization efforts on methodologies, tools and guidelines developed in the project;
• Be proactive to identify lessons learnt;
• Design and develop tools in order to show and justify the impact of the project.
• Ensure quality coordination with DRR partners in the Movement through the existing DM working group;
Coordinate this project in regard to the other FRC projects to ensure a common way of working.

HIERARCHICAL LINK

- Under the authority of the Solomon Island Heads of Delegation based in Honiara
- Supervises operational teams (national staff and volunteers).

FUNCTIONAL LINK

- Work in close cooperation with his/her Regional Technical Referent based in Thailand, and with the DRR Technical Expertise Unit (FRC HQ) based in Paris.
- Functional links with the different poles of the FRC delegation (logistic and administration/finance coordination)


LANGUAGES:

Good professional English is mandatory
French is an asset

PROFILE

- Capacity for hard work
- Multi-skilled, flexible with a strong capacity of adaptation
- Able to manage stress
- Good analytical skills: ability to analyse and synthesize large amounts of information
- High sense of diplomacy, patience, tenacity, teaching skills
- Managerial competencies, engaging partners
- Strong communication and representation skills
- Abilities to work with communities
- Experience / Knowledge of Solomon Islands/Pacific region is an asset

COMPETENCIES

- Relevant educational background in Natural Disaster Risks, Geography, Environment or other DRR related courses
- Significant international experience in DRR project management
- Solid experience in institutional support to local and national authorities
- Experience with OFDA funded projects is an asset
- Good knowledge/Experience of the Red Cross Movement is highly considered