Intern: Disaster risk reduction and development planning

Background and Rationale

The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) was established in 1986 to support the advancement of safer communities and sustainable development, through implementing programs that reduce the impact of disasters upon countries and communities in Asia and the Pacific. ADPC is governed by its Board of Trustees and annually convenes the Regional Consultative Committee on Disaster Management (RCC) that brings together National Disaster Management Offices (NDMOs) from 26 countries of the Asian region. In 1999, ADPC was constituted as an independent non-profit foundation under Thai law, with its headquarters in Bangkok. For more information, please visit www.adpc.net. In March 2011, on completion of 25 years, ADPC in consultation with member countries and development partners developed the Strategy to guide its support to countries over the next decade. The ADPC Strategy 2020 aims at focusing the involvement of ADPC on key issues in the region in relation to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, based on its long years of experience and comparative advantage. The implementation of ADPC Strategy 2020 is being pursued through a programmatic approach on three core areas namely Science, System and Applications for DRR, with each of the three programs having well defined Outcomes and Result Areas. At the same time, ADPC also went through an internal restructuring to organize itself in six thematic departments, with each having a niche focus and working together to contribute towards the overall outcomes of ADPC Strategy 2020.

One of the thematic departments is Safer Development Planning and Implementation (SDPI). The focus of SDPI is to enhance mainstreaming DRR and Climate Change Adaptation in development processes. Department’s work is based on the ongoing program of the Regional Consultative Committee (RCC) on Disaster Management on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into Development (MDRD), which is underway since 2004. A key area of the program is to demonstrate actions on mainstreaming and building capacity through training courses. The program is implemented in synergy with other ongoing regional initiatives on advocacy, knowledge management and capacity building for mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation into development.

Setting

The Safer Development Planning and Implementation internship is for 3 months, with a possible 3-month extension depending on the needs of the department. The internship would begin early January 2014. The internship is paid and full time. Interns work five days per week (35 hours) under the supervision of a staff member in the department or office to which they are assigned.

This specific internship will undertake analytical study and policy-oriented research on medium to long-term effectiveness of mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and management into development policy, plans and programmes, focusing on development policy instruments and institutions.

Roles and Responsibilities

Under the general guidance of the Head of the Department, the intern will assist the Safer Development Planning and Implementation department in collecting data and conducting research in the area of mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and management into development. Specific tasks will include:

Core responsibilities

• Conduct research on mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and management into development policy instruments and institutions in Asia Pacific as part of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Risk (UNISDR) regional consultative process for the Hyogo Framework for Action 2 (HFA2) and RCC Mainstreaming Disaster Risk into Development regional study;
• Identify and collect relevant data, as needed, related to specific cases of mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and management;
• Conduct analysis (broadly policy analysis) of key instrumental and institutional aspects of such development mechanisms, and prepare summery tables, graphs, and other outputs, as needed for the Department’s future publications and documents;
• Prepare a short summary of the main findings and lessons learned from the internship and make a short presentation to the Department’s professional staff.

Specific knowledge, skills and attitudes required

Communication

• Speaks and writes clear and effective English
• Drafts high quality written documents
• Listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately
• Asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication
• Tailors languages, tone, style and format to match audience
• Demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed

Education

Applicants should

• Have recently graduated or be currently enrolled in a master degree programme in a graduate school; or if pursuing their studies in countries where higher education is not divided into undergraduate and graduate stages, have completed at least four years of full-studies at a university or equivalent institution towards the completion of a degree. Studies in areas such as development economics/studies, disaster risk management, climate change adaptation, development economics/studies, political science, or related areas are desirable;
• Be computer literate in standard software applications;
• Have a demonstrated the ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which include willingness to try and understand and be tolerant of differing opinions and views.

Applicants are not required to have professional work experience. The successful applicant will receive a stipend of 10,000 THB per month to cover his/her accommodation and living expenses.