International consultant for the review of the Disaster Preparedness and Relief Act (1991)

Background

Malawi experiences different types of hazards such as floods, drought, stormy rains, accidents, hailstorms, disease epidemics, earthquakes and pest infestations. Severe floods regularly overflow the river systems, displacing hundreds of people and impoverishing them with failed crops and livelihoods. Droughts periodically affect the country, negatively impacting on food security for many people. The impacts of disasters are enormous and have hindered the country’s socio-economic development. Disaster Risk Management is covered under theme three, sub-theme two of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) and the long term goal of the theme is to reduce the social, economic and environmental impact of disasters.

In order to reduce the adverse impacts of disasters on people’s livelihoods, the Malawi government enacted the Disaster Preparedness and Relief Act (DPRA) in 1991. The Act provides the legal and institutional framework for disaster management in Malawi. It emphasizes the establishment of institutional functions required for disaster management. The Secretary and Commissioner for Disaster Management Affairs, the National Disaster Preparedness and Relief Committee (NDPRC), Civil Protection Committees (CPC) and Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) were created through the Act to coordinate disaster risk management programmes and activities in the country.

The Act is currently not comprehensive enough and only makes provisions for response measures to be taken once a disaster has occurred. It also does not take into account the new emerging issues such as the impact of climate change. The Government is currently developing a National Disaster Risk Management Policy which is aligned to the HFA, to which Malawi is a signatory. There is, therefore, need for the Act to be aligned to the policy. Globally, there is now a paradigm shift from disaster response to disaster risk management (DRM) which stresses on disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness and recovery in addition to disaster response. The Act is, therefore, outdated and needs to be reviewed. It is against this background that the department, with the support of the UNDP, would like to engage a consultant to review the Disaster Preparedness and Relief Act (1991) so that it is in line with the draft National Disaster Risk Management Policy.

Duties and responsibilities

The international consultant will lead the process and work with the national consultant and perform the following duties:

• Review of the Act to produce a bill through comprehensive consultations with government institutions, development partners, UN agencies, civil society organisations and other stakeholders involved in disaster risk management at national level.
• Ensure that policy statements as elaborated in the draft National Disaster Risk Management policy are backed with necessary provisions in the bill.
• Explore whether thresholds for the declaration of disasters at village, area, district and national level are viable and what these thresholds could be.
• Review and recommend coordination mechanisms and terms of reference for disaster management and disaster risk reduction (DRR).
• Review literature, including but not limited to:
- Existing Acts that have a bearing on DRM to ensure linkages. These shall include but not limited to Environment Management Act (1996), Forestry Act (1997), Local Government Act, Water Resources Act (1969), Irrigation Act (2001).
- Policies and strategies that are linked to DRM. These will include National Environment Policy (1996, 2004), Agriculture and Food Security Policy (2006), Energy Policy (2003), Water Policy (2005), Forestry Policy (1996) and Health Policy, National Land Policy, National Water Resources Policy (2005), the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy II (2011-2016), Decentralization policy (1998).
- Existing DRM strategies and documents such as the Operational Guidelines for DRM, National DRR Framework and the draft DRM policy, Study on Economic and Financial Decision Making in Disaster Risk Reduction, Flood Risk Management Strategy, National Contingency Plan, Situational Analysis of DRM Programs and Practices.
• Recommend avenues to provide for the mainstreaming of disaster risk management by all stakeholders.
• Facilitate stakeholder’s consultative workshops.
• Assess and analyse international instruments in DRM and determine how they can apply to Malawi in reference to the bill.
• Draft the new bill on Disaster Risk Management

The international consultant will lead the process and work in close collaboration with the with the national consultant. He/She will be reporting to the Assistant Resident Representative for environment and climate change and will work in collaboration with the Secretary and Commissioner for Disaster Preparedness, Relief and Rehabilitation in the Department of Disaster Management Affairs. The overall timeframe for the exercise is 30 working days.

Competencies

Expected key competencies include:

• An inception report detailing the strategy to be utilised, defining clear roles and responsibilities of the consultants, work plan and a list of stakeholders to be consulted. This is expected within the first week of commencement of contract;
• A draft Disaster Risk Management Bill within 3 weeks;
• Presentation of the draft Disaster Risk Management Bill at a national stakeholders workshops A final draft Disaster Risk Management Bill after incorporating comments from the national stakeholders’ workshop.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• A minimum of masters degree in law, social sciences, disaster risk management or related field.

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of professional international experience in disaster risk management or related field.
• Experience in the development or review of legislation.
• Excellent interpersonal and teamwork skills.
• Excellent organising and facilitation skills.Proven ability to meet deadlines and work with minimum supervision.

Language Requirements:

• Excellent command of written and spoken English.