Drought Risk Management Expert (Consultant)

Purpose and Objectives:

Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) is an autonomous international organization established for scientific, educational, developmental, and humanitarian purposes with a vision of safer communities and sustainable development through disaster risk reduction and climate resilience in Asia and the Pacific. For details, please refer to ADPC website at http://www.adpc.net/.

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) come to an agreement to implement “Regional Project on Drought Management for South Asia”. The expected duration of the project is November 2023 to December 2024. The project will be jointly implemented by UNCCD and ADPC in South Asian countries namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, which are vulnerable to droughts. ADPC will coordinate/consult with UNCCD Focal Agencies, NMHS, NDMO and other key sectoral agencies in South Asia while implementing this project.

The key objective of this project is a to come up with a region wide strategic framework for drought risk management and mitigation for the South Asian countries to enhance resilience to drought events that emphasizes on a paradigm shift from reactive to proactive approaches. The strategy will help achieve the long-term objective of countries to develop technical and institutional capacity to manage droughts, and other natural hazards in an effective, efficient and sustainable manner.

ADPC intends to hire a Consultant (i) to support the Kick-off and Training Workshop, Capacity Building and Consultation Workshop and (ii) to systematically capture and document the findings during consultations, and (iii) to prepare a draft regional drought strategy for South Asia as per sectoral needs and national priorities. The project has an outcome and four outputs.

• Outcome: A regional drought risk management and mitigation strategy developed and supported through regional expert network.
• Output 1.1. Inventory of national and drought management policies and strategies developed: Impact data on the past and current national drought management policies, practices, and plans in the seven countries of the region are assessed.
• Output 1.2. Lessons learned from drought mitigation planning strategies and management from other regions on drought vulnerability management analysed.
• Output 1.3. Draft regional drought and risk management and mitigation strategy is developed and presented at the regional expert group meeting for further promotion through the regional expert network.
• Output 1.4. Capacity needs assessed and Capacity Development workshops and webinars are provided to national experts during regional expert group meetings and workshops

Expected Outputs:

• Report on Kick-off Training Workshop.
• Inventory of national drought management policies and strategies.
• Report on Lessons learned from drought mitigation planning strategies and management from other regions on drought vulnerability management.
• Report on In-country Consultations and Capacity Needs & Priority Assessment.
• Preparing the Draft and Final Regional Drought and risk management and mitigation Strategy for South Asia.
• Report on regional Capacity Building and Validation Workshop.

Responsibilities and Tasks:

• The consultant will support the two major events of the project, namely Kick-off Training Workshop and regional Capacity Building and Validation Workshop. in Bangkok.
• Consultant will support in reviewing and compiling the lessons learned from drought mitigation planning strategies from other regions (such as MRC Drought Strategy).
• Consultant will support in designing the in-country consultations matrix (such as KII and/or FGD).
• Consultant will support in conducting the in-country consultations to understand sectoral capacity needs and national priorities.
• Consultant will support in systematically capture and document the findings during national consultations.
• Consultant will support in preparing the outline of the Regional Drought Strategy for South Asia.
• Consultant will support in preparing the Draft Regional Drought Strategy for South Asia.

Working Principles:

• Consultant will report to the Director of the Climate Resilience Department and work closely with the Senior Climate Data Specialist at the Climate Resilience Department.

Qualifications:

Consultant shall have the following qualifications:

• Master’s degree in geography, earth observation, environmental modeling and management, regional planning, climate change, hydrology, meteorology, agriculture, GIS, civil and environmental engineering, water resource management, natural resource management or other related fields. A Doctoral degree in relevant fields is an advantage.
• A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in related fields with minimum of 08 years of progressively responsible experience in project management of disaster risk management, climate resilience, drought risk management, anticipatory actions, multi hazard early warning systems, impact-based forecasting, climate change adaptation with specific focus on strengthening or closely related areas is essential.
• Demonstrated experience in developing and implementing regional and national frameworks, strategies and/or action plans.
• Strong English speaking and writing skills.
• Familiarity with more than one South Asian language such as Hindi, Urdu, Sinhala, Nepali, Bengali, Bhutanese is an asset.
• Experience working in South Asia is an asset.
• Good understanding of UNCCD’s National Focal Agencies and Other Key Agencies
• Knowledge of monitoring and evaluation principles and tools.
• Excellent interpersonal and relationship-building skills.

Duty Station: Home-based and Bangkok (Thailand)

Duration: March to December 2024

Selection Method:

The candidate will be selected in accordance with ADPC’s recruitment process and policy guidelines.