Country: India
Closing date: 01 May 2017
TITLE OF CONSULTANCY: (National) Consultant for Drought Risk Reduction
LOCATION: UNICEF State Office in Chennai, Tamil Nadu
DURATION OF CONSULTANCY: 20 May 2017 to 31 Dec 2017
CLOSING DATE: 01st May 2017
1. BACKGROUND:
Disaster risk reduction, including adaptation to climate change, is a priority for UNICEF India Country Office, considering the high exposure and impact of various natural and man-made hazards, in particular hydro-meteorological events on children, women and social service delivery mechanisms. UNICEF seeks to reduce the impact of disasters on children and women by progressively integrating DRR into its activities across sectors to support Government of India development programmes. Its approach is aligned with relevant national and international frameworks, including the Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, etc.
2. PURPOSE:
The proposed assignment has a double objective to respond to the increasing impact of extreme weather events – in particular drought - on children and women, as well as to broaden the DRR programme's partnership basis by furthering engagement with and of the private sector for DRR. To address these two components and support the DRR programme's work at central and state level, UNICEF's DRR Section seeks the support of a qualified senior consultant.
a). Drought risk reduction and adaptation to climate change (80% of time)
Concerned by recurrent drought spells in two third of Indian States, UNICEF in 2016 carried out a drought impact assessment across nine states, covering almost 1800 households in 28 districts, 65 blocks and 183 villages,. It has been observed that affected rural communities suffered from scarcity of drinking water, non-availability of fodder for cattle, migration along with families, and increased indebtedness. Each of these situations had a negative impact on education, nutrition, health, sanitation and the care and protection of children. The study highlighted how successive crop failures and changes in cropping patterns resulted in a shrinking food basket of nearly 80% households in all the districts covered under the study. In more than 95% the 125 drought-affected villages visited, water availability was severely compromised affecting the functioning of schools, Public Health Centres, Anganwadi Centres and NRCs due to scarcity of water for consumption and hygiene. The study also showed very high prevalence of Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM), stunting in children age 6-59 months, wasting among non-pregnant mothers etc. in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Telangana. School attendance was reduced as children were required to spend time supporting families, either in fetching water, herding cattle or tending to younger siblings and elderly in the absence of their parents. An increase in the trend of child labour and child trafficking was reported from Maharashtra, Orissa and Telangana. Over and above, evidence was gathered on the huge inequities in access to water, which are true reflections of wider equity issues that rural and poor people face on a day to day basis. These emerging vulnerabilities and water stress resultants are further influenced by climate variability under the influence of global warming.
Government of India, triggered by the Supreme Court intervention, fast tracked the revision of the National Drought Management Manual in 2016, which further substantiated provisions of the 2016 National Disaster Management Plan to address extreme climate events through Disaster and Disaster Risk Management.
Based on the findings on the multi-dimensional impact of drought on children, women and social service delivery systems, as well as cognizant of the challenges to implement provisions of national and state frameworks and manuals, while drought risk continues to be prevalent in almost 60% of India's territory, there is a continued need to accompany government efforts to mitigate drought and other extreme weather event related risks and disasters.
Through this assignment, UNICEF ICO's DRR Section seeks to provide support to advocacy, awareness-raising and concrete technical facilitation to mitigate drought impact on children and women. The initial geographical focus will be on most affected States, including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, which have declared drought in 2017 and experience continuing stress of climate change in agricultural production, livelihood and well-being of families.
The consultant is also expected to accompany and support central and state efforts to revisit present policies on drought management, mitigation (incl. risk transfer mechanisms) and recovery and facilitate implementation at various levels to be more responsive to the needs of women and children. To this end, the consultant will support in mainstreaming DRR in state, district and/or community level plans.
She/he is expected to provide overall support to promote and ease integration of DRR incl. climate change adaptation into development programming and policies at central and state levels, focusing particularly on drought and extreme weather events. For this, the consultant is expected to assist UNICEF state offices and government counterparts to integrate Disaster Risk Reduction in the planning processes at state and department level, enact relevant policies and programmes to mitigate and minimize the adverse impact of drought, climate change and extreme weather events focusing specifically on children and women and social services benefiting them.
Concretely, the consultant is expected to co-lead with national partners the organization of a national drought consultation planned in May 2017. He/she will as well support DRR and climate change adaptation mainstreaming activities in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, as well as at district level in Osmanabad, Maharashtra.
The consultant will monitor the emerging drought situation across India, in particular in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, extend technical support to the respective state offices in developing appropriate response strategies, coordinate with the Tamil Nadu Inter-Agency Group to develop a methodology and a tool for a rapid drought assessment, as well as map programmes/ actions initiated or ongoing in support of the implementation of the State Action Plan for Climate Change (SAPCC) in the state of Kerala.
He/she may support drought and extreme climate related events and activities in other UNICEF programmes States.
Overall the DRR consultant will contribute with technical support to the evolving programmatic interventions of mainstreaming DRR in various states. He/she will help to identify gaps in the current state of disaster preparedness and mitigation and identify opportunities for strengthening government capacity for DRR at various levels. In support to UNICEF programme priority areas he/ she will contribute to their provision of up-stream level technical support to National Disaster Management Plan, National Drought Management Plan, similar plans at the state levels and city specific plans.
The consultant will support drought preparedness and mitigation, forging partnerships for resilience building, liaise with NIDM, NDMA and various departments of the government at the central and state government level, organize consultations at national and regional level for shared learning and replication of good practices, support in preparing or revisiting the state drought manuals and related SOPs and contribute to the overall programme priorities of UNICEF.
b). Engaging the private sector for disaster risk reduction (20% of time)
Various studies have revealed the importance of private sector engagement for disaster risk reduction (see for example the 2013 UNISDR Global Assessment Report).
Government of India recognizes the corporate sector as one of the key stakeholders and envisages its involvement in a broad spectrum of activities related to disaster (risk) management. The private sector has played an important role in recovery and rehabilitation processes in recent disasters in India and there is a growing recognition and consideration of the benefits to invest and support overall societal efforts for prevention, preparedness and mitigation of risks rather than to be involved in disaster response alone. To explore and further increase this potential opportunity for enhanced private sector engagement, and particularly focus on vulnerable but also high potential groups in particular children and youth, it is important to contribute to a much closer partnership between government, business and other civil society actors to ensure development and contribution to appropriate risk reduction strategies, an adequate measures for implementation of protection and security measures, and insurance regime that takes proper account of the needs of the community and business sector alike. Private sector entities also have a huge and untapped potential to help provide skilled services in the form of technical manpower or in kind donations of goods or services for preparedness, mitigation and emergency response phase of disaster management. There is an increasing need for innovative technologies and instruments to support disaster management. These range from early warning systems to technological developments such as risk modelling and development of new materials for resilient construction. Investing in disaster risk reduction saves lives and minimizes economic losses. These investments can further bring in economic opportunities, a double gain for business.
To further develop UNICEF DRR programme's partnership with the private sector and its engagement for DRR, the consultant will lead various initiatives and support efforts engaging the private sector to make vulnerable communities, in particular children, more resilient against the current and anticipated future adverse effect of natural and man-made hazards. He/she will be instrumental in strengthening of partnerships between governments, business and civil society, and UNICEF as it pertains to its mandate to support children and women. Under this assignment the consultant will contribute to advocacy, awareness-raising, capacity development, knowledge management, and overall coordination with Government, private sector and community based organisations.
3. MAJOR TASKS/DELIVERABLES:
4. KEY DELIVERABLES(as per attached Annex 1)
Annex. 1 Key Deliverables .docx
5. SUPERVISOR:
Chief of DRR Section, UNICEF India Country Office
6. PAYMENT TERMS
7. QUALIFICATION, SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
Please submit your online application by 1800 Hours IST 01st May 2017
HOW TO APPLY:Your online application should contain threeseparate attachments:
Financial bid.docx
Without the financial proposal template your application will be Incomplete
The selection will be on the basis of technical evaluation & financial offer in the ratio of 80:20. The criteria for technical evaluation will be as follows:
a) Educational Qualification (12 min/15 max Score)
b) Relevant experience (20 min/25 max Score)
c) Experience with preference of working with Bilateral/ UN agencies(16 min/20 max Score)
Candidates will be shortlisted for Interview on the basis of the review of criteria (a, b and c) as listed above. Candidates who score a cumulative score of 48 marks and above in the criteria would be shortlisted for the interview
a) Interview with candidates that clear the initial shortlisting (16 min/ 20 max Score)
Total technical score – 80. Minimum overall qualifying score is 64. Only those candidates who score the minimum against each criteria and meet the overall minimum qualifying marks of 64 will be considered technically responsive and the financials will be opened.
For any clarifications, please contact:
UNICEF
Supply & Procurement Section
73, Lodi Estate, New Delhi 110003
Telephone # +91-11-24606216/262(Direct)
Fax # +91-11-24391410; Email: indconsultants@unicef.org
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.
How to apply:
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization. To apply, click on the following link http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/?job=504262