Mozambique: Country Specialist / Local Focal Point

BACKGROUND

Fast growing cities and urban areas of the world are engines of growth and wealth accumulation. This growth can have positive social, cultural and educational impacts. On the other hand, evidence demonstrates that fast economic growth, combined with fast population expansion in urban areas, also increases disaster vulnerability and exposure. The level of urbanization is far higher in the developed world; however, the annual ‘urbanization rate’ is much faster in the developing world. The primary urban agglomerations with the highest concentrations of people and economic activity mostly overlap with the areas of extreme or high risk related to disasters such as coastal areas, along rivers and in flood plains.

The City Resilience Profiling Programme (CRPP) is an initiative of UN-Habitat aiming at improving understanding of, and capacity to, address disaster risk at the local level in crisis-prone cities. UN-Habitat/CRPP will focus on supporting local capacities from crisis-prone cities, and humanitarian partners, in measuring their resilience status and have an action plan in order to build resilience.

The action builds on the achievements of the Hyogo Framework for Action – Building the Resilience of Nations 2005-2015, and paves the way toward the implementation of the Sendai Framework for DRR 2015-2030 at the local level.

The project will work with local government institutions, to plan, coordinate, implement and support the various outlined activities. The primary and most direct beneficiaries will be local stakeholders, city authorities and civil society. Women, children and other at risk groups, as local level stakeholders, often disproportionately affected by crises situations, will be engaged and receive additional attention.

MAIN OBJECTIVES

The overall objective of this project is to build more sustainable and resilient cities, by strengthening the capacity of key public, private and civil society stakeholders to measure, plan and act in building resilience to ensure that public and private investments are risk-informed and that early interventions in crisis-prone cities are linked to longer-term development goals. This joint initiative aims at improving local government and stakeholder understanding of, and capacity for, developing and implementing resilience action plans.

The expected results are:

1. Increased commitments to build local-level resilience,

2. Local Resilience and investments measured,

3. Key issues and challenges identified in linking early interventions in crisis-prone cities to long-term sustainable development inputs,

4. Capacity is built in cities and local governments to develop and implement integrated local climate and disaster resilience action plans and

5. Crisis-prone cities have enhanced capacity to develop and implement plans to increase their resiliency.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES for the Country Specialist/Local Focal Point:

Under the direct supervision of the Chief Technical Advisor of the Programme, the candidate will provide substantive professional support to the Programme and will undertake the following tasks:

· Focal point and representative of the Programme in the city.

· Support the implementation of the City Resilience Profiling Tool (CRPT) and the preparation of the Resilience Action Plan based on the CRPT findings.

· Participate in relevant meetings with the local municipality, relevant and pertinent service stakeholders, public and private service providers, Humanitarian Country Team (UN, NGOs, CBOs and other relevant partners), in order to gather relevant information on operations and data for implementing and needs.

· Identify and Involve National and Regional universities and research centres that could play a key role on the development and implementation of the programme.

· Identify potential pertinent initiatives and activities and – in close cooperation with the stakeholder(s) – contributes to the development of the Programme.

· Monitor and influence programme work-plan and progress; evaluate and assess results.

Prioritized areas that need support and Identify gaps, risks and challenges to be addressed

· Actively participate in relevant similar initiatives and sector meetings and contribute to the preparation of meetings and events in the service sectors of intervention in the city

· Report on project progress, problems and proposed solutions; contributes to the production of global reports, information and communication tools in the areas of intervention.

· Contribute to the improvement of working method and tools with own experience as well as cooperating with other colleagues in other cities under same implementation, sharing experiences and promoting best practices.

EDUCATION

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree) in Urban or Regional Planning, Architecture, Engineering, Economics or another field deemed relevant to the subject areas covered by the Programme. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

WORK EXPERIENCE

A minimum of 5 years of experience in

· Working with Government, local authorities, Participation and Good Governance experience

· Environment, climate change

· Gender mainstreaming

· Ability to work with minimal supervision and with good sense of initiative to keep the supervisor regularly informed of progress.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

English, both verbal and written, is required. French and/or Spanish depending on the Language of the Country where the project will be implemented is also required.

To apply, please email UN-Habitat/CRPP at crpp.recruitment@cityresilience.org before Monday, 31 January 2015. Applications received after this deadline will NOT be reviewed.

The application must include the following:

• Curriculum Vitae in English;
• Cover letter in English outlining your motivations, concrete competencies and previous exposure to the subject.

Note that the subject of the email should specify the duty station(s) you are applying to:

• Asuncion (Paraguay)
• Dakar (Senegal)
• Maputo (Mozambique)
• Port Vila (Vanuatu)

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Short-listed candidates will be invited to take part in a skype interview. The consultancy will start in the first quarter of 2016 for an initial period of 6 months that may be extended up to 36 months. The position will be subjected to availability of funds and successful performance of the candidate. Fees will be based on established UN remuneration rates for individual consultants. The rate is determined by functions performed and experience of the consultant. The fees will be paid as per agreement on a monthly basis.

We regret to be unable to further contact or notify unsuccessful applicants for this position.