Project Technical Coordinator (Regional) At Asian Disaster Preparedness Center

A. About Asian Disaster Preparedness Center

ADPC is an autonomous international organization with a vision to reduce disaster and climate risk impacts on communities and countries in Asia and the Pacific by working with governments, development partners, international organizations, NGOs, civil society, private sector, media, and other key stakeholders.

Established in 1986 as a technical capacity-building center, ADPC has grown and diversified its expertise across social and physical sciences to support sustainable solutions for risk reduction across a broad range of specialist areas. With over 100 staff from 19 different nationalities and a wide range of professional expertise from atmospheric scientists to social scientists with experiences from all levels of engagement typically required for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Resilience (CR) in an effective manner. ADPC is a competent regional resource center and has seven thematic departments: ADPC Academy, Risk Governance, Climate Resilience, Urban Resilience, Health Risk Management, Preparedness for Response and Recovery, and Geospatial Information. These are supported by Finance, Human Resources and Administration, and Strategic Planning departments. In addition to the departments, ADPC works on three cross-cutting themes: Gender and Diversity, Poverty and Livelihoods, and Regional and Transboundary Cooperation through permanent working committees.

ADPC Strategy 2020 guides the organization in providing comprehensive risk reduction support to countries and communities in Asia and the Pacific. ADPC recognizes the importance of examining the linkages between disaster risk management, poverty reduction, gender equality, sustainability, rights-based approaches, climate change, and regional cooperation.

For details, please refer to ADPC website at http://www.adpc.net/

B. Background

Disasters take a huge toll on the development agenda of SAR countries. Between 2000 and 2017, disasters in South Asia incurred estimated damages of US$ 149.27 billion. Public expenditure is under stress by the repeated need to reallocate capital budgets away from long-term development planning and towards reconstruction activities in post-disaster environments. For example, since 2005, Pakistan has suffered losses on the order of US$ 16 billion due to natural disasters. In Bangladesh, 2007 Cyclone Sidr resulted in damages and losses of US$1.7 billion, or 2.6 percent of GDP.

To increase resilience and achieve climate commitments, there is a need for a transformational shift toward policies and institutions that enable climate-resilient investments. Investing in more resilient infrastructure is both profitable and urgent as disruptions are extremely costly for governments, households, and the private sector, and large ongoing investments in infrastructure assets will have long-lasting repercussions as poor maintenance and natural disasters result in a vulnerable stock.

C. About CARE for South Asia

ADPC is implementing a five-year project titled “Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CARE) Project for South Asia” with financial support from the World Bank Group. The project aims to create an enabling environment for climate resilience policies and investments across South Asia. This objective will be achieved through enhanced regional cooperation and knowledge exchange for climate resilience and adaptation and mainstreaming of resilience and adaptation in national policies, plans, and investments.

Until Q3 2023, a considerable amount of effort has been taken through the provision of advisory services for policy and investment interventions, promotion of Climate Resilient Design and Standards for the South Asia Region, and Implementation Support to Climate-Risk Management Solutions for Participating Countries in the focus sectors of Climate-Smart Agriculture, Integrated Water Resources Management, Resilient Transport Infrastructure, and Climate Policy, planning and finance sectors in the three project countries of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan. This initiative was successful because of close engagement and collaboration with over 35 government stakeholders across the three project countries.

In this setting, a highly qualified individual is required to support the Project Director in the overall technical coordination of the project. Thus, the objectives of this position are to:

• Support the Project Director in providing technical inputs on climate and disaster resilience to achieve the desired impacts of CARE;
• Assist the Project Director in overseeing technical operations at regional and country level; and
• Support maintaining collaborations with CARE stakeholders and Sector Focal Points (SFPs) in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan.

D. Statement of Intent

The Project Technical Coordinator will assist the Project Director in providing technical support and coordination on enhancing resilience across sectors under the CARE project.

Note:

It is not the intent of this Terms of Reference to cover every aspect of the position requirements, rather to highlight the most important areas of personal and joint responsibilities.

E. Duties and Responsibilities

• Support the Project Director in technical coordination between the sectoral leads in the CARE project at the regional level for effective implementation of the project activities as elaborated in the annual work plan;
• Support in reviewing the design and provide inputs to establishing a mechanism to support technical collaboration between national-level centers of excellence and universities with line ministries in the three project countries of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan;
• Support in reviewing all technical documents produced within the project like concept notes, technical briefs, project related reports, outputs among others and take a lead in the quality assurance of all technical documents;
• Support in reviewing outline of training curricula for the three project countries and provide inputs to capacity development content from the perspective of mainstreaming adaptation;
• Support in facilitating policy dialogue and consultation events at the regional level involving the project countries and other countries in the region;
• Keep track of the Gantt Chart and follow up with technical specialists on critical actions;
• Support in organizing a series of regional training to increase understanding of climate-resilience adaptive policy-making design and solutions in priority sectors;
• Support Project Director in being the focal person for the Third-Party Quality Assurance Firm;
• Assist the Project Director in producing the content of reports and handouts and sharing them with stakeholders and partners.
• Arrange monthly briefings for the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) on the implementation progress of sectoral and cross-cutting activities at regional and national levels;
• Coordinate the technical aspects of activities among sectors in the project countries of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan to ensure that the project objectives are met and to innovate and bring synergies among the different project activities;
• Coordinate with ADPC Academy and technical departments for planning and implementing training courses and orientations as well as other regional and national capacity development activities;

F. Qualifications

• An advanced degree in International Development or Disaster Management or Climate Sciences or relevant fields
• At least 10 years of professional experience in the area of Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation policies and plans in South Asia
• Minimum of 7 years of experience in technical coordination of multi-sectoral projects in South Asia
• Ability to work effectively with the highest government officials, international development partners and communities
• Well versed in using tools of project management and commands considerable knowledge of rules and regulations of various donors
• Significant experience in capacity building of the disaster management authorities at different tiers
• Experience in designing and organizing regional events and workshops on topics related to CR and DRR in Asia

G. Reporting Relationships

The Project Technical Coordinator will report directly to the Project Director (PD) and will work in close coordination with the PIU of the CARE Project. The position would also coordinate with the other CARE project specialists at the regional and national levels to carry out different activities under the project.

H. Contract Duration

The contract duration will be 12 months. The consultant’s performance will be reviewed on a quarterly basis.

I. Selection Method

The consultant will be selected in accordance with ADPC’s recruitment process and in compliance with the World Bank Procurement Regulations.