Consultant: Early Warning Early Action Early Action (AWARE) Expert
International Water Management Institute, Senegal

International Water Management Institute (IWMI) a CGIAR Research Center seeks applications from suitably qualified candidates to undertake a short-term assignment under project titled "Building Systemic Resilience Against Climate Variability and Extremes (ClimBer)".

Overview of the ClimBeR initiative

The CGIAR Research Initiative titled Building Systematic Resilience Against Climate Variability and Extremes (ClimBeR) is applying science and innovation to this climate resilience challenge. Specifically, the ClimBeR initiative has four aims: 1) reduce the risk to food producers’ livelihoods and the value chains on which they rely; 2) ensure policymakers have evidence on which to base holistic and context-specific policies; 3) understand security risks posed by climate change, and identify ways to increase resilience; and 4) build capacity for policies that match local needs with available tools to promote ‘governance for resilience’ (G4R) that operates effectively across multiple levels and scales.

Background

The G4R team supports the ClimBeR initiative to develop an ‘awareness platform’ AWARE to facilitate coordination across ministries such as Agriculture, Disaster Management and Planning Development to trigger action ahead of extreme weather events. In recent years, participatory action is gaining momentum to provide a faster, earlier and more dignified response without having to wait for the hazards to hit the communities. An early warning system drawing on climate, market, health, nutrition and population displacement indicators will identify, for example, if a drought is emerging, and if so, will trigger appropriate early action including the release of finance. An accountability framework will define the roles and responsibilities of key actors to ensure early warnings lead to effective responses.

Through various initiatives, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has been building innovative climate resilience solutions using advanced models and tools and creating partnerships to promote anticipatory action in Africa and Asia. To date, there is no comprehensive platform that integrates information, such as biophysical and socio-environmental, from multiple sources, and ensures institutional coordination that promotes accountability for better partnership development.

Scope of the assignment

The consultant will be responsible for the following:

• Reviewing existing anticipatory disaster mitigation response initiatives and mapping key stakeholders in Senegal and Zambia.
• Identifying current gaps in anticipatory actions across the landscape of institutions.
• Developing an early action framework as part of the AWARE platform across sectors and stakeholders involved.
• Developing a framework for various early finance instruments, e.g., microfinance institutions, natural catastrophe insurance products, that link with early warning triggers in strengthening the AWARE platform.
• Analyze the donor funding landscape for AWARE initiatives.

Deliverables

The expected deliverables for this assignment are given below:

• AWARE ClimBeR report covering the mapping and analysis of existing initiatives, with key recommendations to develop anticipatory action programs.
• AWARE mapping of relevant institutions, cross-sectoral collaboration and preparing landscape of partners for engagement in Senegal and Zambia.
• Identification of early finance instruments that can be integrated into the AWARE framework and platform.
• A technical and advocacy brief.
• Co-assist in conducting a workshop on findings of the assignment to the larger group of stakeholders across the ClimBeR initiative.

Timeframe

The timeframe of this assignment is November - December 2022. The consultancy assignment has to be completed within the 2 months with a total of 20-25 working days..

Duty station

Home-based or as part of the ClimBeR project in Zambia and Senegal.

Your application must include a copy of your curriculum vitae, a cover letter that addresses IWMI’s requirements stated above, and contact information of three professional referees who may be contacted if you are short-listed for the position.

Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Requirements

Qualifications, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities required:

• University degree or equivalent work experience in the field of disaster risk management relevant to humanitarian preparedness and response.
• Extensive knowledge and recent experience in anticipatory action (AA), early warning for early action and early finance (EW/EA/EF), and forecast-based financing (FbF) initiatives, provi

Job Rewards and Benefits