Job Purpose
Purpose of Project and Background
Launched at the UN Climate Action Summit (UNCAS) in September 2019, the Risk-informed Early Action Partnership (REAP) brings together an unprecedented range of stakeholders across the climate, humanitarian and development communities with the aim of making 1 billion people safer from disaster by 2025.
Convening partners of REAP worked together to set four ambitious targets which will drive a systemic shift towards acting earlier to reduce the impacts of disasters. The targets highlight the importance of national planning, financing and delivery mechanisms to support early action, as well as investment and coverage in warning systems with a focus on them reaching the most vulnerable, turning the ‘last mile’ into the ‘first mile’.
REAP will not create a new funding mechanism or directly implement ground level projects. Nor will it seek to monitor or manage existing country projects. REAP creates a space in which partners and aligned organizations will use the ambitious targets to mobilise commitments and inspire action at scale.
REAP will seek to bring coherence, alignment, and complementarity of existing initiatives while learning together what new initiatives are needed to make 1 Billion People Safer. The Partnership will support engagement, profile-raising and, crucially, the successful ground-level implementation on this vital agenda, while seeking to match intention with resources.
Job Duties and Responsibilities
A Glossary of Terms will be a critical tool in enabling communities to engage with each other effectively and jointly advocating for risk-informed early action at scale. In order to meet the needs of the full spectrum of stakeholders involved in this agenda, the glossary will be co-developed with a group of actors that span the main categories of REAP partners
- Humanitarian
- Development
- Climate
- Risk Finance
- Early Warning/Risk Analysis providers.
With this in mind, it is proposed that a small group of actors representing each of the five categories listed above, work together with coordination and strategic support from a REAP consultant, to develop a list of key terms and concepts that necessitate definition, clarification and/or explanation for actors working across sectors to scale up early action. Collaborating partners would be asked to commit to supporting REAP and the lead writer to identify key terms to be considered for the glossary. This will be complemented by a participatory process which will solicit input and engagement with other key stakeholders in the literature review and engagement aspects of the work, which is detailed in the Outputs and Outcomes section below as well as briefing documents and sessions to be provided to the Consultant during the inception period.
The principal outcomes of this piece of work are to:
1. Create coherence and agreement on key terms and concepts employed within the sphere of risk-informed early action;
2. Identify where divergence/disparity exists and cannot be entirely resolved through agreement on single definition, note this within the Glossary, providing an overview of the varied definitions and reasoning for them;
3. Provide a useful resource that serves the diverse communities involved;
4. Through the process of the Glossary development, identify tensions, bottlenecks and barriers around terminology that should inform REAP’s partner engagement and next steps on the Glossary dissemination;
5. Contribute towards the “toolbox” of comms and advocacy assets for risk informed early action.
The consultant or consultancy company will be expected to provide the following deliverables:
- Identification of key terms/concepts to be defined (by the Partnership and other relevant stakeholders)
- Engagement of and orientation with the co-lead organisations for each of the glossary categories
- Review of existing documents and efforts, initial bank of resources to be provided by the REAP Secretariat and Partners
- Survey questionnaire for organisations to copy paste their own definitions in
- Engagement/interviews with key actors in
- Partnership review process of Draft 1.0 of the Glossary
- Refinement and review process to develop the Final Draft
- Creation of a dissemination and promotion plan for the final product, possibly involving identifying high level early adopters/champions amongst the membership
The consultancy will be an entirely desk-based piece of work (remote) with no field travel or in person consultations planned (only virtual meetings). While the details of the process for the delivery of this work will be elaborated in a co-design process with the REAP Secretariat and co-lead agencies, at a minimum the following methodological activities are expected to be undertaken:
• Coordinate with each of assigned collaborating/co-lead agencies to identify:
o Existing resources to be drawn on Key terms/concepts to be defined/explained
o Stakeholders to engage in the development, defining and review process
• Lead outreach to partners for the glossary development process
• Conduct analysis of existing glossaries, frameworks etc
• Identify points of contention on key concepts/definitions, flagging to REAP Sec team and Collaborating Agencies for resolution/next steps
• Conduct consultation process on first draft with REAP partners
• Provide recommendations on process for future review and periodic updates of Glossary
• Delivery of an inception report
• Delivery of a first draft glossary
• Facilitation of a feedback process for the first draft
• Integration of feedback and production of second draft
• Liaising with the REAP Secretariat and Glossary co-leads on development of the final version
• Recommendations on/support to development of a dissemination plan for the final version
Education
A graduate degree in relevant area, preferably related to fields of humanitarian studies, gender and development, human rights, development studies, education or social science.
Experience
Required:
• At least 5 years of working within at least one of the following areas of Early Action, DRR, Risk Finance, Early Warning
• Operational knowledge of international climate, development and/or humanitarian iniatives and coordination mechanisms
• Substantial demonstrable experience in facilitation and/or co-development processes, ideally in cross-sector and/or cross organizational contexts
• Able to provide demonstrable evidence of producing relevant high quality written publications
• Excellent communication skills with a focus on multicultural communication, consensus building and sensemaking
Preferred:
• International organization experience (NGO, UN, etc.) is an advantage
Knowledge, Skills and Language
Must be fluent in English
Comments
In your motivation letter please include:
• Statement of availability
• Daily Fee rate
Interested? Learn more and apply here
Deadline: December 2, 2021