Result of Service

At the end of the consultancy, Colombia and Guatemala will have strengthened methodologies and information for the identification, estimation and standardized recording of wildfire impacts and losses affecting biodiversity and ecosystem services, building on existing national methodologies and risk information. The consultancy will result in a standardized proposal for the cataloguing and classification of wildfire events; a methodology for recording non-economic losses associated with biodiversity and ecosystem services; and a consolidated historical database of wildfire events, impacts, damages and losses for Colombia in El Tuparro National Natural Park and Isla Salamanca National Natural Park, and for Guatemala in two protected areas to be jointly identified by CONRED and UNDRR, compatible with DELTA Resilience. It will also provide a comparative analysis of existing methodologies in Colombia and Guatemala for the economic estimation of damages to natural capital and losses of ecosystem services, identifying data requirements, strengths, limitations and opportunities for harmonization. In Guatemala, the work will build on and complement the information available through CONRED’s Emergency or Disaster Information Management System (SISMICEDE), identifying opportunities for harmonization and interoperability with DELTA Resilience.

Work Location

Home-based

Expected duration

8 months

Duties and Responsibilities

Created in December 1999, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) is the designated focal point in the United Nations system for the coordination of efforts to reduce disasters and to ensure synergies among the disaster reduction activities of the United Nations and regional organizations and activities in both developed and less developed countries. Led by the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction (SRSG/ASG), UNDRR has over 150 staff located in its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and in regional offices. UNDRR guides, monitors, analyses, and reports on progress in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. It supports regional and national implementation of the Framework and catalyzes action and increases global awareness to reduce disaster risk working with UN Member States and a broad range of partners and stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, parliamentarians and the science and technology community. In the framework of the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, and particularly its Priority 1: Understanding disaster risk, UNDRR supports countries in strengthening the availability and use of disaster impact and loss data and risk information to inform disaster risk reduction, preparedness, planning and investment. This includes strengthening the recording of hazardous events and their impacts, damages and losses through DELTA Resilience, as well as promoting the use of prospective risk assessments to better understand potential future losses. With the support of Global Affairs Canada, UNDRR is implementing the regional project “Strengthening resilience through inclusive wildfire risk management”, which aims to strengthen wildfire disaster risk reduction strategies and integrated fire management in Latin America and the Caribbean. Against this background, the consultancy aims to strengthen national capacities and mechanisms in Colombia and Guatemala for the systematic recording, monitoring and analysis of wildfires as hazardous events and their impacts, damages and losses through DELTA Resilience. The assignment will support the identification, consolidation and harmonization of existing information sources and institutional information flows across different hazards and sectors and identify methodological and institutional opportunities to strengthen national disaster impact and loss information. The consultant will be home-based and will be under the supervision of UNDRR's Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean and in close coordination with the and the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) and the Coordinadora Nacional para la Reducción de Desastres (CONRED) besides other relevant national, sectoral and subnational institutions. The consultant will systematically collect, validate and consolidate information on hazardous events and their impacts with emphasis on wildfires in selected areas of the two countries. Information will be recorded following UNDRR methodological guidance and the DELTA Resilience data structure, including hazard classification according to the Hazard Information Profiles (HIPs), geographical and temporal coverage, impacts on people and affected sectors, damages, losses and disruptions, response measures and anticipatory actions, information sources and other relevant metadata. Particular attention will be given to the availability, quality and use of sex-, age- and disability-disaggregated data, where available, and to identifying differentiated impacts across population groups. The consultant will also document information gaps and methodological challenges related to impact attribution and quantification, as well as triggering mechanisms and cascading effects.

Qualifications/special skills

Advanced university degree in environmental sciences, ecology, biology, forestry, geography, engineering, economics, disaster risk management, ecosystem management, risk assessment or another related field is required. A first-level university degree in combination with at least two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. A minimum of five (5) years of experience in the assessment, collection and/or analysis of disaster impacts, damages and losses or environmental impacts is required. Experience in the assessment of impacts and losses affecting biodiversity, ecosystem services or natural capital is required. Experience in database management and the collection, systematization and analysis of information from multiple sources is required. Experience in the application or analysis of methodologies for the economic and non-economic assessment of environmental damages and losses, as well as in the interpretation and use of disaster risk assessments, including probabilistic risk information, is desirable. Experience in wildfire risk is desirable. Experience working with government institutions responsible for disaster risk reduction, environmental management, biodiversity or protected areas is desirable. Experience with national disaster impact and loss information systems is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the two working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. Fluency in Spanish is required. Knowledge of English or French is desired.

Additional Information

Due to the high volume of applications received, only successful candidates will be contacted. *FEMALE CANDIDATES ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY*. UNDRR values diversity among its staff. We welcome applications from qualified women, men, and people with disabilities.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.

Consultant to develop loss and damage databases with emphasis on wildfires in Guatemala and Colombia