Consultant, Support to the IFRC-DREF Anticipatory Action for Population Movement Working Group

Organizational Context

The focus of the development of Early Action Protocols (EAPs) and simplified Early Action Protocols (sEAPs) to date has been on extreme weather-related events. In June 2022, the Council of Delegates agreed that there are ``increasing opportunities to anticipate and act ahead of hazards and risks, such as epidemics, food insecurity and displacement of affected people…`` and committed the components of the Movement to ``further exploring opportunities to anticipate and act ahead of other hazards and risks, such as epidemics, food insecurity and displacement of affected people…`. On that same year and with this objective in mind, a decision was taken to expand the AA Pillar of the DREF to also include non-weather-related events.

In this context, the IFRC-DREF team is actively working with internal and external partners (German RC, British RC, Australian RC, American RC, Danish RC, RCCC, Start Network, FAO, WFP etc.) to understand how anticipatory action approach could apply to population movement, including displacement outside of the context of extreme weather events. This includes a focus on the data, IM and triggers, the right IFRC tools (e.g. DREF, EAPs etc.) and the most relevant and effective actions a NS may take in a given context.

This work is ongoing, and to date there has been no guidance or criteria developed to support this work. It is recognized for example, that early actions for population movement and displacement may look very different in different contexts, and there is not yet a consensus on this.

The Honduras RC population movement EAP was the first EAP for non-weather-related event to be submitted to the IFRC-DREF. It has just been approved, for one activation until learning from this activation and further trigger analysis is done. Two simplified EAPs have also recently been submitted and more are under development.

To compensate the absence of clear guidelines and criteria, the IFRC-DREF has decided to establish a specific working group to support the review and validation work of the Validation Committee.

The overall objective of this group is to contribute to enabling NSs to anticipate population movement and mitigate the associated risks to those affected. More specifically this group will aim to define clearly the scope and modalities of when and how the Anticipatory pillar of the DREF can support NSs in implementing Anticipatory Actions for population movement.

Job Purpose

To achieve the objectives, the group members will work on the following tasks:

1. Review the EAPs and sEAPs submitted to the IFRC-DREF AA pillar, agree on comments/recommendations for adjustments to be shared with the NSs and on approval decision.
2. Gather existing literature on the topic and synthesize the existing knowledge and practices to support the review work (point 1)
3. Collect learning from approved EAPs and their activations, and from the decision making and validation process of each Population Movement EAPs submitted to the DREF (during the lifespan of this working group). A learning plan will be developed.
4. List and define the different types of population movement scenarios to be treated separately in the following tasks.
5. Using the outcomes of the work done under points 2, 3 and 4, develop temporary general recommendations for NS to describe the scope of what can be supported by the IFRC-DREF AA pillar in terms of early actions and triggers for population movements until the WG has adjusted the EAP criteria and guidelines. Those recommendations will include a description of what exactly we can anticipate – population movement or its humanitarian consequences, for each category according to the different types of scenarios.
6. Adjust the current criteria to fit AA for population movement (different per type of EAP, full and simplified, potentially different per movement scenarios and highlighting specific ethical considerations)
7. Propose specific additions/considerations to the existing guidelines.

The two co-leads of this group will be IFRC and Australian RC.

The objective of this consultancy is to support the two lead agencies in ensuring that this working group achieve tasks 2 to 5 (see below) by the end of 2024.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Project objectives

Task 1 will be the entire responsibility of the IFRC-DREF team.

Task 3 will be led by American RC, with support from the consultant.

The consultant will be expected to support the tasks as follows:

Consultancy outputs

The consultant will be requested to produce the following deliverables:

• Minutes of the monthly group calls
• A report with the key findings on the desk review, with a power point presentation summarizing the outcome (to be updated whenever new literature is produced)
• A repository of learnings from developed EAPs, from activations (to be updated when new EAPs are being reviewed and/or activated)
• Definition of the different types of population movement scenarios
• Temporary general recommendations for NS to describe the scope of what can be supported by the IFRC-DREF AA pillar

Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)

• A final report summarizing the work achieved during this consultancy

Method of delivery and reasons for selecting that method

The consultant will work closely with the two group co-leads to ensure that the group produce its expected objectives.

It is expected that the consultant will:

• Have frequent calls/emails exchange with the two co-leads of this working group.
• Take part of the monthly group calls, lead the discussions, or make any presentation whenever needed, take notes of the discussion and the agreed action points.
• Support the implementation of the action points between two meetings which will require developing and preparing documents, drafting texts or analysis to be reviewed by the group members.
• Support presenting the achievements of the group in relevant forum/events.
• Attend external meetings on AA for population movement when relevant and required.

Most of the work will be done remotely. A few travels might be required to join specific events.

Time Allocation, for budget purposes

The work of this group has started in January 2023. The group will cease to exist once the criteria and EAP guidelines will have been adjusted to fit population movement hazard. It is estimated that reaching this objective might take about 2 years, depending on the speed of the advancement of the technical knowledge on AA for population movement.

The contract is entered between the IFRC and the consultant for an initial period of 10 months. The approximate start date is 1^st May 2024. The estimated level of effort is 4 working days a month (the distribution of the days along months can vary from one month to another depending on possible events or milestone that could require extra effort).

The consultancy might be extended to support the work of the group on tasks 6 & 7 (with additional deliverables).

Management of consultancy

The consultant will report to the IFRC-DREF Global Team with the Senior Officer, Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) Anticipatory Action as the focal person.

Notes

• The consultant will be contracted by the IFRC and the standard contractual terms will apply.

• Agreed travel expenses will be reimbursed at cost in accordance with in the IFRC’s relevant regulations.

Education

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in development work or disaster management, or equivalent working experience.

Experience

Required

• Demonstrated experience in leading qualitative research methods and analysis in humanitarian/disaster relief programs.
• Demonstrated experience conducting interviews/collecting data with diverse stakeholder groups.
• Experience conducting remote/virtual meetings using Microsoft Teams, Zoom and/or Google Meet.

Preferred

• Experience evaluating/researching disaster-related anticipatory action or early action/early warning interventions.

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

Required

• Fluency (written and spoken) in English.
• Demonstrated knowledge on disaster risk management and anticipatory action.
• Great workshop facilitation skills (remote or in person), especially to support the production of new ideas and decisions by a diverse group of experts.
• Strong ability to synthesize learnings in a clear and participatory way.
• Excellent written communication skills with ability to deliver a cohesive and well-structured report and visual presentation.
• Great verbal communication skills to present the outcomes or the preliminary findings to a variety of stakeholders.

Preferred

• Fluency (written and spoken) in Spanish.

Competencies, Values and Comments

Application Instructions

• Please submit your application in English only.
• Please include in your motivation letter your availability and your current Daily Fee Rate in CHF.

IFRC values equal opportunity, diversity and inclusivity. We encourage applications from all suitably qualified candidates, irrespective of sex, gender, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, nationality, class, political opinions, ethnic or social origin, disability, religion, or belief.