Early Warning Assistant

The UNDRR Regional Office for Arab States (ROAS) was established in 2007 to support Arab States and communities build their resilience to disasters. ROAS partners for disaster risk reduction (DRR) with key regional intergovernmental organizations including the League of Arab States and its technical regional organizations.

ROAS promotes linkages and coordination at regional level with civil society networks, expert technical groups, the media and UN and international organizations to build awareness and knowledge of contextual risks and to collaborate around risk reduction activities.

UNDRR’s regional efforts help to improve the relevance and understanding of DRR in the region and promote the integration of risk reduction in regional and national policies and plans such as on climate change adaptation, sustainable development, urban development and city planning.

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), UNDRR has over 150 staff located in its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and in regional offices. Specifically, UNDRR guides, monitors, analyses and reports on progress in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, supports regional and national implementation of the Framework and catalyses action and increases global awareness to reduce disaster risk working with U.N. Member States and a broad range of partners and stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, parliamentarians and the science and technology community.

This UNV assignment is part of UNDRR Early warning CREWS Djibouti project. On June 2024, the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems Initiative (CREWS) approved a national project for strengthening the capacity of national hydrometeorological and disaster management agencies in Djibouti – CREWS Djibouti. The project is being implemented jointly by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Agency for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and is expected to be completed by 2028.

The main objective of the project is to strengthen the capacity of national Djiboutian authorities to produce, deliver and disseminate Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems, preparedness, early action and response to hazardous hydrometeorological events impacting the country. It is structured in six main outcomes:
1. ANM's and CERD's service delivery improved, including the development of long-term service delivery strategies and development plans.
2. Risk Information to guide early warning systems and climate and weather services developed and accessible.
3. Information and communication technology strengthened.
4. Preparedness and response plans with operational procedures that outlines early warning dissemination processed strengthened and accessible.
5. Knowledge products and awareness programmes on early warnings developed;
6. Gender-sensitive training, capacity building programmes provided.

To support the Risk knowledge Programme Management officer in coordination of Early warning for all initiative; implementation in the Arab countries.

Under the supervision of Risk Knowledge Programme Management officer, the UNV will support the technical coordination of Early warning for all implementation in the Arab countries. Specific tasks are as follows:

1. Conduct a thorough review of the existing early warning systems and their messages to pinpoint any deficiencies.
2. Support the donor proposals, ensuring alignment with the overarching goals of the CREWS projects.
3. Develop a logical framework (log frame) that clearly articulates the project's activities, outputs, outcomes, and goals, along with corresponding indicators for measuring success.
4. Incorporate a comprehensive risk assessment within the log frame to identify potential challenges and devise mitigation strategies.
5. Design activities for the implementation of early warning systems in Arab countries, taking into consideration the unique geopolitical and environmental contexts.
6. Ensure that the proposals include provisions for regular monitoring and evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the early warning systems and other project components.
7. Include a detailed budget breakdown within the proposals, covering all aspects of the proposal development, logframe creation, and early warning system implementation.
8. Integrate considerations of gender and disability into early warning communications to ensure that the early warning systems are inclusive and sensitive to the needs of all demographics.
9. Support the implementation of CREWS and Early warning roll out in Arab countries under the supervision of the Risk Knowledge officer.
10. Perform other tasks as required by the Risk Knowledge Programme Management Officer.