Duties and Responsibilities
BACKGROUND The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. UN-Habitat is the focal point for all urbanization and human settlement matters within the UN system. UN-Habitat works with partners to build inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and communities. UN-Habitat promotes urbanization as a positive transformative force for people and communities, reducing inequality, discrimination, and poverty. The UN-Habitat Andean Countries Hub leads and supports urban development initiatives across the region, promoting participatory governance, inclusive public spaces, resilience, youth engage-ment and sustainable territorial development. The project “Local Solutions for Disaster Risk Reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean”, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by UN-Habitat, aims to strengthen the resilience of cities in the region by empowering local governments and communities to integrate disaster risk reduction (DRR) into urban planning, decision-making processes and local development strategies. The project will work with cities across eight countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, promoting risk-informed planning, the generation and use of data and digital tools, and the development of inclusive and sustainable urban solutions adapted to local contexts. The project is structured around three complementary areas of intervention: (i) strengthening mu-nicipal capacities to incorporate risk information, hazard assessments and vulnerability analysis into planning processes; (ii) supporting the design and implementation of integrated urban resili-ence solutions at neighborhood scale through participatory approaches; and (iii) enhancing gov-ernance, institutional capacities and knowledge exchange among local, national and regional stakeholders. Through a multi-scale, multi-sectoral and inclusive approach, the initiative seeks to generate practical solutions, strengthen local ownership and promote replicable models for resili-ent urban development in the region. Furthermore, Cross-cutting multi-scale and multi-sectoral approaches are incorporated, featuring gender and differential perspectives, prioritizing the most vulnerable populations, and promoting the exchange of knowledge and best practices at local, national, and regional levels. The objective of this consultancy is to strengthen the capacity-building component of the project by supporting the design, implementation and coordination of initiatives aimed at enhancing the knowledge, skills and institutional capacities of local stakeholders to advance urban resilience and disaster risk reduction approaches. The consultant will contribute to the development of method-ologies, training processes, knowledge products and technical support activities that facilitate the effective implementation and sustainability of project results. The consultant will work under the supervision of the Project Coordination Team and the Coordi-nator of the UN-Habitat Andean Countries Hub. RESPONSIBILITIES a.) Information and validation: • Maintain regular communication with the Project Coordination Team and the UN-Hab-itat Andean Countries Hub regarding technical progress, implementation challenges, opportunities and risks across the three project components. • Support the identification of capacity gaps among local governments and relevant stakeholders involved in risk-informed urban planning and neighborhood resilience in-itiatives. • Provide technical inputs and validation support to ensure coherence and alignment be-tween project activities, outputs and expected outcomes. • Keep the Project Coordination Team and the UN-Habitat Andean Countries Hub Coor-dinator informed about territorial developments and implementation progress. • Ensure timely communication regarding implementation progress, risks, opportunities and operational challenges. • Validation of technical outputs and implementation strategies. • Report on risks and stakeholder perceptions that may affect project implementation. • Ensure that technical activities are aligned with UN-Habitat approaches, including inte-grated urban planning, resilience, disaster risk reduction, participatory processes and inclusive development. • The consultant will be responsible for keeping the HUB Coordinator informed and hav-ing to obtain validation of his/her activities in the full project cycle. b.) Development: • Support the design, coordination and implementation of capacity-building strategies aimed at strengthening local capacities on urban resilience, disaster risk reduction and risk-in-formed planning. • Develop and adapt training materials, methodologies, tools and knowledge products for local governments, technical teams and community stakeholders. • Support the translation of risk information, territorial analyses and technical studies into accessible inputs for planning processes and decision-making. • Support the development, review and quality assurance of technical products, methodol-ogies, guidelines and planning instruments generated under the project. • Contribute to territorial diagnostics, vulnerability assessments, urban analyses and identi-fication of opportunities for resilient urban interventions focused on risk management. • Contribute to the development and implementation of capacity-building activities related to the use of risk data, hazard maps, vulnerability assessments and digital tools for urban planning. • Support the integration of risk-informed approaches into municipal planning processes, urban development strategies and local instruments. • Provide technical support for the design and implementation of integrated urban solutions at neighborhood scale, including participatory planning processes and community-based approaches. • Facilitate participatory planning processes and coordinate local institutional engagement. • Support preparation of technical documents and reports. • Provide technical assistance to local counterparts in the application of planning tools, methodologies and approaches promoted by the project. • Support the organization of workshops, training sessions, peer-learning activities and tech-nical exchanges among participating cities. • Support coordination between thematic specialists, technical consultants and project part-ners to ensure integrated implementation across components. • Document project achievements, lessons learned and success stories. c.) Technical and Strategic Support: • Provide technical support on capacity development approaches linked to urban resili-ence, disaster risk reduction, territorial planning and local governance. • Contribute to strengthening institutional capacities of local governments to integrate risk information into urban planning instruments, policies and investment decisions. • Contribute to policy recommendations and planning strategies. • Contribute to the preparation of strategic documents, concept notes, presentations, pol-icy recommendations and technical briefs. • Support the identification of opportunities for knowledge exchange, partnerships and scaling-up of project results across participating countries. • Support coordination with urban planning, GIS, disaster risk reduction and other tech-nical specialists to ensure integrated capacity-building processes • Enhance resource mobilization opportunities. • Contribute to knowledge dissemination and project replication strategies. • Contribute to the identification of good practices, lessons learned and innovative ap-proaches for replication across participating cities. • Support the preparation of technical guidelines, training frameworks, presentations and strategic documents related to capacity development. • Contribute to strengthening collaboration with local governments, academia, regional networks and other strategic partners involved in knowledge exchange. d.) Implementation: • Monitor technical implementation progress across project activities and provide support to ensure achievement of planned outputs and milestones. • Support the preparation and delivery of workshops, training sessions, consultations and technical meetings with project stakeholders. • Support follow-up of implementation schedules, deliverables and coordination require-ments among project teams and partners. • Assist in the coordination of field activities, stakeholder engagement processes and tech-nical missions related to capacity strengthening. • Participate in meetings with partners, committees, and other project governance bodies, and support engagement with key stakeholders in the country.Track participation, feed-back and learning outcomes from capacity-building activities and recommend improve-ments when required. • Ensure compliance with project timelines. • Support the project's technical team in collecting information, engaging with counter-parts, and preparing reports related to the country's project activities. • Support the documentation of progress, challenges and results achieved through capac-ity-development interventions. • Ensure that project implementation follows UN values and principles, including inclusion, participation, gender equality and integrity. e.) Knowledge Management: • Document methodologies, tools, lessons learned and experiences generated through capacity-building activities. • Support the preparation of knowledge products, training materials, technical summaries and communication materials related to project implementation. • Contribute to the systematization and dissemination of experiences from participating cities and stakeholders. • Support monitoring, reporting and consolidation of evidence related to capacity-building results and project outcomes. • Contribute to knowledge exchange activities at regional level, promoting learning among cities and partners. • Document lessons learned, methodologies, innovative practices and implementation experiences from participating cities and countries. • Support the preparation of regional knowledge exchanges and mechanisms for sharing experiences among participating cities f.) Others: • Other activities requested and by mutual agreement with the HUB Coordinator of The Andean Countries of UN-Habitat, within the framework of this consultancy and without prejudice to the achievement of its responsibilities. • The consultant will participate in work and follow-up meetings, both with other consultants, as well as with the Coordinator and team of the Andean Countries HUB of UN-Habitat and with the staff of the projects. • The consultant shall be responsible for ensuring that all activities comply with the principles of United Nations integrity.
Qualifications/special skills
An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Capacity Development, Urban Planning, Urban Studies, Architecture, Geography, Territorial Development, Disaster Risk Reduc-tion, Climate Change Adaptation, Public Policy, Education, Social Sciences, Engineering or related fields is required. A first-level university degree in one of the fields, in combination with two (2) additional years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. A minimum of two (2) years of progressively responsible professional experience in capacity de-velopment, training programmes, projects’ implementation in urban planning, disaster risk reduc-tion, climate resilience, local governance or related fields with focus on capacity building and knowledge management is required. Experience in designing and implementing capacity-building strategies, training programmes, workshops and knowledge-transfer processes for public institutions, local governments or multi-stakeholder groups is required or is desirable. Experience supporting urban resilience, disaster risk reduction, territorial planning or community-based initiatives is desirable. Experience working with local governments, international cooperation projects, UN agencies or development organizations is desirable. Experience in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly in strengthening institutional capaci-ties and supporting participatory planning processes, is desirable. Experience developing training materials, technical documents and knowledge products is an as-set. Strong attention to detail, good organizational and time-management skills, and ability to handle multiple tasks in a dynamic work environment.
