Disaster Risk Reduction Specialist
Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM)
Based at the Catholic Development Commission National Office, Lilongwe, Malawi
Two-year placement (with the possibility of renewal)

The Progressio Development Worker (DW) will work as a Disaster Risk Reduction Specialist, providing technical support to build and strengthen the capacity of staff of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation and mitigation interventions in order to enhance the livelihood of the most vulnerable communities in Malawi.

S/he will be expected to enhance ECM’s capacity to influence and successfully advocate for effective Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) policy and good practice at both a national and a local level. S/he will also take a leading role in the initial planning, scaling up and monitoring of DRR training and project implementation as well as supporting the monitoring, documentation and management of the climate change pilot project and roll-out. The DW will also provide technical support to implement a monitoring and evaluation system established in 2008, in addition to the development of a national database for the programme.

BACKGROUND TO PROGRESSIO

Progressio, founded in 1940, is an independent charity, with its historical roots amongst committed Christians. It works with people of any religious belief or none to overcome poverty and injustice internationally. Progressio is committed to the pursuit of development based on democratic political and economic participation, social justice and gender equality. Progressio has a membership of 1,500 worldwide and a total staff of 70, including 36 London-based staff, 11 Country Representatives and other local office staff.

Progressio works for justice and development through a combination of two methods. Firstly, we provide direct support to partners overseas by sending experienced professionals (Development Workers – DWs) to carry out a specific role and share their knowledge and skills, whilst building the capacity of individuals and partner organisations in the process. Secondly, in partnership with our sharing of knowledge and skills, Progressio advocates for justice and development by seeking changes in policy at the local and international level. Advocacy for us means enabling the voices of the poor to be heard in the corridors of power – and this is undertaken by Progressio at the local, regional and international level.

Progressio currently works in 11 countries. In Latin America and the Caribbean, Progressio works in the Dominican Republic/Haiti, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru. In Africa, the Middle East and Asia, Progressio works in East Timor, Malawi, Somaliland, Yemen and Zimbabwe. Currently Progressio has over 80 DWs working alongside a range of partner organisations.

PROGRESSIO IN MALAWI

Progressio opened a country office in Malawi in July 2007 and has established a skill-share and advocacy programme focusing on the three thematic areas of the organisation: effective governance and participation, HIV and AIDS, and ensuring a sustainable environment. A country strategy for Malawi has been developed, and the programme currently has four DWs (a fifth is due to arrive in June 2009).

Progressio’s office is located in Lilongwe and is managed by local staff, including a Country Representative and other programme support staff.

BACKGROUND

The Malawi economy is predominantly agro-based. Agriculture contributes over 35 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provides employment to over 80 per cent of the population. More than 90 per cent of the population (of approximately 12 million) are smallholder farmers who live in rural areas, surviving on less than US$1 a day. Agricultural production makes up 90 per cent of Malawi’s foreign revenue. The majority of farmers, being smallholders, depend on the engagement of subsistence rain-fed agriculture. A small surplus from such production makes up 10 per cent of agricultural export revenue while the large farmers/estates sector produce 90 per cent.

In recent years, Malawi has witnessed increased frequency of different types of natural disasters, in the form of intense rainfall, floods, prolonged droughts, strong winds, landslides and hailstorms and this has resulted in crop failure, loss of livestock, food insecurity and loss of income for the majority of the rural poor. Malawi is highly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change and other natural hazards because of its narrow economic base, limited agro-processing industries and overdependence on rain-fed agriculture and biomass for household energy use. The situation is further exacerbated by increasing population pressure on limited land resource base, land degradation, increasing deforestation rates and poverty levels amongst the rural poor which are limiting their capacity to anticipate, cope with and recover from the impact of such hazards.

In an attempt to address the impact of climate change and other natural disasters on the livelihoods of the rural poor, the government of Malawi designed a National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA) in 2003 which provided alternative strategies for improving agricultural production including under erratic weather variability and climate change. However, implementation of the programme has been hindered by limited understanding of the concept of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), low adoption rate of new technologies, limited credit access for rural farmers to buy inputs, lack of government capacity to implement the recommendations made, poor infrastructure and high poverty levels, amongst others.

In recognition that the risk of disaster can be minimised but not entirely eliminated, the Catholic Development Commission (CADECOM), with funding from Trocaire, has been implementing an integrated food security and livelihood programme in four Catholic dioceses: Chikwawa, Dedza, Zomba and Mangochi, with the main aim of strengthening the capacity of the vulnerable households to achieve food security. The programme focuses on agricultural initiatives and promotes strategies of crop diversification, sustainable farming practices, small scale irrigation and distribution of livestock.

Lessons learnt from the implementation of the programme showed that climate variability has massively affected a large number of poor and marginalised smallholder farmers in all the targeted impact areas. It was also noted that the most vulnerable and poor communities do not have sufficient capacity to cope with, or adapt to, the adverse effects of extreme weather events. This has resulted in low crop productivity and food insecurity amongst the rural poor, which negatively affects the sustainability of the livelihood programme itself. This reinforced the need for DRR to be mainstreamed in the livelihood programme, hence the development of the DRR programme covering all seven catholic dioceses and the climate change adaptation and mitigation pilot project in Dedza diocese that has been in operation since April 2008.
This project therefore intends to scale up its focus on DRR and adaptation to climate change interventions by building the capacity of the staff and the target communities in improved Disaster Risk Management (DRM) with the objectives of increasing community resilience to the effects of weather variability and other natural hazards.

THE PARTNER

The Catholic Development Commission (CADECOM) of Malawi is a relief and developmental arm of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) that was established in 1982 to deal with issues affecting the livelihoods of the most vulnerable people in Malawi. To enable CADECOM to undertake their activities, four departments were established within the organisation: Nutrition and Food Security, Relief and Rehabilitation, Gender and Training for Transformation (a component for developmental training).

CADECOM is a network organisation comprising seven dioceses, namely: Blantyre archdiocese and the dioceses of Chikwawa, Zomba, Lilongwe, Mangochi, Mzuzu and Dedza. There is also a national office. Each diocese has a development desk managed by a Diocesan Secretary.

In 1998, CADECOM produced its first strategic plan and reorganised itself from being a relief organization to a relief and developmental organization. This saw the change of name from Caritas Malawi to CADECOM. Despite the change, CADECOM is still a member of Caritas Internationalis and locally is a member of Christian Service Committee and Council for Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) among several others.

Cordaid and Trocaire co-funded a previous DRM programme with the CADECOM National Office from 2005 – 2007. With further support from Cordaid, Trocaire and other developmental partners, CADECOM has been implementing the DRM programme since April 2008 in all the seven dioceses in Malawi and an integrated food security and livelihood Programme in four dioceses (Chikwawa, Dedza, Mangochi and Zomba) since 2005. The Malawi livelihood programme was initiated in the aftermath of a sequence of emergency and rehabilitation responses to the desperate food shortages which were very costly to reverse. This required a paradigm shift from relief support to mainstreaming DRR in livelihood programmes, which was noted to be more cost effective and sustainable. Lessons learnt during the implementation of the livelihood programme also showed that climate change and other disasters were threatening the livelihood programmes, hence the increased focus on mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation intervention strategies.

- Mission statement

Creating awareness and empowering disadvantaged men, women and youth at all levels to undertake development which is integral, gender and environmentally sensitive and which promotes justice, human dignity and self reliance and active participation of the people themselves so that they take up responsibility for their own destiny.

- Organisational structure

CADECOM is one of the five commissions of the ECM and is governed by a board comprising of the seven Bishops of the Catholic dioceses of Malawi. The board chairman is elected by the bishops from amongst themselves and the board also elects a bishop to head each of the five commissions i.e. The Pastoral, Health, Education, the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) and CADECOM.

Administratively, ECM operates a secretariat headed by the secretary general and each commission, including CADECOM, is headed by a national secretary. At the diocesan levels, project management and development is undertaken by the diocesan secretary, to whom are the programme officers and field assistants report.
THE PROJECT

The project aims to build and strengthen the capacity of the ECM in DRR and climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies and their ability to influence and advocate on DRR and climate change policy and best practices nationally and locally. This will in turn equip the organisation’s staff with the skills and knowledge to improve the capacity of the poor and vulnerable people of Malawi to secure a sustainable livelihood, by enhancing increased food security and building their capacity to cope with the effects of hazards including extreme weather events and climate variability.

THE PLACEMENT

Based in Lilongwe at the CADECOM offices, the Progressio development worker (DW) will work as a Disaster Risk Reduction Specialist, building and strengthening the capacity of key ECM staff in mainstreaming DRR and climate change adaptation and mitigation interventions in their livelihood programmes, in order to enhance the livelihoods of the most vulnerable communities in Malawi. The DW will also be expected to enhance ECM capacity to influence and successfully advocate for disaster risk policy and best practices at national and local levels. The DW will be expected to travel extensively to the project implementation areas.

S/he will also take a leading role in the initial planning, scaling up and monitoring of the DRR training and implementation as well as supporting the monitoring, documentation and the management of the climate change pilot project. The DW will also be expected to provide technical guidance in implementing the monitoring and evaluation systems for the DRR programme established in 2008, in addition to the production of documents suitable for use in advocacy and the development of a national data base for the DRR programme.

The DW will report to the CADECOM national secretary for general day to day management and supervision and will also liaise with Trocaire’s Livelihood Programme Officer for technical direction and input. The DW’s direct counterparts will be the National Disaster Risk Reduction Coordinator and the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer.

Tripartite agreements will be established, setting out the terms of the placement and partnerships between the DW, Progressio-Malawi and the partner organisation.

Overall responsibility for the DW lies with the Country Representative of Progressio-Malawi.

- Specific responsibilities

The Disaster Risk Reduction Specialist will be expected to:

 Develop and maintain a high level of knowledge and understanding on the latest developments and trends around DRR to inform and support quality programming.

 Provide technical support on DRR issues as a team in the Caritas Emergency Response Support Team or bilaterally with other partners.

 Jointly develop a systematic approach to identifying DRR training needs and delivering training to build the capacity of ECM staff.

 Develop user-friendly DRR tools for use by ECM staff.

 Develop quality documentation and reporting of issues that will form the basis for advocacy on DRR best practices and policy.

 Develop the ECM’s capacity to influence and advocate for DRR best practices and policy at the local and national levels.

 Monitor, document and scale up the climate change pilot adaptation and mitigation pilot projects.

 Provide technical guidance in implementing the monitoring and evaluation systems for the DRR programme and development of a national data base.

 Support field staff in promoting programmes aimed at strengthening the capacity of vulnerable communities to resist the effects of hazards, mitigating against such hazards and advocacy aimed at accountability in relation to the causes and impact of humanitarian emergencies

– Expected outcomes

i) At Partner level

a) Increased capacity of 60 members of staff to conduct effective disaster risk assessments by 2011.

b) Improved capacity of ECM staff to develop early warning systems from a disaster risk reduction monitoring framework by 2011.

c) Increased capacity of ECM staff to influence and advocate for DRR best practices and policy locally and nationally.

d) Increased capacity in incorporating DRR strategies in livelihood, health including HIV and AIDS and economic justice projects.

e) Increased capacity of ECM to implement the monitoring and evaluation systems for the DRR programme.

II) At Beneficiary/Community level

a) 140 communities (12,600 households) have increased knowledge on DRR and are able to carry out disaster risk assessments through a step by step process comprising hazard analysis, vulnerability and capacity assessment and livelihood analysis, leading to formulation of disaster risk mitigation plans.

b) 80 per cent of the 140 targeted communities have improved livelihood and reduced risks to disaster through formulation and implementation of community disaster risk mitigation plans. The implementation of these plans will result in community assets that will cushion them in times of disaster and calamities.

c) 200 households have increased crop yields and are food secured throughout the year through adoption of more efficient irrigation technologies, increasing areas under irrigation, crop diversification, cultivation of drought tolerant crops and practising improved sustainable agricultural and natural resource management methods.

d) Fuel wood consumption and deforestation rates are reduced by 50 per cent as a result of adoption of fuel efficient cooking technologies.

e) Around 10,000 trees planted and established in community and private wood lots by 2011.

f) 50 per cent of the target communities have increased access to water as a result of adoption of sustainable water and natural resource management.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

This section outlines the skills and requirements we seek for this post, please read it carefully and ensure your application relates to each of these requirements (giving clear examples).

Specification

Essential

Desirable

Education and training
1. Degree in Development Studies, Environment Studies, Humanitarian Relief or related fields
19. Specialised training in Disaster Risk Reduction advocacy, and monitoring and evaluation

20. Postgraduate qualification in Development Studies, Environment Studies, Humanitarian Relief or related fields

Relevant experience
2. Minimum of three years’ experience in the management of livelihoods work incorporating disaster risk reduction aspects in a complex environment, particularly in developing countries

3. At least two years’ experience in designing and implementing disaster risk reduction monitoring and evaluation systems

4. Experience in the design and management of disaster risk reduction responses and the integration of disaster risk reduction approaches into relief, recovery and development programming

5. Experience in designing and implementing climate change adaptation and mitigation interventions at national and community levels

6. Experience in designing and implementing advocacy strategies

7. Experience in organising training workshops and group meetings

21. Experience of working in a resource poor environment where access to technology is limited

Abilities and skills
8. A demonstrated knowledge of the complexity and multidimensional nature of disaster risk reduction

9. Sound knowledge and understanding of climate change, humanitarian and development issues

10. Effective communication skills, both written and oral in English, and an ability to promote good working relationships with national, local and international stakeholders

11. Good IT skills, particularly creating and working with databases

12. Ability to think strategically and programmatically

13. Proficient report writing

14. Familiarity with working in a multi-cultural setting, and cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability

15. Ability to explore potential donors and provide support in resource mobilisation for more project activities

22. Knowledge and skills in the monitoring and evaluation of development projects

23. Skills in data analysis and developing documents to be used as a basis for advocacy

Other
16. Commitment to justice and development

17. Flexibility to occasionally work outside office hours, and with people of different cultures and backgrounds

18. Willingness to travel extensively to the field across Malawi
24. Driving licence

LOCATION AND LIVING CONDITIONS

The Disaster Risk Reduction Specialist will be based at the CADECOM offices, which are located in Lilongwe, Malawi. Malawi is a peaceful country with a relatively stable government in a multiparty democracy system. In terms of security, residential areas and city streets are fairly secure for anyone whether indigenous or foreign. However, it is not encouraged for anyone to travel on foot at night. In order to ensure the security of the DW, Progressio will carefully choose residential sites that are safe and secure and will monitor the security situation at all times. This will be reinforced through regular contact with the DW and a mobile phone to ease communication in case of emergencies will be provided for the DW. Progressio will pay for the SIM card; however the DW will be responsible for paying their own bills for calls.

In terms of health facilities, there are both government hospitals and clinics where services are free and private hospitals where services are provided for a fee. Lilongwe has a few international schools, which follow the British system of education. Education at primary level in Malawi is free (with the exception of private schools).

Lilongwe is politically stable, safe, and quiet. Many European and South African expatriates live in Lilongwe, and many NGOs and international organisations operate out of the city. Lilongwe is served by a railway, Shire Bus Lines, and numerous local buses and minibuses which connect different parts of the city and connect with other parts of the country. Lilongwe has some western-style shopping centres located in different parts of the city convenient for all residential areas. Pharmacies, bureaux de change and banks (including Standard Bank, NedBank, Ecobank, Malawi National Bank, etc) are located throughout the city. ATMs which accept VISA cards are available.

PROGRESSIO’S TERMS AND CONDITIONS

* Placement
The placement is for two years. There is the possibility for this to be extended by mutual agreement between Progressio, the project partner and the DW. Any extension is also dependent on the availability of funding.

* Reports
The DW will be expected to produce work plans and progress reports for Progressio every six months and to meet other reporting requirements as and when required. Additionally the DW will be required to utilise, and report on, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) means of verification tools/surveys associated with Progressio’s in-house Regular Impact and Capacity Assessment (RICA) M&E framework.

* Holidays
Progressio DWs are entitled to 20 days holiday per year, plus public and national holidays as relevant in Malawi. DWs are also entitled to the time required to attend twice-yearly meetings of the Progressio-Malawi Programme.

* Office hours
Normal office hours in Malawi are from 08:00am – 16:00pm, five days per week. The DW must be prepared to be flexible and to work outside of these hours when required. Time off in lieu for overtime worked can be taken with agreement.

* Accommodation
Accommodation will be in Lilongwe and an accommodation allowance is deposited into the DW’s account alongside their monthly living allowance (detailed below), from which they will be expected to pay for their accommodation expenses (including utility bills).

* Travel
Occasional visits to other regions and districts within Malawi may be required.

* Remuneration
A living allowance of US$1,353 per month, which is fixed and non-negotiable. This provides comfortably for a single person typically living in a one or two bedroom flat.

The living allowance is a monthly lump sum figure and is expected to cover: moderate cost of living in the country of placement; costs associated with dependants whether accompanying or not, and National Insurance/Social Security contributions or other provision for the future which a DW may have in their home country.

* Other benefits include:

 Essential household equipment (for non-residents of Malawi)

 Pre-departure grant of £806.00 (for non-residents of Malawi)

 Progressio pays, and makes the arrangements, for air travel (in economy class) to your country of posting on an agreed date. You will receive a single flight back to your country of permanent residence at the end of your placement (for non residents of Malawi).

 Comprehensive accident and emergency insurance cover

 Travel expenses for Progressio business

Development Workers with accompanying dependants

Please note that if you bring accompanying dependants with you for the duration of your placement, the following provisions are made for them: 1) travel costs at the beginning and end of placement (for non-residents of Malawi); 2) Accident and Emergency Insurance Cover, and 3) costs associated with pregnancy. Progressio is able to make these provisions for a maximum of two accompanying dependants.

Progressio does not provide an augmented living allowance for DWs with dependants. If you have dependants, you will receive the same living allowance that is mentioned above, which is non negotiable.

HOW TO APPLY

It is essential that you complete the application form in full, as very specific information is required and will be used to decide whether or not you will be short-listed for an interview. Please note that CVs/resumes will not be accepted.

For further information click here
and for an application form click here>>>
Closing date: 16 September 2009 Interviews: End of September 2009

Please return the completed application form to: [email protected]

- Progressio does not place development workers in their own countries -

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