Anticipatory Action Specialist – Pakistan

WORK CONTEXT

Cesvi has been working in Pakistan since 2005 while supporting the earthquake victims, floods-affected populations, conflict-affected IDPs, returnees, and host communities.

Cesvi has invested in development projects in remote regions in the country. In the emergency context, Cesvi developed expertise specifically in Health, WASH, Shelter & NFIs, Food Security & livelihood, and Disaster Preparedness and Risk Reduction (DRR) with protection, gender, and inclusion (PGI) as cross-cutting sectors.

CESVI has been working with different donors, such as ECHO, the EU, OFDA/USAID (now USAID-BHA), UNFAO, UNWFP, UNOCHA, UKAid/FCDO, Italian Cooperation, SDC, PIDSA, PHPF, and more. Since 2017, Cesvi Pakistan has been actively operating in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

In Sindh, Cesvi has executed multiple projects in districts like Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, and Tharparkar over the past decade, including flood relief and COVID-19 response efforts funded by ECHO in the last two years.

Currently, Cesvi Pakistan is implementing three projects funded by ECHO in Sindh, Balochistan, and Punjab.

Background
CESVI believes that taking anticipatory action is a better approach to climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction than reactive disaster management. Anticipatory action involves investing in early warning systems, risk assessments, and pre-planned interventions to reduce disaster impacts and losses. This forward-looking approach is crucial for building a more resilient and sustainable future in a changing climate. Therefore, CESVI aims to integrate anticipatory action into its policies and practices to enhance its capabilities in various domains related to anticipatory action planning, impact-based forecasting, and disaster risk financing.
To achieve this goal, CESVI is seeking the expertise of an Anticipatory Action Consultant, who will provide guidance and support in stakeholder mapping, policy development for impact-based forecasting, disaster risk financing, tools for anticipatory action planning, and monitoring. The consultant will also work on integrating anticipatory actions into key programmatic sectors, such as disaster risk reduction, water sanitation and hygiene, Food Security & Livelihoods, and resilience building.

Objectives
This assignment aims to build CESVI’s staff’s capacity to execute programs that focus on anticipatory action planning, disaster risk financing, and impact-based forecasting. The consultant will be responsible for improving resource mobilization and partnership initiatives in line with global priorities and policies related to Anticipatory Action (AA), Forecast-based Financing (FbF), and Disaster Risk Financing (DRF). By adopting a comprehensive approach, which integrates early warning systems, community engagement, resource pre-positioning, collaboration, data-driven decision-making, and continuous learning, the consultant will be expected to produce a programmatic strategy for piloting anticipatory action planning across various thematic areas.

Key Responsibilities
The Anticipatory Action Consultant will have the following responsibilities:
• Conduct stakeholder mapping relevant to the implementation of Anticipatory Action (AA), Forecast-based Financing (FbF), and Disaster Risk Financing (DRF) initiatives in Pakistan and globally
• Offer policy advice and steer strategic planning for program design and execution, with a particular focus on Anticipatory Action (AA), Forecast-based Financing (FbF), and Disaster Risk Financing (DRF)
• Develop tools and methodologies for designing, implementing, and monitoring anticipatory action protocols, thresholds, and trigger mechanisms
• Integrate anticipatory actions into various sectors, ensuring alignment with sector-specific priorities
• Undertake a comprehensive donor mapping activity and investigate their preferences and policies regarding Anticipatory Action (AA), Forecast-based Financing (FbF), and Disaster Risk Financing (DRF)
• Align CESVI’s priorities with donor preferences for effective resource mobilization

Deliverables
The consultant is expected to deliver the following:
• The Stakeholder Mapping Report thoroughly analyzes the key actors and entities involved in programming for Anticipatory Action (AA), Forecast-based Financing (FbF), and Disaster Risk Financing (DRF). Additionally, a detailed donor mapping report is included, which analyzes the priorities and interests of global actors to provide valuable insights into their specific focus areas and funding preferences
• Capacity-building workshops will be organized for CESVI staff to develop expertise in implementing AA, FbF, and DRF interventions. These workshops will also foster comprehension of shock-responsive social protection systems, prefinancing arrangements, trigger mechanisms, predictive modeling, data-driven decision models, and the development of early action strategies aligned with the priorities of key donors and national and global policies. (logistics, travel, and venue for participants to be provided by CESVI)
• CESVI’s Capacity Statement on AA/FBF/DRF will emphasize its ongoing initiatives and suggest future directions. The Anticipatory Action Strategy will outline key early actions to prevent disaster losses and impacts, ways to integrate AA in key programmatic sectors, and recommendations for aligning CESVI’s priorities with donor preferences and international financial instruments
• Specific implementation and monitoring tools and methodologies for anticipatory action planning and monitoring will also be provided

Duration and Location
The consultancy is expected to be conducted over four to six months and may involve on-site and remote work in Islamabad and Karachi.

Qualifications and Expertise
The ideal candidate for the job should have the following qualifications and expertise:
• A university degree in disaster risk reduction, climate change, international development, social sciences, or related fields
• A minimum of five years of proven experience in various areas, including developing protocols for anticipatory actions, designing trigger mechanisms, developing data-driven decision tools and predictive modeling, formulating strategies for impact-based forecasting, and providing policy guidance to attract disaster risk financing
• Familiarity with national, regional, and global disaster risk reduction and anticipatory action policies and frameworks, including contingency planning at the country level
• Knowledge of shock-responsive social protection systems and using cash+ approaches for anticipatory action
• Experience in working with early warning systems and indicators for risk monitoring

Evaluation Criteria
Proposals will be evaluated based on the consultant’s experience, qualifications, proposed plan, and competitiveness of the financial offer.
Note: CESVI reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal at any time before the contract award without incurring any liability to the affected consultant or consultants.