Urban Resilience Expert NGO Job UN-Habitat

Project Management Jobs, UN-Habitat Jobs.

Responsibilities

Under the supervision of Head of Office in South Africa in close coordination with the Head of Sub-Regional Hub for Southern Africa, the Urban Resilience Expert will be responsible for the following:

Policy Development and Substantive Support

• Provide technical assistance and policy recommendations to national/local governments and other stakeholders on matters related to urban resilience, disaster risk reduction, climate mitigation/adaptation, and transition to green energy/low carbon development.
• Support cities, especially Intermediate City Municipalities (ICMs), in development, updating and implementation of urban resilience and disaster risk reduction tools (plans, policies, strategies, and laws and regulations), aligned with the New Urban Agenda, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and SDG 11
• Support the integration of climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction measures into national urban development policies and local development plans
• Conduct desk review for the existing legislation, policies, strategies and guidelines related to urban resilience, disaster risk reduction, climate mitigation/adaptation, and transition to green energy/low carbon development.
• Provide technical expertise for carrying out vulnerability assessment, risk mapping and resilience diagnostics.
• Coordinate with relevant ministries, departments, and other stakeholders and facilitate policy dialogue and consultations on urban resilience. Programme and Project Development
• Develop programmes and projects on urban resilience, disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation and mitigation, transition to green energy and low carbon development, including nature-based solutions and access to climate financing
• Provide technical assistance to national/local governments in the development of bankable project proposals on urban resilience, including assessment, drafting proposals, stakeholder consultations and preparation of funding applications for donor agencies and international financing mechanisms
• Facilitate developing partnerships and collaboration with national governments, local authorities, development partners, and private sector actors for resource mobilization for implementation

Capacity Building and Knowledge Management

• Support knowledge generation, development of knowledge-sharing mechanisms and capacity-building initiatives for national and local governments on urban resilience, disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation and mitigation, transition to green energy and low carbon development, including nature-based solutions (protection of natural resources, natural habitat and biodiversity), access to climate financing and gender and poverty responsive resilience planning.
• Build capacity of national/local government and civil society actors in cities, especially Intermediate City Municipalities (ICMs), on participatory resilience planning approaches, including City Resilience Action Planning (CityRAP) tool.
• Develop guidelines on transition to green energy and low carbon development for cities in South Africa
• Support the development of contextualized tools, guidelines, and methodologies adapted to national and local conditions, including local adaptation of Urban Planning Law for Climate Smart Cities.
• Document lessons learned and best practices of urban resilience interventions in South Africa.

Operational Support

• Support cities in developing and implementing climate adaptation and mitigation strategies integrated with resilience planning
• Provide technical assistance to municipalities in applying urban resilience action planning tool, including CityRAP tool, and implementing priority resilience interventions identified through action planning processes, including infrastructure upgrading, early warning systems, and nature-based solutions
• Support cities in developing monitoring and evaluation systems for the impact of resilience interventions.

Others

• Support the overall implementation and coordination of UN-Habitat’s programmes in South Africa, ensuring alignment with national urban development priorities.
• Assist partnership development, and stakeholder engagement for UN-Habitat South Africa in close consultation with the Head of Country Office.
• Contribute to research, publications, and policy papers related to climate-resilient urban development and other thematic areas under the UN-Habitat mandate.
• Support reporting, monitoring, and evaluation of UN-Habitat South Africa Programme activities, ensuring timely submission of reports to UN-Habitat headquarters and donor agencies.
• Contribute to the development concept notes and project proposals
• Coordinate with other thematic experts (urban planning, housing and human settlements, GIS, …) in work planning to ensure coherent support.
• Perform any other related duties as assigned by the Head of Office in South Africa and Head of the Sub-Regional Hub for Southern Africa

Qualifications

• Advanced University degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in urban planning, urban resilience, disaster risk reduction, climate mitigation/adaptation or related field is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two (2) additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.
• A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in urban resilience, disaster risk reduction, climate mitigation/adaptation and related areas is required.
• Experience in implementing development programmes/projects, particularly in Africa, is desirable.
• Experience working with the United Nations system or an international organization is an asset.

How to Apply

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