Climate And Resilience Assessment Officer, based in Colombo, Sri Lanka

BACKGROUND ON IMPACT

IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organisation manages several initiatives, including the REACH and AGORA Initiative. The IMPACT team comprises specialists in data collection, management and analysis and GIS. IMPACT was launched at the initiative of ACTED, an international NGO whose headquarter is based in Paris and is present in thirty countries. The two organizations have a strong complementarity formalized in a global partnership, enabling IMPACT to benefit from ACTED’s operational support on its fields of intervention.

COUNTRY PROFILE

Sri Lanka has experienced a series of recurrent crises, including the 2019 Easter Attacks, the global Covid-19 pandemic, followed by the 2022 economic crisis, which is the worst-ever in the country’s independent history. This has severely affected marginalized communities’ capacity to withstand the impacts of even minor external shocks, such as seasonal monsoons. They have led to a significant economic downturn, hyperinflation, and job losses, leaving already vulnerable communities even more marginalized. During the peak of the economic crisis, livelihoods were disrupted across the country, and over 5 million people needed assistance.[1]

Over 40% of the population, including much of the rural poor, in Sri Lanka is involved in the agriculture and fishery sectors due to the country’s prime geographic location and climate. However, with increasingly unpredictable weather and climatic variations due to the climate crisis, the island nation and its populations are hazard prone. 96% of disasters in Sri Lanka are caused by hazards such as droughts, floods, landslides, cyclones and coastal erosion. The climate crisis increases the frequency and severity of these hazards.

As such, climate and disaster risks pose a considerable threat to key economic sectors of Sri Lanka and, as a result, to vulnerable populations. Within the Sri Lankan context, marginalized groups in rural areas are often solely dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods, and following disasters, households’ suffer drastic loss of assets and financial capital, diminishing their capacities to recover.[2]

In response to these needs ACTED, IMPACT Initiatives and CEFE Net Sri Lanka will pilot a territorial and community-based approach to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) by bolstering resilience of livelihoods of the most marginalized to enhance community resilience to external shocks and stresses.

AGORA

AGORA is a joint initiative of ACTED and IMPACT launched in 2016 that uses a bottom-up territorial approach for aid planning and delivery anchored in local territories and knowledge that aims to increase the relevance and the value add of humanitarian and development programming and to empower local actors. AGORA has already been effectively implemented in nine countries through sixteen projects, reaching an estimated 1.6 million direct beneficiaries, and supporting an estimated 866 organizations.

[1] UNOCHA (2022) Humanitarian Needs and Priorities

[2] UNDRR (2019) Disaster Risk Reduction in Sri Lanka

We are currently looking for a Climate and Resilience Assessment Officer to support our team in Sri Lanka.

PROJECT

The project “Promoting Disaster Risk Reduction for Livelihood Resilience via Community-led, Area-based Approaches in Sri Lanka” aims to promote community-driven disaster risk reduction actions for marginalized communities, mitigating the disproportionate impacts of external shocks and stresses, thus enhancing community resilience to future disasters and safeguarding their lives. IMPACT will play a role in gathering local data and informing ACTED activities on existing hazards, vulnerabilities and capacities in target territories as well as livelihood resilience startegies, by utilizing geospatial analysis and participatory research tools. ACTED will lead on mobilizing and empowering marginalized communities to effectively implement livelihood resilience-building strategies.

FUNCTIONS

Under the line management of the IMPACT Country Coordinator the Assessment Officer (AO) is responsible for the implementation of IMPACT’s research cycles in Sri Lanka, including the preparation, data collection, analysis, drafting, dissemination and evaluation stages. S/he is also responsible for tight collaboration with GIS and Field officer during the whole research cycle. This position will provide research, analytical and coordination skills and capacity for the implementation of current research cycle. The ideal candidate will approach this role strategically, ensuring that the data collected and outputs disseminated can meet the information needs of partner organization ACTED to inform their implementation activities as well as of relevant local and regional government authorities.

With the support of the IMPACT Assessment Specialist and ACTED Project Manager, s/he will be in charge of the identification of knowledge gaps on climate-related hazards and shocks the project area is facing, communities’ vulnerabilities and capacities to withstand these shocks and livelihood resilience startegies and opportunities available to community. S/he together with ACTED collegues will develop a research design and respective tools to address those information gaps and inform ACTED livelihood resilience-building actions. S/he will engage with a range of external stakeholders to ensure the data is appropriately align with the local needs and strategies and to disseminate research findings among community members and local actors. The ideal candidate will be eager to work in a dynamic and fast-paced organization, with opportunities to help build the mission’s environment and climate portfolio.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The AO is responsible for the following:

RESEARCH PLANNING:

• Ensure that research cycles are planned in line with the project proposal timeline, relevant research and
• project objectives and with IMPACT’s research cycle and other relevant guidelines;
• Define the scope of the assessment in close collaboration with GIS officer;
• Design new research cycle focused of climate-related risks and livelihood resilience according to IMPACT’s requirements and principles as well as partners’ information needs;
• Ensure the research design is aligned with ACTED’s programming objectives and that relevant ACTED team members have inputted in the research design;
• Develop ToRs and ensure their validation by HQ before any data collection begins;
• Compose and construct, in close coordination with GIS and data teams, qualitative and quantitative data collection tools using Kobo Collect and Open Data Kit (ODK);

RESEARCH IMPLEMENTATION

• In close liaison with GIS officer, ensure that the hazard and risk analysis is current performed and relevant maps are produced.
• In close liaison with field officers, ensure that required enumerators are identified and trained for primary data collection;
• In close liaison with field officers, monitor data collection, ensuring its correct implementation in line with agreed ToRs;
• Ensure regular situation updates on data collection are produced and circulated to line manager, relevant colleagues and external counterparts. Provide support and follow up on identified challenges during the data collection process;
• Ensure that data is revised and cleaned, and that all revisions are recorded;
• Provide data analysis on primary and/or secondary data as per ToRs, ensuring that meaningful techniques are used to analyse the data collected;
• Ensure that all data and analysis are validated by IMPACT HQ before the product drafting stage.

DRAFTING OF RESEARCH PRODUCTS

• Draft timely and accurate outputs that consolidate the analyses from the whole research cycle into relevant products such as factsheets, reports, briefs, presentations, etc. which comply with IMPACT’s guidelines and quality standards;
• Ensure that products accurately reflect the information collected and that information is conveyed in a way that maximizes impact in line with their intended use including data visualization methods.

EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT

• Ensure that all relevant partners are consulted and involved at all stages of research cycle: assessment preparation; data collection; data analysis; review of research products; product dissemination; and lessons learnt;
• Engage with external partners to disseminate the printed reports and collect the feedback and potential ways of findings utilization;
• Together with ACTED organize events to present findings and generate dialogue to promote interest and actions for DRR and resilience building measures within the target area;
• Together with ACTED conduct participatory consultations with local community to identify priority DRR measures and strategies.

KNOWLEDGE SHARING AND LEARNING PROCESSES

• Generate and document robust lessons learned at the end of each research cycle;
• Ensure knowledge and learning processes are shared with other team members, and units within mission, and with HQ.

PROJECT CYCLE MANAGEMENT

• Ensure compliance to project cycle management requirements and guidelines at all phases;
• Ensure that project deliverables and requirements are tracked, met and complied to;
• Ensure that any issue in relation to project implementation is reported to the line manager, finance and grants colleagues, and HQ;
• Support the line manager, finance, and grants colleagues in drafting of relevant project narrative and financial reports;
• Other tasks as requested by supervisors.

DATA CONFIDENTIALITY AND PROTECTION

The Assessment Officer will maintain the strictest confidentiality on all data collected and related processes, ensuring full compliance with IMPACT’s data protection policy and SOPs. S/he will actively take measures to prevent the unauthorized sharing of any information and data belonging to IMPACT and its partners, or collected during his/her assignment with IMPACT.

REQUIREMENTS

• Academic Excellent academic qualifications, preferably including a Master degree in Environmental, Climate Sciences, DRR, Social Science or any relevant discipline;
• Research skills Proficiency and proven experience with research methods. Excellent analytical skills in both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies;
• Software skills Proven knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite, to include Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Skills in R, or other statistical analysis software, are an advantage; Experience with InDesign an asset.
• Years of work experience At least 2- 4 years of relevant working experience. Experience in humanitarian or development settings required, experience in complex humanitarian crises desirable;
• Experience/knowledge of environment, climate and DRR thematic areas a strong asset;
• Communication/reporting skills Excellent communication and drafting skills for effective reporting;
• Multi-tasking skills Ability to multitask with tight deadlines, on numerous research cycles;
• Level of independence Proven ability to work independently;
• Cross-cultural work environment Ability to operate in a cross-cultural environment requiring flexibility;
• Language skills Fluency in English required, competency in Sinhala and Tamil an asset;
• Security environment Ability to operate in a complex and challenging environment.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

• For this position, salary between 2’040 CHF and 2’160 CHF monthly (before income tax), etc as well as a monthly living allowance of 300 USD
  NB – IMPACT salaries are strictly determined by our salary grid depending on the grade of the position and the level of education of staff. A location-dependent security and/or isolation adjustment is then applied as a recognition that some staff are required to work in difficult places where living and working conditions are much more difficult than elsewhere.
• Accommodation and food provided in a guesthouse. Depending on the country situation, a contribution to a housing allowance of up to 75% of Sri Lanka benchmark can be considered instead. NB – IMPACT is hosted by ACTED in this country
• Enrolment in Swiss private pension fund (Swisslife – approx. 9.975% of staff gross salary), health insurance, life insurance and repatriation assistance
• Flight tickets every 6 months & visa fees covered (in-country travel costs and professional expenses are fully covered)
• Contribution to the luggage transportation: between 20 and 100 kgs, depending on the length of the contract (+ luggage and personal property insurance)
• Annual leave of 36 days per year. Public holidays of the country of assignment. Family/compassionate leave when applicable.
• Predeparture induction – 3 days at IMPACT Initiatives’s HQ in Geneva + one week pre-departure training in ACTED HQ in Paris, including a 4-days in situ security training;
• IMPACT prioritizes the psychological safety of its staff and the health insurance provided covers, among others, up to 1000 € per year of psychosocial counselling fees