National Consultant for Pillar 3 of Early Warning for All Initiative for Somalia

National Consultant for Pillar 3 of Early Warning for All Initiative for Somalia 

Vacancy notice no: 1673 
Sector: BDT
Department: DDR
Country of contract: Remote
Duty station: Home Based

Position number: [[positionNumber]] 
Grade: [[PositionGrade]] 
Type of contract: Consultant
Duration of contract: 60 days ASAP until end of December 2024
Recruitment open to: External
Application deadline (Midnight Geneva Time): 23 July 2024

ORGANIZATIONAL UNIT

The Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) is responsible for the organization and coordination of the work of the Telecommunication Development Sector of the Union. BDT deals mainly with development policies, strategies, programming, projects, as well as technical cooperation activities to enable and foster universal access to affordable, high-quality and secure telecommunications/ICTs and Foster equitable and inclusive use of telecommunications/ICTs to empower people and societies for sustainable development. To effectively and efficiently serve the needs of Member States, BDT is organized into four functional areas:

• Operations Coordination Department (Office of the Deputy to the Director)
• Projects, Partnerships & Digital Skills Department (PPS) 
• Digital Networks & Environment Department (DNE) 
• Digital Knowledge Society Department (DKS)

The Office of the Deputy to the Director and Operations Coordination Department are responsible for ensuring operation readiness and providing support for the functioning of the regional offices and headquarters in Geneva, especially the implementation of projects and programmes. Functional areas, such as meetings, fellowship and IT support reports to this Department. The unit for special attention in all aspects related to LDCs, LLDCs and SIDs is the responsibility of this Department. The Deputy to the Director is responsible for assisting and advising the Director in the direction and management of the Bureau including on all questions related to personnel, financial and operational planning process. The Department is responsible for leading the operational planning and implementation support, within the framework of the Action Plan. The Department is also responsible for coordinating conferences and events, editorial works and documentation control, monitoring the implementation of decisions emanating from ITU and BDT governing bodies, including TDAG, Council, Conferences and Assemblies of the other Sectors on matters of relevance to BDT. The Department is responsible for coordination of the Bureau's cooperation with other Sectors and General Secretariat. 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Disasters have devastating effects on people’s lives and livelihoods, and in terms of economic losses. The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and natural hazards.
 
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) play an important role in increasing resilience of countries facilitating the flow of vital information in a timely manner before, during and after disasters strike. Information is critical for decision-making processes, as well as for rapid response during emergencies. The incredible growth in ICT networks and services, including radio, satellite and mobile services, means that the opportunity is there for more people to be reached in a timely manner. However, resilience in these systems needs to be considered to ensure such systems survive catastrophic events.
 
ITU plays an important role in highlighting the role of ICTs for disaster risk reduction and management, including through the design of National Emergency Telecommunication Plans (NETP), the set-up of early warning and monitoring systems and the provision of emergency telecommunications equipment when disasters strike.
The World Telecommunication Development Conference which was held in Kigali in 2022 (WTDC-2022), identified disasters as a major threat to socio-economic development and revised resolution 34 (Rev. Kigali, 2022) highlighting the need to support countries in the preparation of national disaster response in the areas of regulation and policy, to facilitate the use of ICTs for early warning systems, and to develop national emergency telecommunication plans and standard operating procedures. A growing number of Member States and regional communities have requested ITU’s support in identifying the opportunities of ICTs for disaster management, and in helping them to develop their national emergency telecommunication plans.

.

In March 2023, the UN’s launched Early Warnings for All (EW4All) Initiative, which stipulates that every person in the world should be protected by an early warning system by 2027. The initiative’s Action Plan puts the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in the leading role on Pillar 3 ‘Warning Dissemination and Communication’ – a critical component of early warning systems which ensures that alerts reach people at risk on time to take action. In its lead role for Pillar 3, ITU works closely with partners including the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent (IFRC) societies to ensure that warnings reach everyone at risk by creating the enabling environment and technical capabilities for multichannel dissemination and communication alerting. This entails four priority areas:

1. Strengthening governance to ensure all countries have clear functions, roles and responsibilities for warning dissemination and communication.
2. Supporting infrastructure networks and services to enable last-mile communication.
3. Following an inclusive and people-centered approach to provide actionable guidance to those at risk and providing feedback mechanisms.
4. Enabling quality and trust of alerts by leveraging the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) for consistent, reliable multi-hazard, multi-channel alert dissemination.

The Action Plan also specifically references GSMA and MNOs and calls for the promotion of the implementation of geo-located mobile early warning services using cell broadcast and/or location-based SMS. As part of the EW4All Initiative, ITU is working to support countries to address the four priority areas and implement mobile early warning systems to reach more people at risk.
The Development Sector of the ITU (BDT), through its Environment and Emergency Telecommunications Division (EET) provides support to countries on NETP development, public warning assessment, and implementation of early warning system.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

The ITU is seeking a national consultant for Pillar 3 of EW4All to assist Somalia in the implementation of Pillar 3 activities.

The consultant will work under the guidance of the ITU Regional Programme Officer and the direction of the Head of Environment and Emergency Telecommunications Division (EET), within the Digital Network Society Department of the Telecommunication Development Bureau, and in close coordination with EW4All pillar leads in the region. In particular, the consultant will:

• Coordinate and support the development and the completion of the EW4All national Pillar 3 roadmap, including identifying gaps and priorities, the budget and financing strategy. This includes supporting the national assessment of the Pillar 3 related early warning systems and coordinating with the Disaster Connectivity Map (DCM) team to assess digital connectivity and disaster risks.
• Coordinate and support the national EW4All focal point in its leading and convening role, bringing together all national stakeholders needed for the effective consolidation and scale up of activities for Pillar 3 (including the telecommunication regulatory authority, ICT Ministry, mobile network operators, GSMA, national disaster management authority, alerting authorities, Red Cross/Red Crescent national societies, community stakeholders, broadcasters, and others). As needed, support all national authorities/local institutions in the management and coordination of EW4All Pillar 3 projects implementation.
• Implement activities in the Pillar 3 national Roadmap.
• Contribute to formulating a draft national roadmap that sets out how to bridge identified gaps, and outline key actions, technical support and capacities required to establish and improve multi-hazard early warning systems and their effectiveness, as well as agreed timelines and budget, in close coordination with ITU and other EW4All pillar leaders and national stakeholders.
• Participate in national Pillar 3 meetings and workshops in coordination with ITU.
• Liaise with ITU local/regional and Head Quarter levels, but also with the National Interpillar UN Coordinator of EW4All, and all other partners engaged in the national implementation process.
• Develop a mechanism of monitoring, reporting and communication to ensure regular information on country progress on EW4All for Pillar 3.
• Produce any EW4All documentation linked to the National Pillar 3 activities which includes the gap analysis (Checklist on Evaluation of National ICT Network Resilience and its Affordability), stakeholders mapping, coordination mechanism, financing strategy, and governance assessment. Ensure all deliverables are shared with ITU regional and HQ colleagues.
• Collaborate with the national disaster management authority to ensure that NETP is an integral part of national disaster risk reduction strategy
• Facilitate regular meetings and interaction among relevant stakeholders to ensure active engagement of all Pillar 3 relevant stakeholders in the roll out and implementation of the EW4All initiative.
• Provide input into policy, advocacy, and communication efforts that aid in the position of the EW4All initiative in national policy, programmes, and priorities related to Pillar 3.
• Support the logistics and technical preparations for workshops/meetings needed for implementing the roadmap.
• Raise awareness for the country to update the WMO registry of alerting authority.
• Support any further actions towards furthering the implementation of the EW4All initiative, upon ITU request.

CONCRETE DELIVERABLES

• Developed gap analysis, stakeholder mapping, coordination mechanism, financing strategy and governance assessment.  
• Developed EW4All Pillar 3 national roadmap / action plan for 3 years (by 30 December 2024).
• Promoted the use of DCM for the assessment of digital connectivity and disaster risks in the country (by end of August)
• Delivered capacity building activities (by 30 December 2024).
• Assessment and recommendations for regulatory policy and legislations related to emergency telecommunications (by 30 December 2024).
• Technical assessment for multi-hazard early warning system (by 30 December 2024). 
• Updated WMO registry of alerting authority (in one month).   
• Minutes of national meetings of EW4All coordination mechanism.
• Monthly monitoring and reporting on EW4All Pillar 3 progress.
• Final report on the progress of EW4All Pillar 3 implementation in Somalia (by December 2024).

COMPETENCIES

In-depth knowledge and hands-on experience on national emergency telecommunications, mobile-based early warning system and technology on cell-broadcast, multi-stakeholders' coordination, emergency communication, disaster recovery, emergency response, and crisis management.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED

Education: University degree in telecommunication, computer science, information technology or relevant field such as engineering. An advanced degree would be an advantage.
 

Experience: At least seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in the field relevant to the Special Service Agreement (SSA).

Languages: Knowledge of English at advanced level.

REMUNERATION INFORMATION

USD 230-300 per working day, to be defined according to the work experience required for the Special Service Agreement (SSA).

INFORMATION ON RECRUITMENT PROCESS   

Please note that all candidates must complete an on-line application and provide complete and accurate information. To apply, please visit the ITU Careers website. The evaluation of candidates is based on the criteria in the vacancy notice, and may include tests and/or assessments, as well as a competency-based interview. ITU uses communication technologies such as video or teleconference, e-mail correspondence, etc. for the assessment and evaluation of candidates. Please note that only selected candidates will be further contacted and candidates in the final selection step will be subject to reference checks based on the information provided. Messages originating from a non ITU e-mail account - @itu.int - should be disregarded. ITU does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process.

ITU applies a zero-tolerance policy against all forms of harassment. ITU is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. Achieving gender balance is a high priority for ITU.