National Consultant - Defining ‘Success Criteria’ for Vulnerability and Capacity Assessments

National Consultant - Defining ‘success criteria’ for vulnerability and capacity assessments

Position description

The Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program is seeking a national consultant to review a selection of vulnerability and capacity assessments (VCA) that have been conducted by the VNRC and other NGOs during the 2010-2014 period in three geographical zones. The consultancy aims at identifying ‘success criteria’ among communities that have received support from the Red Cross.

VCA and community based disaster risk management

In July 2009, the plan to ‘Enhance Community Awareness and Community Based Disaster Risk Management’ was approved by the Prime Minister under Decision 1002/Q?-TTg, which stated that the Disaster Management Centre, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) are the official organisers of the program. In order to accomplish the given mission, MARD has cooperated with relevant ministries, departments, and social and international organisations in Vietnam and provinces and signed a Cooperation Agreement with Vietnam Red Cross (VNRC)* as a part of which, the VNRC committed to undertake 1,000 VCA (one sixth of the total number under the Decision) over the next 10 years. The onus on improved performance by the VNRC in undertaking VCA is therefore clear and it is considered imperative that at this stage, indicators are developed to ensure that the considerable human and financial investments in VCA provide real cost/benefit and that we are able to clearly demonstrate measureable success.

The VCA “success criteria” consultant

The Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program seeks a consultant to coordinate a study to identify “success criteria” for VCA. With technical guidance from the Adaptation Adviser, and in close collaboration with the Adaptation Coordinator and the VFD program team, the consultant will conduct the following activities:

1. Review a selected number of VCA reports prepared by the VNRC (in the period 2010-2014) with the support of the International Federation and PNS, and by selected l/INGO following commune/village level VCA;
2. Review a representative sample of VCA reports gathered from various provinces representing the four selected regions of the country, most likely to be: the central highlands, the Red River Delta, north central coast and the Mekong River Delta;**
3. Engage with different audiences to learn about their perceptions of VCA, including VNRC VCA trainers and facilitators; commune level Government officials (from Commune People’s Committees); local people; district and provincial level GoV and Red Cross officials.
4. Based upon VCA reports, existing project evaluations or monitoring reports, select a sample of communes where VCA have been undertaken that provide a cross section of assessments and are illustrative of a range of experiences. This should include representatives from each of the four regions for in situ analysis;
5. Conduct field visits to 3 communes in provinces in each of the four regions, where VCA have been undertaken and meet with and hold focus group discussions and one-to-one interviews with representatives of local Government staff (commune, district and provincial levels), Red Cross officials (at all administrative levels), commune and village leaders and with local people;
6. Critically appraise the draft ‘success criteria’ for VCA developed by the VNRC, IFRC, American and German Red Cross*** and develop a final working draft for use by the Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program;
7. Utilise the draft ‘success criteria’**** to identify the main elements for ‘successes’ for further development. This list will be refined to provide a practical set of indicators that may be utilised for future baseline analysis and end-point evaluation of VCA;
8. Review and critically appraise the current VNRC VCA Manuals on the basis of interviews with VCA facilitators, I/LNGO staff and local people in the selected communes to assess how ‘success’ in the VCA processes may be better achieved;
9. Ensure gender and social inclusion issues in the development of ‘success criteria’/indicators for the VCA process;
10. Draft report and a PowerPoint presentation of the initial results of the study, in both English and Vietnamese;
11. Facilitate a debriefing workshop in Hanoi with relevant stakeholders from the Red Cross, GoV (notably the Disaster Management Centre), L/INGOs and others;
12. Facilitate a 1-day training event for Red Cross VCA facilitators from Long An and Nam Dinh and a selection of experienced VCA ToT (involved with the Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program) on the use of the VCA ‘success’ indicators;
13. Draft a detailed final research report in both Vietnamese and English (maximum 25 pages - according a format agreed with the Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program and the American Red Cross), with a 3-4 page Executive Summary and separate Annexes.

Qualifications and competencies

Essential

• Masters in social sciences, disaster risk management, development studies or a related field;
• A minimum 7 years work experience, including international experience in participatory assessments (PRA, PLA, VCA, CBHFA, etc.), gender and social inclusion issues;
• A proven track record in managing and delivering participatory research reports;
• Recent relevant practical experience with similar projects in Vietnam;
• Familiarity and understanding of community based DRM, climate change and related scientific, technical, institutional and legislative issues in the country;
• Extensive field research experience in varying environments in Viet Nam and an in-depth knowledge of Government and community involvement in DRR and CCA;
• Excellent communication, networking and interpersonal skills; a team oriented work style; an interest and experience of working in a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary environment;
• Fluent written and spoken English.

Desirable

• PhD in social sciences, disaster risk management, development studies or a related field;
• At least two years cumulative experience working with the Vietnamese Government or Red Cross at national or provincial level in the area of disaster risk management/climate change;
• Experience in supporting government strategy and planning processes;
• Demonstrated ability and contributions to policy and guideline formulation;
• Past experience in working with the UN or with other international organizations;
• A background or experience in gender and gender analysis to take into consideration the differing needs of men and women, would be an advantage;
• Excellent spoken and written English and Vietnamese
• Excellent skills in standard software (MS Word processing, spreadsheets).

Timing and duration

It is anticipated that a maximum of 40 working days is required to undertake the tasks outlined above. The assignment will be conducted over a period of three months beginning on 26th of May. The consultant will work with the VFD core team, VNRC, PNS and NGOs in Hanoi to undertake desk research, to conduct interviews, contribute to the selection and analysis of secondary data. This will be followed by visits to selected locations where VCAs have been conducted. A draft report is due 15th July following fieldwork.

Duty station and expected places of travel

• The consultants are expected to be based in Hanoi.
• The consultant is expected to work closely with a Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program core team on this assignment as well as the VNRC NHQ and provincial level Red Cross staff to carry out the tasks outlined in the ToR and to make three, week long visits to at least 8 communes in some selected provinces in the four regions of the country: the central highlands, the Red River Delta, north central coast and the Mekong River Delta, where the VNRC (supported by various PNS, the IFRC and I/LNGOs) have conducted VCA in the period 2010 to 2014.

Applications

Candidates seeking to apply for this position, please send your resume and cover letter to [email protected] with subject line of “Application for National Consultant for Defining Success Criteria of VCA”.

Closing date: May 19th, 2014.

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* : http://www.dmc.gov.vn/tabid/97/language/en-US/item/455/Default.aspx

**:1. Northwest, 2. Northeast, 3. Red River Delta, 4. North-central coast, 5. South central coast, 6. Central highlands, 7. Southeast and 8. the Mekong River Delta

***: See Annex I

****: See Annex I