Early Warning Capacity Building Associate

Organizational Setting:

FAO has a clear mandate for, and comparative advantage in, supporting early warning and early action to protect food security and agriculture. FAO already supports or directly manages a range of early warning systems at global, regional and national levels, which are key to resilience programming and has a substantial portfolio of work in supporting nationally led response and, where necessary, directly manages humanitarian and resilience interventions in this sector.

The FAO Representation in Uganda is currently implementing an initiative to strengthen shock responsive systems in Uganda. The project is funded by the European Union and implemented in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), the District Local Governments (DLGs) of Karamoja sub-region and the World Food Programme (WFP). This collaboration aims to enhance the capacity of the Government of Uganda to predict, respond and reduce the impacts of shocks in Karamoja. Developing a people-centred multi-hazard Early Warning System (EWS) for Karamoja sub-region is a key deliverable. The system development would improve the capacity of stakeholders to generate, analyse and disseminate accurate, timely and actionable early warning information. Additionally, the initiative tests sectoral anticipatory and early actions to increase the resilience of communities and households in Karamoja to shocks and stresses.

Reporting Lines:

Under the general supervision of the FAO Representative and the direct supervision of the Field Coordinator of the FAO Field Office in Moroto, and in close collaboration with the Project Manager based in Kampala, the incumbent will oversee monthly data collection and analysis as well as provide support to District Local Governments (DLGs). The overall duties of the incumbent include dissemination of EWS recommendations and the rollout of an efficient, reliable and quality multi-hazard EWS in Karamoja sub-region.

Technical Focus

• Capacity building of District Local Governments to routinely collect data on multi-hazard impacts in Karamoja region
• Oversee monthly data collection and analysis
• Dissemination of Early Warning System (EWS) recommendations and the rollout of an efficient, reliable and quality multi-hazard EWS in Karamoja sub-region

Tasks and responsibilities

• In consultation with the Early Warning System Specialist and the Field Supervisor/Head of Moroto Office, design training materials for community data collectors, community leaders and representatives as well as district head of departments and early warning focal persons
• Build the capacity of District Early Warning Focal Persons (DEWFP) through trainings and follow up, regarding all components of EWS with a focus on data analysis and production of timely multi-hazard bulletins
• Take stock of the existing EWS equipment from previous implementation and make recommendations on replacements and ensure that they are in safe custody and in good working condition for a functional and operationally active system
• Ensure all equipment in the district needed for the functionality of the system are operational and active
• Monitor the achievement of the districts and community and provide appropriate technical/advisory support where needed in regard to the EWS in consultation with Field Supervisor and Drought Monitoring and Early Warning System Specialist
• Facilitate and encourage buy-in of all the EWS processes by DLGs including ownership and sustainability of the system through DLG budget allocations
• Follow up the data collection at the district and parish level through monitoring of the DEWFP and the District Heads of Department (DHOD) together with the sentinels
• Coordinate DLG Early warning stakeholders including DEWFP and DHODs as well as the sentinels for timely collection, analysis and dissemination of the Early Warning Bulletins
• For every EWS meeting, document DLG level deliberations and produce approved meeting minutes;
• Conduct field visits and trainings for the sentinels including technical backstopping to sentinels to ensure timely and accurate data collection
• Compile the field level findings in regards to technical capacity gaps noted from the sentinels to inform further capacity building trainings with the Field Supervisor and Early Warning System Specialist
• Work closely with DLGs and advocate for the inclusion of EWS in the district development plans;
• Support district budget development as it pertains to the operation of EWS;
• Conduct data quality control activities for both parish and district level of data collection and document all the activities done in this period;
• Participate in the continuous development/upgrade of the EWS software and databases;
• Organize the trainings of the DEWFP whenever new versions of the software are released and address emerging capacity needs
• Support DLGs through District Disaster Management Committees in particular - to disseminate multi-hazard alerts and recommendations in a timely manner;
• Support the development of early warning messages, the early action repository and district level contingency planning;
• Monitor DLG level agro-meteorological stations and ensure data is available for monthly multi-hazard analysis;
• Provide support to the overall implementation of the project including administrative support;
• Submit monthly progress and technical reports to the Project Manager;
• Perform any other tasks related to the rollout of the project in Karamoja sub-region.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in agro-meteorology, meteorology, hydrology, agriculture, natural resources management, environmental sciences, disaster risk reduction, or a related field;
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in working on humanitarian and/or development programming
• National of Uganda
• Working knowledge of English

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Extent and relevance of experience in disaster risk reduction and management, food security and/or agricultural meteorology
• Extent and relevance of experience in data collection, analysis, reporting and dissemination
• Extent and relevance of experience in organizing and conducting trainings at local government level
• Extent and relevance of experience in building partnerships with government and development or humanitarian actors
• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is desirable.
• Ability to ride a motor Bike
• Working knowledge of a local language spoken in Karamoja (e.g. Ng’karimojong, Ethur or Kiswahili/Pokot) is desirable

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION