Consultancy for GIS Disaster Preparedness and Response Mapping Building urban resilience in South East Asia Project- Vietnam

Consultancy for GIS Disaster Preparedness and Response mapping Building urban resilience in South East Asia Project- Vietnam

Title:     (i) Review of current mapping methodologies and tools and assessment of their suitability for ward and city Disaster Preparedness and Response (DPR) practitioners, (ii) Development of a user-friendly methodology for GIS DPR mapping in urban and peri-urban contexts, (iii) Training of national and international Red Cross staff and local authorities to develop and update GIS DPR maps with the new methodology, (iv) Finalization the newly developed GIS DPR mapping methodology based on field tests and lessons learned.

Position:     1 consultant / consultancy team (National or International)

Duration & timing:     60 to 100 working days over the period from 18th July to 30th November 2016 and the period of 1th September to 31th October 2017

Duty station:     Home with meetings and workshops in Hanoi and in 3 selected cities of Vietnam

Reporting:    German Red Cross DRR delegate

1.    Background

The project “Building urban resilience in South East Asia”, funded by European Union humanitarian aid and coordinated by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) at Regional level, aims to build resilience in 12 high-risk urban areas in Cambodia, Lao PDR, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The Red Cross Societies of these four countries and their Partner National Societies are the key Red Cross Movement partners of this project. In Vietnam, the project will be implemented by the Vietnamese Red Cross (VNRC) with support from the German Red Cross (GRC), and will be focused on two specific components of the project, namely public awareness for DRR (result 2) and building the capacity of local government authorities and Red Cross for disaster preparedness and response through an innovative GIS based preparedness and response (DPR) mapping methodology (result 3). For this last component, GRC and VNRC aimed at reviewing existing DPR mapping methods and tools, assessing their use and developing a user-friendly DPR mapping for urban contexts.

In 2014, in support to the National the programme ‘Enhance Community Awareness and Community Based Disaster Risk Management’ (Decision 1002/Q?-TTg), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) approved the community-based disaster risk assessment (CBDRA) methodology to assess the vulnerability and capacity of 6,000 communes to face hazard risks. Hazard risk mapping is a tool used in CBDRA to identify risks, exposure and vulnerabilities and the local Disaster Risk Management capacities. In a rural context, hazard risk maps are usually sketched during community meetings. In an urban context, however, the importance of such hand drawn maps is debatable. In 2015, GRC and VNRC conducted an evaluation of the VNRC Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (VCA) and CBDRA methodologies which revealed that the precision and reliability of information of those sketched maps is questionable in an urban context, as VCA and CBDRA reports fail to represent local complexity. This includes limitation in addressing urban issues such as migration and in engaging with the private sector. Therefore, this reduces their relevance for DRM planning, post-disaster Damage and Needs Assessment, and the use of those maps for socio-economic development planning. A more accurate GIS-based DPR mapping is a good entry point to start adapting VCA and CBDRA to the urban context. Existing urban GIS maps sometimes identify climate-related risks but do not provide information about human-made hazards or ward vulnerability and capacity. Technical terms make them difficult to understand and use by local people and government authorities. Therefore there is a need to develop hybrid maps which are (a) accessible to local authorities and people; (b) provide geo-referenced information on hazard risks and vulnerability, with attention to the most vulnerable groups; (c) provide information on ward capacity in DRM; and (d) can be updated by staff with limited GIS mapping capacity. These hybrid DPR maps can improve response capacity by identifying early warning coverage, evacuation sites and routes. The maps will also include information on vulnerable groups for pre- and post-disaster response.

2.    Purpose

GRC is seeking for a consultant / consultancy team (National or International) to (i) Review current mapping methodologies and tools and assess their suitability for ward and city Disaster Preparedness and Response (DPR) practitioners, (ii) Develop a user-friendly methodology for GIS DPR mapping in urban and peri-urban contexts, compatible with existing systems of the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) and Central Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control (CCNDPC), (iii) Train national and international Red Cross staff and local authorities to develop and update GIS DPR maps with the new methodology, and  (iv) Finalize the newly developed GIS DPR mapping methodology based on field tests and lessons learned. 
(For more detailed about the time-scale, scope and proposed methodology see in annex the detailed ToR)

3.    Outputs/ deliverables

a)    Detailed ToR (proposal) explaining the main concept, methodologies and work plan for the assignment (by the 25th of July 2016).
b)    A Report (in English and Vietnamese) on the current mapping methodologies and tools including the assessment their suitability for ward and city Disaster Preparedness and Response (DPR) practitioners and recommendations (by 30th of August 2016).
c)    A practitioners’ guidelines (in English and Vietnamese) on the innovative methodology for DPR mapping explaining the different steps to follow for the development and update of DPR maps from data gathering with stakeholders to data inputting into GIS software and the printing the maps (by 15th of October 2016).
d)    A simple practitioners’ hand-book (in English and Vietnamese) explaining the use of the GIS software selected for the methodology (by the 15th of October 2016). 
e)    Training materials and training outlines (in English and Vietnamese) for training Red Cross staff and local authorities  on the new methodology for DPR mapping  (by the 15th of November 2016).
f)    Lessons learned workshop report on the gaps and challenges in the methodology (by the 30th of October 2017)
g)    Final version of the  practitioners’ guidelines (in English and Vietnamese) on the innovative methodology for DPR mapping (by the 30th of October 2017)
h)    Final version of the simple practitioners’ hand-book (in English and Vietnamese) on the use of the GIS software selected for the methodology (by the 30th of October 2017).

4.    Consultant (s) profile

The consultant/consultancy team shall have the following skills and experience.

• At least 8 years of theoretical and practical work on Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR) including all crosscutting issues (gender, PWD inclusion)
• At least 5 years of theoretical and practical experience in GIS mapping including proven ability in capacity building of local stakeholders
• Previous experience working with the Red Cross Red Crescent is preferred
• Excellent communication and documentation skills in English and Vietnamese
• Results focused and accountable

The consultants are expected to provide samples of previous assignments with a similar content.

5.    Consultancy Management

The consultant will officially report to the GRC. The GRC DRR delegate will be responsible for the coordination with GRC, VNRC and other relevant stakeholders.

6.    Date and timeframe

60 to 100 working days over the period from 18th July to 30th November 2016 and the period of 1th September to 31th October 2017

7.    Consultant Fee

Please submit your financial offer in Vietnam Dong on a lump sum per day basis including all expenses (transport, accommodation, stationaries) before and after taxes (VAT / PIT /FCT). GRC will not pay any per diem or health/ accident insurance. The consultant /consultancy team will have to ensure its own health and accidental insurance.

8.    Application Procedure

Interested candidates are invited to contact Ms Bui Lien Phuong ([email protected]) for additional details about the assignment and then to send their applications by email in English consisting of a CV, a letter of motivation and a financial and technical offer to: [email protected]. Please indicate clearly your application subject: “DPR Mapping consultant”.

Deadline for application:  10th July at 17:00, Hanoi time. Please note that only applications which are submitted in English and contain all above mentioned documents shall be considered. While German Red Cross appreciates all responses, only candidate under consideration shall be contacted for an interview.