National Consultant for Advancing Early Warnings for All and Resilience in Mongolia

Result of Service

The consultant effectively supports the development and implementation of the EW4All Roadmap, strengthens coordination among relevant stakeholders, and provides effective support to the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Mongolia in advancing its resilience agenda and integrating disaster risk reduction into UN programming.

Work Location

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Expected duration

5 Nov 26-4 May 27

Duties and Responsibilities

Background

Created in December 1999, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) is the designated focal point in the United Nations system for the coordination of efforts to reduce disasters and to ensure synergies among the disaster reduction activities of the United Nations and regional organizations and activities in both developed and less developed countries. Led by the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction (SRSG/ASG), UNDRR has over 160 staff located in its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and in regional offices. UNDRR guides, monitors, analyses, and reports on progress in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. It supports regional and national implementation of the Framework and catalyzes action and increases global awareness to reduce disaster risk working with UN Member States and a broad range of partners and stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, parliamentarians and the science and technology community.

Mongolia faces increasing risks from climate-induced disasters such as dzuds, droughts, floods and dust storms, as well as geophysical hazards including earthquakes. In response, the Government of Mongolia has prioritized strengthening disaster risk reduction, including multi-hazard early warning systems, and resilience building through national policies and international cooperation. The United Nations Resident Coordinator's Office (RCO), together with resident and non-resident UN entities, supports these efforts through resilience building, climate change adaptation, anticipatory action and risk-informed development initiatives as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for Mongolia 2023-2027. RCO also serves as the secretariat for the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) where the government and non-government partners gather to take a coordinated actions for disaster risk prevention, preparedness, anticipatory action in the context of dzud and other natural hazards that could potentially translate into disasters. UNRCO is currently preparing for the development of the next phase of UNSDCF (2028-2032) and undertaking the stock-taking the existing progress, risk landscape, existing challenges and capacity gaps to prioritize the actions under the next UNSDCF.

Early Warning Systems are critical for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. To accelerate progress towards universal coverage of early warning systems by 2027, the United Nations Secretary-General launched the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative (https://earlywarningsforall.org/site/early-warnings-all). Aligned with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 and the Paris Agreement, EW4All promotes risk-informed, people-centred and actionable multi-hazard early warning systems across four pillars: (i) disaster risk knowledge; (ii) detection, observation, monitoring, analysis and forecasting of hazards and possible consequences; (iii) warning dissemination and communication; and (iv) preparedness and response capabilities. UN Resident Coordinators (RCs) play a key role in coordinating support from UN entities and partners, while the UNDRR, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) serve as the global leads for each of these Pillars.

The Government of Mongolia, through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has recently expressed interest in advancing EW4All Initiative. Several assessments, including the diagnosis conducted under Capacity for Disaster Reduction Initiative (CADRI) and EW4All-related assessments, have identified priority gaps and investment needs in Mongolia's multi-hazard early warning system, particularly in coordination, forecasting capacities, risk information and early warning applications. The Rapid Assessment of Pillar 2 capacities by WMO revealed key areas requiring improvement, such as coordination inefficiencies, technological infrastructure gaps, and capacity limitations at various administrative levels. The workshop on ‘Strengthening the Capacity for Multi-Hazard Risk Assessment and Early Warning in North-East Asia’, which was held in November 2024 in Beijing China and, brought together Mongolian representatives from all Pillars as well as from the global Pillar leads, provided crucial insights on Mongolia’s end-to-end early warning system, particularly on the status of and needs for impact-based forecasting, GIS-based impact modelling, and sector-specific early warning applications in agriculture, energy, and health. The most recent and more in-depth assessment of the national hydrometeorological and agrometeorological services capacities by WMO and revealed that (1) the strongest foundations are the existing institutional mandates, nationally functional observation networks, and routine forecasting and data operations; but that (2) the weakest areas are hydrological forecasting, interoperability across systems, impact-based service delivery, and institutionalized readiness for AI-enabled applications. These findings provide a strong basis for strengthening end-to-end early warning systems and resilience planning.

In parallel, Mongolia has also advanced a nationally led Anticipatory Action agenda through the development of an Anticipatory Action (AA) Strategic Framework. The framework provides a common vision for scaling anticipatory action across priority hazards and sectors by strengthening the institutional, operational and financing arrangements required for early action. It also promotes stronger linkages between risk information, forecasting, early warning systems, preparedness, and early action protocols. As implementation of the AA Strategic Framework and the EW4All initiative are mutually reinforcing, there is a growing opportunity to align investments and coordination efforts across early warning systems, anticipatory action and broader resilience-building priorities, consistent with Mongolia's National DRR Strategy and its 2026-2030 National Action Plan.

In this context, UNDRR seeks to engage a consultant to support the development of an EW4All roadmap for Mongolia, operationalization of anticipatory action priorities, and broader resilience coordination efforts led by the Mongolia UNRCO. The consultancy will help ensure coherent engagement of resident and non-resident UN entities, strengthen alignment across resilience-related initiatives, which is represented through EW4All and AA Strategic Framework and will be an integral part of the new UNSDCF 2028-2032. Under the supervision of the Programme Management Officer at the UNDRR Regional Office for Asia-Pacific (ROAP), the consultant will be based in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and work closely with the Government of Mongolia, the RCO, regional EW4All Pillar Leads, resident (UNCT and HCT) and other non-resident UN entities and other key stakeholders to undertake the following tasks.

Task A. EW4All Roadmap Development and Coordination (70%)

The consultant will support the Government of Mongolia, regional EW4All Pillar Leads, other UN agencies (both resident and non-resident), and relevant stakeholders in the following areas:

1. Coordination and Stakeholder Engagement: Support the national roll-out of the EW4All initiative and respective coordination among government entities, regional EW4All Pillar Leads, and other UN agencies and partners, while engaging wider stakeholders into the consultations.
2. Assessment and Validation: Map key stakeholders, policies, and projects/initiatives and review existing assessments related to Mongolia's multi-hazard early warning system. Support validation of priority gaps, capacity needs, investment requirements and help identify financial and technological opportunities and partners across the four EW4All pillars and cross-cutting areas.
3. EW4All Roadmap Development: Support the development of a both strategic and action-oriented and costed EW4All Roadmap in Mongolian and English, including priority actions, implementation arrangements, roles and responsibilities, and financing opportunities, while ensuring alignment with national disaster risk reductio, climate change adaptation and resilience priorities such as Anticipatory Action Strategic Framework and related policies. Support the design and facilitation of respective consultations and workshops, also to promote coherence between the EW4All Roadmap and the Anticipatory Action Strategic Framework validation process.

Task B. RCO Resilience Coordination and UN Programming Support (30%)

1. Support the RC and RCO in coordinating the HCT and related humanitarian and disaster risk reduction work. Provide coordination support to UNCT and HCT members, in close coordination with the NEMA, including follow-up on agreed actions and priorities.
2. Lead the coordination and regular updating of the 5W dashboard (Who does What, Where, When and for Whom), working with HCT members to strengthen information sharing, preparedness and coordination.
3. Support coordination among resident and non-resident UN entities on disaster risk reduction, preparedness, anticipatory action, climate resilience and risk-informed development, particularly priorities discussed through the HCT mechanism in coordination with NEMA.
4. Provide technical and coordination support to the RCO for integrating disaster risk management, resilience and risk-informed development considerations into the preparation of the new UNSDCF 2028–2032, including relevant analysis, consultations and formulation of priorities.

Qualifications/special skills

Advanced higher degree (Master’s or equivalent) inenvironmental science, international development, or areas related to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. A first-level university degree in combination with a minimum of two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. A minimum of 10 years of professional work experience in environmental, climate, or sustainable development policy, economics, or management with a specialization in disaster risk reduction or climate change adaptation is required. Experience working with national and sub-national level, including development partners and multistakeholder in policy and strategy development and institutional strengthening for disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation in Mongolia is required. Experience working with the United Nations system to support the process of UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks is required.

Languages

Fluency in English and Mongolian is required.

Additional Information

Due to the high volume of applications received, only successful candidates will be contacted.

No Fee