Country: Myanmar
Closing date: 31 Mar 2016
Terms of Reference
Title: Study on: Building Disaster and Climate Risk Informed Decentralized Local Government Planning in Myanmar
Duty Station: Yangon with some visit to Naypyidaw and 2 selected townships
Duration: Estimated 15 days for International Team Leader and 20 days for National Team Member
Starting Date: 1 May 2016
Background
Myanmar, the second most vulnerable country to climate extremes globally, is at a moment of unprecedented institutional, economic and social change.
Since Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar in 2008, the country has made significant progress in supporting communities to plan and be better prepared for natural disasters and climate change. Lessons from the field of implementing community disaster risk reduction and resilience planning are highlighting the need for increased harmonization between planning for community development to support rural development and poverty reduction efforts and those looking to strengthen resilience to shocks and stresses that may affect the development pathways of communities.
Myanmar is vulnerable to a variety of different types of natural disasters and climate change impacts including Cyclone, Storm surge, Floods, Landslide, Earthquake, Tsunami, Drought, Fire and Forest Fire[1]. Myanmar National Adpatation Porgramme of action (NAPA) has also documented observed climate change in Myanmar and highlighted how there is a scientific consensus that impacts will worsen over the coming years[2]
The ECHAM5 Model of Global Warming Experiment on Climate Changes in Myanmar during 21st century shows that annual, (April, May) temperature of Myanmar will increase throughout the 21st century; At the same time, projected rainfall for the South Western Monsoon period is also expected to increase for Myanmar during 21st Century. Predicted Length of Rainy Season will be shorter than Normal (144 Days) during Early 21st Century, Middle 21st Century and End period of 21st Century[3].
The national development space in Myanmar is in a process of transitioning from a more centralized planning process to decentralized local government planning process, more power is likely to be devolved to sub national institutions and ultimately communities to be able to plan and make decisions about how they should develop. Much of the policy supporting community driven development is being led by the Department for Rural Development (DRD) under the Ministry of Livestock Fisheries and Rural Development (MLFRD)[4]). This includes a push for village development planning led by communities. This will be supported by a number of local development funds being made available in the form of constituency, poverty reduction and rural development funds[5].
At the same time there are a significant number of projects being implemented across Myanmar supporting communities to understand risks from natural disasters and/or climate change and to develop plans that mitigate the risks or support adaptation to changing conditions. It is widely recognized that these project approaches, driven by civil society often lack the sustainability required to enable communities to continue activities after the end of the project lifecycle[6]. This often results in communities abandoning long term plans and forgetting skills and knowledge developed through projects.
DFID is funding an Alliance led by Plan International for a three year grant to implement the Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters (BRACED) programme in Myanmar. The Alliance is implementing a comprehensive resilience building model which includes a robust M&E framework and a Community Resilience Assessment and Planning Framework across 8 townships of Myanmar. The BRACED Myanmar project has a particular emphasis on building the resilience of women and children to climate extremes.
The BRACED Myanmar Alliance is looking to support local government institutes to incorporate risk into the development planning process and is looking to better understand the formal planning environment and the existing tools and approaches for risk informed planning at local level.
Objective of the Study:
To assess existing decentralized local government planning procedures in Myanmar and recommend practical steps to strengthen the planning process to make them disaster and climate risks informed.
Key questions to be answered by the study:
To what extent to current village level development planning procedures acknowledge risks from climate change and disasters related shocks and stresses?
What are the connecting points between risk assessments undertaken for climate and disaster projects and community driven development plans?
Access level of interest, capacity and motivation of government departments and relevant decision makers at sub national and local level to institutionalize climate and disaster risks into formal decentralized planning mechanisms?
Recommend practical steps for Myanmar to strengthen local government planning process to make climate and disaster risk informed.
It is expected that this piece of research will highlight the synergies between the different planning processes and map out the key roles and responsibilities for integrating risk into the plans. A series of recommendations are expected to establish a road map for how different government and non-government actors can initiate the institutionalization of risk planning into regular development planning.
Research methodology
· Review relevant literatures including government policies, procedures and practices
· Review of secondary literatures both qualitative and quantitative reports from both government and non-government agencies.
· Mapping the current planning processes and the connecting point between formal planning and project driven risk assessments and plans.
· Focus Group Discussions at townships/villages.
· Key Informant Interviews with relevant national and township level government institutions and relevant actors from national/international organization working in Myanmar.
Key informants will include but not be limited to staff and stakeholders from the following agencies, departments and organizations:
Government stakeholders:
· Department of Rural development under the Ministry of Livestock Fisheries and Rural Development. DRD are leading a number of the village development planning processes and rural development funds.
· The Relief and Resettlement Department under the Ministry of Social Welfare and Relief and Resettlement
· The environmental conservation department; Ministry of environmental Conservation and Forestry (MoeCAF). MoECAF are leading the development of the National Climate Change Strategy
· Department of Meteorology and Hydrology
· Local level government departments including the General Administrative Department GAD under Ministry of Home Affairs
Non-government stakeholders:
· DRR Working Group Members
· MCCR Secretariat and Members
· Bilateral donors – including DFID
· UN Agencies – UNDP, UNICEF, FAO, WFP
Deliverables:
· Inception report: detail step by step research methodology and clear timeline for the desired outputs
· Draft report: incorporating study methodology, evidence based findings, conclusion and recommendations
· Final report: presented in professional publishable quality standards and format that incorporates study methodology, evidence based findings, conclusion and practical recommendations.
Study Team composition:
Study team will consist maximum two persons having following qualifications and experiences:
Study Team Leader (International or National)
· Master’s degree environment, disaster, social science or relevant discipline
· At least 7 years field experience in policy analysis on environment, climate change and disaster reliance – required.
· Strong experience in analyzing decentralized local government planning procedure and integration of disaster and climate change issues – highly desired.
· Past experience as team leader for similar assignment.
· Experience of working on disaster and climate change policy issues in developing countries with special focus on South Asia or South East Asia context - highly desired.
· Proven research and report writing skills maintaining internarial standards – required.
· Fluent in English
Note: Team Leader is expected to work in Yangon having visit toNaypyidaw. S/he is not expected to visit field locations.
Study Team Member (National)
· Master’s degree environment, disaster, social science or relevant discipline
· At least 7 years field experience in analyzing decentralized local government policies and planning procedure and integration of disaster and climate change issues – required.
· Strong experience in policy analysis on environment, climate change and disaster reliance – highly desired.
· Past experience as team member for similar assignment.
· Proven research and report writing skills– required
· First-hand experience of working with government institutions and international agencies in Myanmar on policy research.
· Fluent in English and Myanmar language
Note: Team Member (national) is expected to work in Yangon having visit toNaypyidaw. S/he is also expected visit 2 townships for KII and FGDs
[1] Ministry of Social Welfare Relief and resettlement, Relief and resettlement department (2009) Myanmar Action Plan on Disaster Risk Reduction [MAPDRR]
[2] National Environmental Conservation Committee, Ministry of Environmental
Conservation and Forestry Myanmar (2012) National Adaptation Porgramme of Action (NAPA) to Climate Change
[4] ADB (2015) Myanmar National Framework for Community Disaster Resilience- DRAFT.
[5] Action Aid, MDRI and The Asia Foundation (2015) Local Development Funds in Myanmar, An initial review.
[6] DRR Working Group Community Based CBDRR TTF, BRACED, MCCR Workshop Report (2015) Harmonising and strengthening tools, processes and guidance for Inclusive Community-Based DRR Workshop Central Hotel, Yangon, 20th Oct, 2015
How to apply:
Qualified candidates who meet requirements are invited to apply.
A group of specialists (Team leader and team member) can submit joint proposal
Or an individual specialist also can submit proposal clearly mentioning the position s/he is interested.
The proposal should consist:
· Brief outline study methodology/approaches for the study
· CV of the candidates
· Financial proposal having costs breakdowns for travel, renaturation, and associated costs.
· An example of previous similar work.
The proposalsto be submitted electronically to Human Resource of the Plan International Myanmar at: Myanmar.CO@plan-international.org by 31 March 2016, 5:30 PM Yangon Time**.**
For technical queries and clarification related to this assignment, please write to: bhushan.shrestha@plan-international.org