Afghanistan: Climate Adaptation Advisor, Country Office, Kabul

Jul 19, 2023 | Danish Refugee Council
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DRC is strengthening its response to the global climate crisis by reinforcing climate adaptation support for conflict-and displacement affected individuals and communities, as well as ensuring its own conduct is nature-positive, as per priorities set out in Strategy 2025 and DRC’s Framework on Climate change and Environment. In recent years, DRC has established an evidence base on building community resilience to climate change and environmental degradation using interdisciplinary methods that bridge regenerative design, agroecology, agroforestry, peacebuilding, passive water harvesting and community design to address problems linked to climate change, ecological degradation, market disruption and community insecurity. This includes projects like the Northern Uganda Resilience Initiative [1] and the Resilient Colline in Burundi [2]. Find more information about DRC’s climate and environment action on its web page.

About the Job

The Climate Adaptation Advisor will lead DRC’s work on strengthening resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-induced impacts in Afghanistan. The Climate Adaptation advisor is a key member of DRC Afghanistan Country Office Programme team and of the global ‘go green’ community of practice. He/she will work closely with the Economic Recovery and Shelter and Settlements Coordinators to enhance climate resilience outcomes across DRC Afghanistan programme. Technical fields under the responsibility of the Climate Adaptation Advisor span across DRC core sectors and may include permaculture, regenerative & circular resilience, climate-smart agriculture, watershed management/groundwater recharge and more.

The overall responsibility of the Climate Adaptation Advisor is to lead on climate adaptation and resilience across the DRC Afghanistan programme, by guiding programme design, ensuring technical oversight of activities aimed at strengthening climate resilience, and delivering technical capacity building as relevant to DRC’s response. She/he will drive development of climate adaptation programming, building on and expanding DRC’s existing work and in alignment with global programmatic initiatives. The Climate Adaptation Advisor will be based in Kabul with frequent travel to DRC Area Offices (minimum 30% of contract time). .

Responsibilities:

Technical advice and support

  •  Provide technical support for Country Office and Area Office staff on climate adaptation interventions, building capacities through in-person, site-based trainings and demonstrations.
  •  Develop technical resources, guidance and tools for climate adaptation and resilience that are in line with global best practices and contextualized to Afghanistan and ensure comprehensive familiarization and roll out through training and mentorship of field teams.
  •  Support documentation and replication of good practices across the different Area Offices and between actors implementing climate resilience and adaptation interventions in Afghanistan.
  •  Complete regular field visits to ensure technical oversight and support, identify needs, and ensure quality programming.

Programme Development, Coordination, and Oversight

  •  Support the Country Office (Head of Programme, Programme Development and Quality team) in project design for climate adaptation and resilience interventions (in above-mentioned technical fields)
  •  Map donor priorities within given sector and identify new opportunities.
  •  Provide technical review of all proposals and reports and other relevant donor communications.
  •  Participate in program review meetings as relevant (Grant Opening, Grant Review, & Close Out Meetings)

Resources and learning

  •  Lead on the implementation of evidence-gathering exercises - including assessments, research pieces, etc. - to ensure DRC climate resilience programme is fit for purpose and relevant to the specific needs and characteristics of target geographies and communities
  •  Contribute to DRC Afghanistan learning and evidence-building on climate adaptation and resilience, including by collecting and sharing good practice through technical case studies and other outputs as relevant
  •  Contribute to the development of strong and relevant monitoring and evaluation systems in close coordination with the Programme Development and Quality team
  •  Contribute to organisational awareness-raising and internal communication for organisational change in support of nature-positive programming.

Strategy and policy

  •  In close coordination with the Head of Programme, lead on external communication for donors and partners, drawing on programme learning
  •  Build global partnerships, incl. in support of evidence-building and learning (incl. relationship building with research institutions)
  •  Represent DRC in relevant global policy forums on climate adaptation and displacement, including HQ-led initiatives and community of practice
  •  Lead on the development of DRC Afghanistan Climate Adaptation Strategy building on evidence from the Afghanistan context, learnings from ongoing programme implementation, and global good practices and ensuring that programme strategy, and design is well integrated with other DRC sectors
  •  Remain abreast of research, trends and innovation within the sector and transfer this into programme design and implementation, when relevant to the context

Other

  •  Raise any issues of non-compliance and assure compliance with DRC standards and procedures
  •  Coordinate with Comms/Advocacy for success story content, communication tools, etc.
  •  Any other duties as agreed with HoP

About the Applicant

Experience and technical competencies:

Essential

  •  Master’s degree in relevant field is preferred.
  •  At least 5 years of INGO field experience in a similar position
  •  Up-to-date knowledge of climate adaptation and resilience concepts, policy debates and methods as a whole, with strong technical knowledge in one or more specific areas, such as circular design practices, permaculture, regenerative resilience design, agroecology (or other)
  •  Strong track record and capability of mobilizing donor support for climate adaptation programming
  •  Experience delivering technical trainings (in one or more technical areas, see above) and capacity building, including in settings with remote technical management.
  •  Strong technical experience in development and roll out of SOPs.
  •  Experience working in different country contexts, e.g. beyond project-specific role(s) in one country
  •  Ability to work in a multicultural context and strong ability to establish collaborative working relationships across dispersed geographical locations.
  •  Demonstrated ability to work independently as part of a small team.
  •  Excellent oral and written communication skills, including writing (English) and facilitation.
  •  Strong computer skills (MS Word, Excel, Outlook, and Power Point)
  •  Willingness to work in a hazardous environment and in compliance with strict security protocols and to travel for minimum 30% of the contract time, including to remote field locations.

Desirable

  •  Knowledge of conflict sensitivity and/or conflict resolution techniques, and experience using such techniques in programming
  •  Experience using Climate vulnerability assessments for programme design and implementation.
  •  Experience with forecast-based and/or climate early warning programming
  •  Experience with participatory project design with communities for climate adaptation

Education/qualifications:

  •  Master’s degree in field related to climate smart agriculture or climate smart engineering or other relevant fields is preferred.

Languages:

  •  English (fluent)
  •  Dari, Pashto (desirable)

DRC Offers

6-month contract, with possibility of extension pending funding being secured

Application process

Interested? Then apply for this position by clicking the below Apply button. All applicants must send a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages), Both must be in the same language as this vacancy note. CV-only applications will not be considered.