Consultant - Emergency Preparedness, Women's Refugee Commission, New York, NY

Short-Term Consultant - Field Test of Emergency Preparedness Checklist

Posted by: Women's Refugee Commission

DESCRIPTION

Since 1989, the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) has advocated vigorously for laws, policies and programs to improve the lives and protect the rights of refugee and displaced women, children and young people—bringing about lasting, measurable change.

The sexual and reproductive health (SRH) program of the WRC leads innovative programming to improve the SRH of all persons affected by crises.  They identify critical gaps in SRH and make recommendations on solutions to better meet the needs of women and girls specifically.  To ensure that the minimum standard for priority SRH services are in place from the outset of an emergency, they advocate for implementation of the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for reproductive health in crisis situations.  They advocate that after the crisis situation stabilizes, the full range of SRH services be available.  The WRC began advocating for the inclusion of SRH within emergency preparedness activities in 2010.

The WRC currently facilitates the official RH sub-working group of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), with the goal of developing policy and programmatic recommendations for the inclusion of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) within Emergency Preparedness and Planning activities.  The WRC is joined by the World Health Organization, International Planned Parenthood Federation’s (IPPF) SPRINT initiative, UNICEF, UNFPA, the IFRC, CARE and International Medical Corps in efforts related to this issue.

Between 2011 and 2012, the group developed a SRH fact sheet for the 2011 Global Platform meeting, and a Policy Brief for the 2012 International Disaster Risk Reduction Day.  The group has additionally drafted a checklist of activities for implementation at the national, sub-national and community level which would support the incorporation of SRH within DRR and emergency preparedness.  This check list is currently in need of field test and review. 

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE & SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
Emergencies and large-scale disasters have significant impact on public health, health infrastructure and the delivery of health care. More than 1.1 million deaths were recorded in over 4000 large-scale natural disasters in the past decade, with an average of over 220 million people affected each year. More than 1.5 billion people live in countries affected by fragility, conflict or large-scale violence. In 2012, it is estimated at least 51 million people in 16 countries require some form of humanitarian assistance. This is not the full picture, as numerous other emergencies, including epidemics, chemical and radiological incidents, and major transport crashes, also affect public health, particularly at the local level, but often with national and international dimensions too. Economic losses from these events run into the billions of dollars, setting back social development and hard-earned health gains.

• Emergencies have a disproportionate effect on the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children.
• Eight of the ten countries with the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world are in fragile circumstances and are affected by current or recent conflict. Neonatal mortality rates are highest in areas affected by humanitarian emergencies.
• Given the high HIV prevalence in countries at risk or facing emergencies, a significant proportion of people affected by emergencies are living with HIV.
• Emergencies linked to displacement, food insecurity and poverty increase vulnerability to HIV and negatively affect the lives of those already living with HIV.
• Population pressures, combined with poorly planned urban and rural development and climate change, make communities more vulnerable to, and increase the risk of, emergencies and disasters.

Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a significant public health need in all communities, including those facing emergencies. As stated in the outcome document of the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, universal access to reproductive health, including family planning and sexual health, is needed and should be integrated into national strategies and programmes.

ABOUT THE CONSULTANCY

The WRC currently seeks a consultant to assist in the field test of the draft checklist, developed by the official RH sub-working group of the ISDR.  Ideal candidates would possess experience working in disaster risk reduction, and have networks for this work in at least two countries.  Some field test locations may be selected based on existing government and agency networks.  Additionally, ideal candidates would posses some knowledge of field test methodology and tools. 

 

SPECIFIC DELIVERABLES

The Consultant is expected to work with the RH sub-working group of the ISDR, under supervision of the WRC in order to complete the following deliverables:

• Provide input to field test methodology and finalize protocol
• Draft e-tool for broad data collection regarding the existing checklist- to be implemented through survey format or through targeted outreach. Analyze and present findings.
• Travel and actively engage 2-3 country DRR teams in the revision and further development of the checklist Integrating Sexual and Reproductive Health into Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management. 
• Implement field test methodology in each country (ie: consultation groups, and key informant interviews), incorporating all levels of the health system
• Summarize field input regarding recommendations for “field friendliness”
• Incorporate suggested revisions within checklist, for presentation to the working group
• Garner support within field offices for the finalization of such tools and obtain information about other resource needs

For more information on our work at the Women’s Refugee Commission, and our Sexual and Reproductive Health Program please click here.

HOW TO APPLY

Visit http://womensrefugeecommission.org/about/employment/1627-short-term

Apply for the job here.