Titre Climate Resilience Officer
Reporting to Thematic Lead Climate Resilience
Direct reports None
Internal
Group Links

Change hub Climat & Résilience ;
Change hub Agriculture

Key Working
Relationships

Thematic Lead Climate Resilience,
Junior Agriculture and Climate Resilience Officer
Global Flood Alliance Programme Manager
Flood Alliance Programme Officer

Location Thies, Senegal
Duration 2 years, renewable – Full Time
Travel Within Senegal, but also in West Africa and else where

ABOUT THE ROLE

In the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), two-thirds of the population make their living working in agriculture. About 90% are smallholder farmers with an average plot size below 1 ha, who depend mainly on agriculture for subsistence and often live below the poverty line. In urban areas, zones at highest risk of flooding tend to be settled by low-income households (from rural exodus), often informally. Each rainy season brings reports of dozens dead and thousands displaced by floods. The frequency and severity of extreme weather events appear to be on the increase. The ever-growing population along with climate change exert an increasing and tremendous pressure on energy and food security as well as livelihoods in the region. Strengthening climate resilience– the ability to adapt to long term climate changes and to endure and recover from shorter term climate shocks including droughts and floods - is a major objective of governments in West Africa.

Practical Action West Africa has secured funding for a new phase of the Global Flood Resilience Programme, funded by the Zurich Foundation. This new phase, planned to run from 2024-2027, follows on from the first phase, which saw the development of a French-language portal on flood resilience in West Africa in collaboration with IED Afrique in 2020, and the implementation of activities to build the resilience of vulnerable communities in the commune of Thiès Nord between 2021 and 223. For this new phase of the programme, we still have the ambition to work on the theme of flooding and to consolidate it with the work on the phenomenon of heat waves. We will be extending our activities to other areas of the city of Thiès and gradually expanding to Dakar in the department of Guédiawaye, Kaffrine and Matam. At the same time, we have secured other projects around this programme focused on strengthening Early Warning Systems (EWS) in the context of flooding and food insecurity.

The Climate Resilience Officer will be responsible for supporting the Thematic Lead Climate and Resilience - Programme Manager in implementing the intervention plan for the Zurich programme; managing partnerships and working with communities and key stakeholders; and other projects related to the resilience change ambition.

The Climate Resilience Officer will be responsible for supporting the Thematic Lead Climate and Resilience - Programme Manager in implementing the intervention plan for the Zurich programme; managing partnerships and working with communities and key stakeholders; and other projects related to the resilience change ambition.

ACCOUNTABILITIES
Project implementation and delivering quality
- Carry out day-to-day delivery of the Flood Resilience Project in collaboration with the Thematic Lead Climate and Resilience and the Junior Agriculture and Resilience Advisor, and the Practical Action UK ZFRP team
- Directly implement the project interventions and ensure the active and meaningful participation of community groups and all relevant stakeholders
- Ensure the timely, quality delivery of activities designed and delivered
- Work effectively with the Thematic Lead Climate and Resilience and other teams to ensure that the project is implemented according to contract (in terms of budget, activities, and time frame) and that any amendments are cleared in a timely manner.
- Support the project’s effective and systematic monitoring and evaluation and ensure findings are recorded and escalated to guide the continued successful implementation of other projects and inform the development of other new initiatives
- Ensure gender and inclusion is considered within every activity
- Engage the community and stakeholders during reflections, reviews and evaluations (using PLA tools), ensuring the voices of the most vulnerable are heard.
- Actively participate in team reflections, identifying learnings and challenges and contributing ideas for adaptive for increased impact
- Support accountability with communities and stakeholders including the running of feedback and response mechanisms
- Work with partners (and at times building their capacity) to implement the activities.
- Contribute to ensuring safeguarding in the project
- Contribute to the production of reports/knowledge products
- Support knowledge sharing from projects with key stakeholders within and outside the organization (including writing and reviewing relevant project reports and knowledge products).
- In agreement with line manager, provide the day-to-day delivery inputs to long-term and short term climate resilience assignments in the region in close collaboration with PA UK, other PA regional offices, external partner organizations and consultants.

Strengthening Profile, Generating Funding and Managing Relationships
- Represent Practical Action in the Project area to local government, local communities, NGOs and other actors
- Participate in local coordination / networking meetings as required
- Support effective lesson learning, information management and lesson sharing within Practical Action, the Zurich Alliance, and externally through different medium
- Develop and maintain professional links with development agencies, government bodies, county governments, technical specialists, universities and other professional institutions as required by the project


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