Consultant - Risk Management Assessment and Planning Exercise for Lake Chad Regional Stabilization Facility at UNDP

Location: Borno, with possible missions to Abuja, Adamawa and Yobe
Type of Contract: Individual Contract
Post Level: International Consultant
Starting Date (date when the selected candidate is expected to start): 02nd December, 2019
Duration of Initial Contract: 40 Working Days
Expected Duration of Assignment: 40 Working Days

Background
Millions of civilians continue to grapple with extreme adversity across north-east Nigeria and the rest of the Lake Chad region where a recent surge in violence has uprooted tens of thousands more people, exacerbating an already dire crisis situation. An intractable extremist insurgency that has left tens of thousands of people dead, approximately 2.5 million displaced, and more than 10 million people in the region affected and in need. It is unlikely that security responses alone will be sufficient to address the complex factors that gave rise to the insurgency, and which continues to sustain it. There is increasing consensus that military efforts must be coupled with significant investments in complementary stabilisation activities to benefit the local population with both local and Lake Chad Basin (LCB) regional levels, if the security-humanitarian-development nexus around Lake Chad is to be effectively addressed.

While robust national and multi-national military operations have re-taken territory previously controlled by Boko Haram, a new approach is required to consolidate these gains and establish the conditions necessary to transition from military to civilian responsibility for security, and from the provision of humanitarian assistance to the resumption of stalled development processes.  To this end, UNDP has been developing a new initiative for establishing Lake Chad Basin Stabilization Facility, supporting four Lake Chad Basin countries (i.e., Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad) as well as LCB regional institutions, such as the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC).

The Facility will act as a rapid-response package– delivering within 90 days of target area selection – that relevant authorities can sequence with military operations as necessary, to ensure immediate follow-up in specific locations and curtail the ability of armed opposition groups to re-infiltrate and exploit any security vacuum or community perceptions of non-responsive Government by extending an organized and effective civilian security umbrella, consolidating military progress with development ‘dividends’ for the local population.

The Facility aims to address the needs of immediate stabilization in the target areas with high degrees of insecurity, promoting the phased transition of insecure areas toward greater security, and the reduction of current volatility whereby previously secure areas have become more rather than less vulnerable.

Such programme approach undeniably faces various risks, institutional, programmatic and contextual, to project implementation and there is a need to establish an integrated approach to risk management, with horizontal integration across all types of risks, and vertical integration from projects up to corporate level.  To this end, UNDP is seeking for an expert to conduct a risk assessment and design risk management mechanisms for Lake Chad Basin Regional Stabilization Facility (RSF) in line with UNDP’s Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Policy.

Duties and Responsibilities
Scope of the Work and Tasks:

• The primary scope of work of the experienced consultant / expert is to develop the umbrella framework for risk management for the RSF, focusing on the following areas in accordance with UNDP’s ERM Risk Categories (See Annex):
• Institutional risk: existing and emerging uncertainties that could facilitate or hinder the efficiency and effectiveness of core operations within the organization.
• Programmatic risk: existing and emerging uncertainties that could facilitate or hinder the realization of programme or project objectives.
• Contextual risk: existing and emerging uncertainties that could facilitate or hinder progress towards development priorities of a given society. ERM considers contextual risk when these external uncertainties also present institutional or programmatic risks.

In the overall programme context of the RSF, the Risk Management Framework should aim to:

• Increase programme effectiveness and relevance through adaptive and informed decision-making
• Provide greater assurance regarding the management of significant risks
• Enable the exploration of innovative solutions to organizational and development challenges
• Inform effective and targeted allocation of resources to where they are most needed
• Enhance the reputation of UNDP as a value-driven and risk-informed organization
• Increase efficiency by safeguarding the accountable use of resources
• Safeguard people and the environment
• Manage and reduce to an acceptable level the safety and security risks to UNDP personnel, premises and assets.

Risk Assessment
A risk assessment should be conducted with suitable methodologies for risk identification, analysis and evaluation, enabling greater acceptance of risk-taking opportunities for implementation of immediate stabilization activities under RSF while ensuring rigorous due diligence, treatment, monitoring and control. Risk categories to be assessed should include 1) Social and Environmental; 2) Financial; 3) Operational; 4) Organizational; 5) Political; 6) Regulatory; 7) Strategic; and 8) Safety and Security, in line with UNDP’s ERM Risk Categories (See Annex). Other risk factors that are expected to be assessed can be added to address the specific context of RSF and the Lake Chad Basin Region.

Based on the risk assessment, the consultant should identify and determine appropriate risk treatment measures. In case of threats to organizational objectives, risk treatment may be of four types: terminate (seeking to eliminate activity that triggers such a risk), transfer (passing ownership and/or liability to a third party), mitigate (reducing the likelihood and/or impact of the risk below the threshold of acceptability), and tolerate (tolerating the risk level). In case of opportunities, risk treatment may be of four types: exploit (making the opportunity happen), experiment (testing new solutions in uncertain contexts), enhance (enhance the likelihood or impact through reinforcing the trigger condition or increasing exposure), and accept (no proactive actions). As part of the risk mitigation plan, the responsible party/actor of each countermeasure action as well as risk monitoring and review mechanism should be set.

The methodologies to develop a risk management framework should encompass an inclusive communication and consultative approach, including but not limited to desk review, consultations with UNDP staff as well as external actors, interviews with experts/resource person and focused group discussions. A presentation/briefing on the findings and recommendation of the report to UNDP or the other key stakeholders (e.g., the government officials or the donors) can be requested. The consultant must also use the risk matrix and the detailed risk assessment (incl. risk, consequence, likelihood, risk level) with risks mitigation measures (incl. strategy, action, responsibility, and timeframe).

The consultant will carry out the tasks described above supervised by Head of UNDP Sub-Office for North East Region under overall guidance from UNDP Resident Representative for Nigeria in close collaboration with UNDP Deputy Resident Representatives.

Key Deliverables and Time frame
The assignment will lead to the production of the following key deliverables:

• An inception report with the situation analysis and methodologies for the risk assessment and formulation of risk management framework (By the end of 1st week after the contract signed);
• A draft report describing the results of risk assessment and framework of risk management, including the analysis of the key risks identified in 3 different risk levels and risk mitigating measures to be implemented for each risk level (By the end of 3rd week after the contract signed);
• The finalized report after reflecting all comments from UNDP and the key stakeholders (By the contract end date).
• Presentation of the report to UNDP Country Office/HQ and the donors.

Travel, Fees and Terms of Payment:

• The consultant will be required to work in Abuja and Maiduguri, Nigeria. UNDP will cover expenses related to the travel ticket from Abuja to Maiduguri (round trip) and DSAs during the stay as well as the travel to other Lake Chad Basin Countries (Chad, Niger and Cameroon) with DSAs
• The agreed consultant fee should cover all other costs.

Competencies

• Experience in the design and facilitation of risk scenario planning and risk management;
• Experience/Knowledge on security risk analysis is a strong advantage;
• Experiences in risk management in the private sector is a strong advantage
• Experience on programme management and operations within the United Nations is an asset;
• Working experience in Nigeria, and good knowledge of Northeast Nigeria is an asset;
• Proven experience in interacting with senior government and security/military.
• Immediate availability is preferable.

Required Skills and Experience
Education:

• A Postgraduate Degree (at least Bac + 5) in Social Sciences, Socio-anthropology, Economics, Development Planning, Security and Conflict Studies, or related field of Science.

Experience:

• Senior expert with at least 7 years of enterprise risk analysis and assessment.

Language:

• Excellent command of English. Proficiency in French is an asset.