About the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center:

The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) is an autonomous international organization established for scientific, educational, developmental, and humanitarian purposes with a vision of safer communities and sustainable development through disaster risk reduction and climate resilience in Asia and the Pacific.

Established in 1986 as a technical capacity-building center, ADPC has grown and diversified its expertise across social and physical sciences to support sustainable solutions for risk reduction across a broad range of specialist areas. With over 100 staff from 19 different nationalities and a wide range of professional expertise from atmospheric scientists to social scientists with experiences from all levels of engagement typically required for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Resilience (CR) in an effective manner. ADPC has six strategic themes supported by seven departments: ADPC Academy, Risk Governance, Climate Resilience, Urban Resilience, Health Risk Management, Preparedness for Response and Recovery, and Geospatial Information. These are supported by Finance, Human Resources and Administration, and Strategic Planning departments. In addition to the departments, ADPC also works on three cross-cutting themes: Gender and Diversity, Poverty and Livelihoods, and Regional and Transboundary Cooperation through permanent working committees.

ADPC Strategy 2020 guides the organization in providing comprehensive risk reduction support to countries and communities in Asia and the Pacific. ADPC recognizes the importance of examining the linkages between disaster risk management, poverty reduction, gender equality, sustainability, rights-based approaches, climate change, and regional cooperation. For details, please refer to the ADPC website at http://www.adpc.net/

The Preparedness for Response and Recovery (PRR) Department of ADPC focuses on enhancing the preparedness, response management capacities of governments, response organizations, volunteers, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, communities, and other traditional and non-traditional actors of the Disaster Risk Management Ecosystem. It also strives to strengthen the capacity of institutions and at-risk communities for faster and efficient disaster recovery. The department works with the above-stated actors to ensure that the regional, national, sub-national, and local disaster preparedness, response, and recovery frameworks and implementation plans are in place well before disaster strikes.

ADPC has been implementing a range of disaster risk reduction activities in Bangladesh over the years. Bangladesh Resilience Advancement in City Ecosystems (BRACE) Program is a two-year initiative funded by USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). BRACE seeks to enhance the policy environment for urban resilience while enabling communities to undertake risk assessments and identify priority interventions for enhancing their resilience. It engages with at-risk urban communities, Ward Disaster Management Committees (WDMCs) in selected wards of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Cox’s Bazar Municipality (CBM) and government institutions to drive urban resilience in Bangladesh.

The primary objective of this consultancy assignment is to facilitate the development of emergency response plans (ERPs) for 03 critical hospitals and health centres in 05 wards of DSCC. This will be done by training relevant stakeholders on development of facility level ERPs, handholding them to undertake emergency response planning for their facilities validated and finalized through simulation exercises.

Purpose and Objectives:

The consultant will primarily contribute to the implementation of BRACE Program activities planned for Dhaka South City Corporation in Bangladesh. As one of the components of the program, BRACE will facilitate the development of emergency response plans (ERPs) for critical hospitals and health centres and undertake simulation exercises and drills to test the effectiveness of plans. A consultant is required to work with 03 Urban Primary Health Care Centres (UPHCC) in DSCC to assist them in developing and finalizing their ERPs through simulation exercises.

Expected Outputs:

• Emergency Response Preparedness (ERP) tools – template and guideline for urban primary health care centres in DSCC.
• Draft ERPs of 03 urban primary health care centres in DSCC.
• Conduct of simulation exercise in 03 UPHCCs for testing the draft ERPs.
• Reports of simulation exercise in 03 UPHCCs.
• Final ERP of 03 UPHCCs in DSCC.

Responsibilities and Tasks:

To deliver the above outputs, the consultant will undertake the following tasks:

• Conduct a succinct literature review on the provisions for Urban Primary Health Care in DSCC.
• Customize the existing ERP tools to the context of UPHCCs in DSCC.
• Work with relevant stakeholders mobilized by ADPC to develop 03 ERPs in DSCC.
• Conduct simulation for 03 ERPs.
• Prepare AAR on Simulation in 03 UPHCCs.
• Work with relevant stakeholders mobilized by ADPC to finalize ERPs based on the lessons and outcomes of the simulation exercises.

Working Principles:

In performing the duties and responsibilities indicated above, the Consultant will be supervised by the Technical Lead- Resilient Recovery of PRR Department of ADPC and liaise with Senior Project Manager based in the Bangladesh office for day-to-day coordination.

Qualifications: Postgraduate in any discipline with a specialization in research tools and methods. At least five years of experience in action-based research and documentation and ERP-related works / public health-related themes in Bangladesh. Experience of having worked in USAID-funded projects will be an advantage. Excellent command of English and Bengali is expected.

Duty Station: Home-based, available for fieldwork in DSCC.

Duration: The assignment is expected to be completed between 15 July 2024 – 31 December 2024.

Conditions of payment:

Payment shall be made based on the satisfactory completion of the tasks.

All costs related to filed arrangements for training / meetings in the field shall be covered by ADPC with prior approval before travel.

The payment will be made in three installments based on approval and acceptance of the deliverables by ADPC. All taxes, duties, and government charges imposed or levied in connection with this contract will be the sole responsibility of the Consultant. No other terms or benefits except those mentioned in this statement of work will be provided, expressed, or implied unless stated in a written agreement between ADPC and the Consultant.