Flood Risk Management experts for Ulaanbaatar

Context:
In the summer of 2023 Ulaanbaatar experienced heavy intermittent rain resulting in extensive river flooding and flash floods in the ger districts  with more than 128,000 people being directly affected and approximately 20,000 people displaced. Changing temperature and precipitation patterns due to climate change, the construction boom in the city, the rapid expansion of ger areas, and the lack of flood prevention facilities have resulted in a drastic increase in flooding risks in the city. This risk is aggravated by harsh climate conditions, limited urban planning and inadequate road drainage systems, which have resulted in a drastic increase in urban flooding incidents in UB. Most vulnerable to these risks are traditional settlements, known as 'ger districts', often established on lowlands and steep mountain slopes, prone to flooding and mudslides. 

Starting in 2018, the Municipality of Ulaanbaatar (MoUB) has made efforts to impose the use of more climate-resilient drainage systems in new road investments,  but investments largely lack behind the speed of development of the ger districts and maintenance continues to be an issue, due to limited funding and (technical) capacity of government officers.

Goal of the mission:
In the aftermath of the floods in the summer of 2023, The Mayor of Ulaanbaatar reached out to DRRS and requested technical assistance to improve their capacity on river management and urban drainage systems, thereby contributing to improved flood resilience during the next rainy season (usually July and August are the wettest months).
The proposed Technical Assistance (TA) program envisions to supporting the MoUB in two broad areas related to flood resilience: (1) improve the technical capacity of MoUB officers to plan and design Ulaanbaatar’s water system infrastructure better, and support officers in conducting maintenance works to the existing river and drainage system through technical trainings, and (2) to identify the most pressing issues (no-regret interventions) that prevent Ulaanbaatar’s river system to become flood proof during the next flood season. 

The TA program will, as an overarching result, improve the capacity of the MoUB to engage with other donors to attracting funding for upscaling investments in a climate resilient city, thereby mitigating the effects of floodings in the future whilst providing a more attractive city for people to live in.

Requirements:
The team leader for this assignment has already been selected during the scoping phase of the assignment. To complete the expert team for this assignment, the DRRS team is looking for two experts with expertise in: 

• Urban drainage: This expert has extensive experience with urban drainage engineering solutions in a densely populated urban environment in developing countries. The expert has affinity with catchment hydrology and is familiar with surface water runoff processes in the context of urban expansion areas (ger areas for instance) in accidented terrain. The expert can provide technically sound but practical guidance regarding the rehabilitation of damaged concrete drainage infrastructure and provide advice on ways to upgrade and expand the current drainage infrastructure. Professional experience with urban storm water modeling is an advantage. 
• Urban Flood Risk Management: this expert is experienced with urban flood risk solutions for densely populated urban areas in low- and middle- income countries. Knowledge of funding mechanisms in the areas of flood recovery, flood resilience and flood risk management is an asset. Flood Risk Modeling and Mapping experience is an advantage.  
• River engineering: this expert has broad international experience with river systems and river rehabilitation in an urban context. The expert can link sediment management issues with urban drainage and flood risk management.   
• Sediment management expertise: this expert is familiar with hillslope processes under influence of heavy rain and siltation of drainage systems and stilling basins. The expert has strong affinity with catchment hydrology and river hydraulics. 
  
  The experts will be selected as such that the combination of experts in the team cover the required expertise best. An urban drainage expert receives highest priority, other expertise can be distributed over the team leader and the 2nd expert position. The exact requirements for expertise and the composition of the team will be worked out with the team leader.
  A balanced team regarding gender and age is preferred and aimed for. Young (mid-career level) professionals specifically encouraged to express their interest. Excellent writing and communication skills in English language are a requirement for all experts.

Planning:
Initially DRRS is planning to organize a first visit to Ulaanbaatar in March or April. Depending on additional funding, a second visit could take place before July 2024. In this phase we expect to need 10 – 15 days per expert.

 Interested? Kindly share a short motivation and an updated CV before Thursday 21th of December COB to drrs@rvo.nl