- Post:Shelter and Settlements Fellowships
- Organization:Jobfrom InterAction
- Country: United States of America
- City: DC
- Organisation: InterAction
- Job years of experience:0-3 years
- Job type: Internship
USAID/OFDA GRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWSHIPS IN HUMANITARIAN SHELTER AND SETTLEMENTS - SUMMER 2013 Background: The US Agency for International Development, Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) is the lead US Government (USG) agency for the coordination of USG responses to international natural disasters, and a leading participant in the global humanitarian community. USAID/OFDA currently seeks to enhance its leadership efforts, improve its response programming in the humanitarian shelter and settlements (S&S) sector, increase the awareness of the sector in North America and expand career options for those interested in S&S sector activities. USAID/OFDA views S&S sector activities broadly. This includes not only provision of shelter to disaster/crisisaffected populations, but also the linked activities of settlements planning, natural hazard risk reduction, natural resource management, climate change adaptation and proximate economic and political factors (see USAID/OFDA description of humanitarian S&S at: http://transition.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/disaster_as... 2012/shelter_settlements_sector_activities.pdf). Fellowship Description: USAID/OFDA seeks to support the thesis or professional report writing efforts of two Fellows during summer 2013. Fellows will be graduate students currently enrolled full-time in accredited North American graduate school programs in the following academic disciplines: City, Urban, Environmental, or Regional Planning, and Architecture or Architectural engineering Ideally, successful candidates would be first-year, Masters-level, graduate students, in the programs listed above, who are interested in commencing work on a thesis or professional report as a requirement for graduation. The central topic of these graduate student research would be related directly to any of the following topics of interest to USAID/OFDA. Managing the transformation of humanitarian shelter to permanent housing Linking and incorporating hazard mapping efforts into local-level settlements planning to promote risk reduction Post-disaster neighborhood-level planning efforts designed to promote safer, sustainable and resilient shelters and settlements Post-disaster emergency urban planning to reconfigure disaster-affected settlements to promote risk reduction, increase shelter opportunities, and accelerate recovery Identification and review of assessment tools intended to better understand and deal with the urban context, thereby informing efforts to support effective and expeditious humanitarian S&S sector activities Shelter and Settlements Fellowships (Pending approval) 2 Informal land management and tenure mechanisms that promote risk reduction or ensure occupancy of land and housing for displaced/vulnerable populations Graduate work on any the above topics could entail travel to Washington, DC, USA or to sites in other countries. Work could also be performed at the home universities of graduate fellows. USAID/OFDA also supports InterAction, a consortium of humanitarian and development nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) based in Washington, DC. USAID/OFDA is collaborating with InterAction to support these graduate student fellowships. The graduate student research/professional report advisor will oversee and be responsible for the quality, progress, and completion of the research and final deliverables. Both USAID/OFDA and the InterAction Shelter and Settlements Working Group (SSWG) will receive e-copies of approved theses and professional reports from graduate students, encourage fellows to publish work in peer-review journals and humanitarian publications, and host an end-of-summer presentation of the research work and would welcome the opportunity to serve on thesis or professional report committees. Awards: USAID/OFDA anticipates two awards of up to $15,000 each (made up of $9,000 for stipend and $6,000 for travel related expenses if necessary) to support graduate research. The award will support fellowship research for approximately three months and cover basic expenses that might include travel, lodging and research-related costs (e.g., medical evacuation insurance, visas, vaccinations, etc.). InterAction will provide basic administrative support for the graduate students. Award Process: Successful candidates will receive USAID/OFDA support through an existing agreement with InterAction. Specific workspace assignments in Washington, DC, should they be needed, will be arranged jointly by USAID/OFDA and InterAction. It is anticipated that graduate students will spend the bulk of the summer at their home universities or at field sites, rather than in Washington, DC. Application Process: Candidates will submit a CV, a two-page statement of proposed work (with an executive summary), a reference from his/her thesis or professional report advisor, and a statement from the advisor confirming that the candidate statement of proposed work will directly support the candidate’s thesis or professional report topic. A review committee representing USAID/OFDA and the InterAction SSWG will be formed to identify successful candidates for this fellowship. Applications and supporting documents should be received by Sunday 5th May, 2013 24:00 EDT. Please attach the above mentioned documents in ONE file (.pdf or MS Word) named “Fellowships_Surname_FirstName-Abbreviated-Name-Of-Institution” to jobapplications@interaction.org with the subject line “USAID/OFDA SHELTER FELLOWSHIPS_LastName”. This is a tentative announcement. Fellowship awards will be finalized pending budget and contractual approval by USAID/OFDA and InterAction. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. No phone calls or email inquiries, please.
How to apply:
Application Process: Candidates will submit a CV, a two-page statement of proposed work (with an executive summary), a reference from his/her thesis or professional report advisor, and a statement from the advisor confirming that the candidate statement of proposed work will directly support the candidate’s thesis or professional report topic. A review committee representing USAID/OFDA and the InterAction SSWG will be formed to identify successful candidates for this fellowship. Applications and supporting documents should be received by Sunday 5th May, 2013 24:00 EDT. Please attach the above mentioned documents in ONE file (.pdf or MS Word) named “Fellowships_Surname_FirstName-Abbreviated-Name-Of-Institution” to jobapplications@interaction.org with the subject line “USAID/OFDA SHELTER FELLOWSHIPS_LastName”. This is a tentative announcement. Fellowship awards will be finalized pending budget and contractual approval by USAID/OFDA and InterAction. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. No phone calls or email inquiries, please.
Job ID: #571140
Closing date: 05 May 2013