HM Government

The British Consulate General in Jerusalem is seeking bids for a consultancy position focussed on gender issues in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The consultant will provide policy advice and make recommendations on possible gender-focussed programme interventions for the upcoming financial year, beginning in April 2018.

The successful bidder will be expected to deliver:

• Quarter 1 of the project: provide detailed recommendations on areas of gender equality policy focus for the Consulate, based on a thorough literature review.

• Quarter 2 of the project: provide a market analysis of existing gender programme interventions by international and domestic donors in the OPTs.

• Quarter 3 of the project: provide recommendations for future areas of gender-specific programming for British government’s programme portfolio in the OPTs, including analysis of potential partners’ capabilities.

• Quarter 4 of the project: provide further recommendations to ensure gender is effectively mainstreamed throughout the BCG programmes portfolio.

During the course of the consultancy, the candidate will also provide advice and support for the Consulate’s participation in International Women’s Day.

The ideal candidate will meet the following criteria:

• A graduate degree and experience working on development and gender-focussed projects

• Experience in writing research papers and reports

• A good knowledge of legal and social issues surrounding gender in the OPTs and surrounding countries

• Familiarity with organisations active in the field of women’s rights and gender issues.

• Enthusiastic, self-starter, team-player, knowledgeable about the legal and social environment of the OPTs.

• Fluent English and Arabic.

• Able to travel around the West Bank and, ideally, to Jerusalem.

Working arrangements

The successful consultant will mainly work remotely, away from the Consulate, using their own IT and other equipment. However, regular engagement with Consulate staff by telephone and in face to face meetings will be expected.

To apply:

Please send the following to: BritishConsulate-General.JerusalemHR@fco.gov.uk, no later than 23.59pm on Thursday 9 November. Late applications will not be considered.

• An up to date Curriculum Vitae which is no longer than three pages in length and includes two referees.

• A statement of suitability, no longer than one page in length.

• An example of previous written work. This could include relevant research or other policy work.

• An activity based budget. This should break down the costs of the consultancy by activity in as much detail as possible. The budget should also indicate in what month of the consultancy the expenditure is expected to occur.

• A short narrative accompaniment to the activity based budget, explaining how activity lines relate to the overall deliverables.

It is anticipated that the maximum budget for the consultancy will be £19,000, with a maximum duration of four months. The budget should cover all anticipated costs, such as transportation.

Short listed candidates will be invited to a short telephone interview on Thursday 16 November, with the selected candidate expected to start work on Monday 20 November.

On appointment, the successful candidate will be provided with a copy of the Consulate’s internal gender sensitivity review of our existing programme portfolio.

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The Department for Education has today (31 October) confirmed its intention to conduct a review into higher level technical education.

The review will look across Level 4 & 5 education, focusing on how technical qualifications at this level can better address the needs of learners and employers.

This includes ensuring that learners can progress from the government’s new T Levels, and other full time education, into the workplace. It will also consider how these qualifications work for those in the workforce looking to upskill or retrain.

Employers, providers, learners, and others with expertise in this area will all feed into the review, which is part of the Government’s commitment to support routes to higher-earning technical roles and address the skills needs of the economy.

It follows the recent announcement of the first T level subjects that will be taught from 2020.

Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Anne Milton said:

High quality technical education helps young people and adults get into new, fulfilling and better paid careers. That’s good for them and good for our economy. This is the way we build a better, higher skilled workforce.

We are already taking steps to improve technical education with investment in apprenticeships and the creation of T levels. This review is the next logical step in that process.

Further Information

This review builds on the Post-16 Skills Plan, the recommendations of the Sainsbury Panel, and will be shaped by the Technical and Further Education Act 2017 and Higher Education Research Act 2017.

The review covers the whole of Level 4 and 5 education, with a particular focus on technical qualifications.

Stakeholders can engage with us by contacting Level4-5.Team@education.gov.uk

Level 4 qualifications are:

• certificate of higher education (CertHE)
• higher national certificate (HNC)
• level 4 award
• level 4 certificate
• level 4 diploma
• level 4 NVQ

Level 5 qualifications are:

• diploma of higher education (DipHE)
• foundation degree
• higher national diploma (HND)
• level 5 award
• level 5 certificate
• level 5 diploma
• level 5 NVQ

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Through our commitment to continuous improvement, we’ve made a few additional enhancements.

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The Environment Agency has today (31 October) published data, case studies and evidence about the role of natural flood management in reducing flood risk. Working with natural processes to reduce flood risk is not a new concept but this is the first time that all the evidence has been brought together, with the intention of enabling more uptake.

‘The evidence behind natural flood management’ contains more than 60 case studies from across England and explores how successful the approach is, how it could be used elsewhere and what research may still be needed.

Natural flood management is when natural processes are used to reduce the risk of flooding and coastal erosion. Examples include: restoring bends in rivers, changing the way land is managed so soil can absorb more water and creating saltmarshes on the coast to absorb wave energy.

At Hesketh, on the Lancashire coast, a ‘managed realignment’ scheme has created more than 300 hectares of saltmarsh which protects 143 residential properties, 3 commercial buildings and 300 hectares of farm land. Coastal schemes such as this not only dissipate wave and tidal energy but can also reduce impact on defences, reduce tidal surges and lead to slightly lower water levels at defences.

The study includes a project in Debenham, Suffolk, where modelling has shown that installing a range of natural flood management features along the River Deben could provide more than 30,000 m3 of water storage – thereby reducing annual average damages to properties and farmland by 31%.

On Lustrum Beck, in Stockton-on-Tees, modelling showed that providing 100,000 m3 of storage in the upstream catchment, using wetlands, features to reduce run-off and river restoration, could reduce flows by more than 10%.

John Curtin, Executive Director of Flood & Coastal Risk Management at the Environment Agency, said:

I often think improving flood resilience is like a mosaic, many different pieces need to come together to complete the resilience picture. Natural flood management is an important part of that mosaic when used alongside more traditional engineering. These projects also provide fantastic opportunities for community involvement and leadership.

Many of our flood schemes already feature a mixture of hard and soft engineering and natural flood management. It can be a cost-effective and sustainable way to manage flood risk alongside traditional engineering, while creating habitat for wildlife and helping regenerate rural and urban areas through tourism.

Natural flood management works best when a ‘catchment based approach’ is taken, where a plan is developed to manage the flow of water along the whole length of a river catchment from its source to sea. This way, natural processes can be used upstream and on the coast to compliment engineered flood defences – such as walls and weirs – in populated areas.

Natural flood management not only reduces flood risk it can also achieve multiple benefits for people and wildlife, helping restore habitats, improve water quality and helping make catchments more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

The Environment Agency hopes that the evidence directory will help flood risk managers, local authority engineers, non-governmental organisations and community flood action groups to incorporate natural approaches to flood risk management in to their plans to reduce flood risk.

Earlier this year the government announced a further £15m for natural flood management schemes across England.

‘The evidence behind natural flood management’ was launched at the CIWEM (Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management) Conference in London.

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On 30 October 2017 the VMD launched its customer satisfaction web survey for 2017/18. If you work for, or on behalf of, Marketing Authorisation holders and holders of Manufacturing, Wholesaler Dealer, Autogenous Vaccine, Blood Bank, Equine Stem Cell a… read more