USAID Fellowship

USAID/OFDA Graduate Student Fellowships In Humanitarian Shelter & Settlements 

Background: The U.S. Agency for International Development, Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) is the lead U.S. 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/crisis affected 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_assistance/sectors/files/fy2012/shelter_settlements_sector_activities.pdf).

Fellowship Description: USAID/OFDA seeks to support the thesis or professional report writing efforts of one Fellow during the spring of 2014. 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 topic of these graduate student research would be centered around any of the following topics of interest:

• 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
• Measuring the contribution of humanitarian shelter to the recovery of the disaster-affected households and/or communities.
• Identification and review of assessment tools (including remote sensing) intended to better understand and deal with the urban context, thereby informing efforts to support effective and expeditious humanitarian S&S sector activities
• 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. All research, field work, and final reports must be undertaken as soon as possible and completed by June 2014.

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. The selected candidate should be able to travel to the proposed field sites during the research.

Application Process: Candidates will submit a CV, a two-page statement of proposed work (including an executive summary), a reference from his/her thesis or professional report advisor and a statement from the advisor confirming that the 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 Monday, February 17.

Please attach the above mentioned documents to jobs@interaction.org with the subject line “SHELTER FELLOWSHIPS_LastName”. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. No phone calls or email inquiries, please.

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To Apply

Submit a résumé with cover letter by e-mail indicating position title to Human Resources atjobs@interaction.org unless otherwise indicated. Intern applicants should e-mail intern@interaction.org. View the job description for more details.

• InterAction does not accept unsolicited resumes/applications for employment.
• Cover letters and/or application must specify the position title.
• Unfortunately, due to the volume of resumes received, we are unable to accept telephone calls in reference to the listed positions.
• We are unable to provide interview/relocations costs.
• We are an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer committed to workplace diversity.

Employee Benefits

InterAction offers to its regular, full-time employees an array of benefits, including:

• Health, dental and vision insurance plans, with additional flexible spending plan
• Annual, personal, sick leave, and paid holidays
• TIAA-CREF retirement and savings plan
• Metro Smartbenefits
• Group life insurance and long-term disability insurance
• Free access to on-site fitness center

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