Information Management Specialist (Loss and Damage Report Submissions), Santiago Network

This short-term assignment provides a unique opportunity to contribute to a high-profile global initiative on climate-induced loss and damage. The short-term assignment: Information Management - Loss and Damage Report Submissions will contribute directly to the foundational work to prepare the first regular report on loss and damage. Her/his work will contribute to collect and organize inputs received from diverse stakeholders including on climate risks and impacts, and responses to climate-induced loss and damage, to be made available to the entity that will develop the report, upon its selection. This assignment offers exposure to inputs and information about a wide diversity of loss and damage responses that will form the basis for the development of the global report.

Santiago Network for loss and damage

The Santiago Network was established in December 2019 at COP25, as part of the Warsaw International Mechanism for averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, to catalyze the technical assistance of relevant Organizations, Bodies, Networks and Experts (OBNEs), for the implementation of suitable relevant approaches at the local, national and regional level, in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change (decision 2/CMA.2, para 43, noted by 2/CP.25). 

The Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Convention and the Paris Agreement subsequently decided on the functions and on the institutional arrangements of the Santiago Network to enable its full operationalization. Parties agreed the structure would comprise:

• A hosted Secretariat that will facilitate its work, to be known as the Santiago Network Secretariat;

• An Advisory Board, to provide guidance and oversight to the Santiago Network Secretariat on the effective implementation of the functions of the Network; and

• A Network of OBNEs covering a wide range of topics relevant to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage. 

At COP28 in 2023, Parties selected the consortium of UNOPS and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) as co-hosts of the Santiago Network Secretariat for an initial term of five years, with five-year renewal periods. 

UNOPS provides the administrative and operational support for the effective functioning of the Secretariat. UNDRR provides the Secretariat with technical backstopping and expertise in the domain of averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage. 

At the climate change conference in 2025, Parties mandated the Santiago Network Advisory Board (SNAB) to develop the Terms of Reference for the first regular report on loss and damage. At the Seventh Meeting of the SNAB, in September 2026, the relevant Terms of Reference were approved, and the Santiago Network Secretariat was tasked with developing a global call for inputs to provide an evidence base for the upcoming development of the report. The report itself will be prepared by a Santiago Network Member, or a group of Members, to be selected by April 2027 through an ongoing call for proposals.

Relevant COP/CMA decisions on the Santiago Network can be consulted here. Documents and reports from meetings of the Santiago Network Advisory Board are available here. The main form for submission of inputs, with additional information on the call, is available here.

The selected candidate for this short-term assignment will act as an authoritative specialist, supporting the systematic collection, organization, and management of diverse information related to loss and damage to be received from a diversity of stakeholders through a global call for inputs. S/he will contribute to the design and implementation of frameworks for content classification and tagging, to make relevant products and knowledge more accessible and inter-operable. S/he will help create and maintain a digital repository of materials that will support the analysis of all relevant materials by the OBNEs drafting the first edition of the regular report on loss and damage. Lastly, s/he will also identify key materials that the Santiago Network can use in support of its other functions, including on knowledge development and exchange across technical assistance domains, regions, and climate contexts. This assignment will support information management practices for a critical global climate initiative.

1. Information Management Strategy and Implementation

• Manage the analysis of existing standards and processes for the systematic collection, tagging, and classification of submissions related to loss and damage, and propose options for their enhancement and integration.
• Apply relevant methodologies to ensure consistent use of proposed tagging structures and identify emerging thematic areas from submitted content.
• Apply innovative approaches for categorizing diverse content, including submissions received through incomplete forms or alternative channels, ensuring comprehensive data capture and accessibility.

2. Digital Repository Development and Interoperability

• Manage the development and implementation of an interoperable digital repository for all submitted materials, ensuring effective content grouping, accessibility, and seamless integration with submission form data.
• Facilitate the sharing of the repository with selected OBNEs and support access to available information by developing simple guidance and providing direct assistance to relevant counterparts.

3. Programme Support and Knowledge Leadership

• Compile lessons learned on the call for inputs and its management, covering e.g. the submission process and available options, the management of the received content, the accessibility of the relevant information management system to selected OBNEs.
• Identify content that can support advocacy, engagement of members and technical counterparts, knowledge development and exchange and propose options to fully leverage selected content.
• Provide advice and capacity building within the Secretariat on advanced information management techniques, options and tools that can support engagement of members and technical counterparts, knowledge development and exchange.

Deliverables (please note that the exact timeline and deliverables might be subject to change):

An improved set of tools, categories, and tags to systematize the diverse submissions received through the call for inputs, and their use to strengthen existing and newly-established submission channels. (end of February 2027)

A digital repository of materials, including all submissions received through the call for inputs, tagged and organized in a systematic manner to support sharing with the OBNEs selected to draft the report. (end of March 2027)

Support to the relevant OBNEs in accessing the repository, through the development of accessible guidance, as well as to direct assistance to relevant personnel. (throughout April 2027)

Curated list of materials for use by the Santiago Network Secretariat with a set of recommendations on how to use them in innovative, impactful manners - and relevant capacity building for Santiago Network Secretariat staff, if needed. (end of April 2027)

A set of lessons learned from the call for input process, recommendations to strengthen relevant efforts for future editions of the report, and indications on how to strengthen the Secretariat’s broader knowledge management work. (end of April 2027)