Programme Policy Officer for Social Protection and School Meals SC9, Regional Bureau Cairo job at WFP

  • Location:
  • Salary:
    negotiable / YEAR
  • Job type:
    FULL_TIME
  • Posted:
    6 months ago
  • Category:
    Project Management, Social and Inclusive Development
  • Deadline:
    02/07/2024

JOB DESCRIPTION

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WFP encourages female candidates and people with disabilities to apply.
WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees. It encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status, or disability”.

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.
WFP’s Regional Bureau for the Middle East and Northern Africa (RBC), based in Cairo, Egypt, provides strategic guidance, policy/technical support, and direction to WFP operations and activities in 15 countries: Algeria, Armenia, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, State of Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Yemen. These country offices aim to assist roughly one-third of all of WFP’s beneficiaries (approx. 30 million) in some of the most critical humanitarian emergencies of our time. RBC is also active in the ‘Changing Lives’ side of WFP’s mandate, helping national governments and local communities improve nutrition, livelihoods, school feeding, social protection, climate and disaster risk reduction, and other programs that build resilience and support development.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

JOB TITLE: Programme Policy Officer for Social Protection and School Meals
TYPE AND LEVEL OF CONTRACT: Service Contract SC9
UNIT/DIVISON: Programme/Social Protection and Saftey Nets
DUTY STATION: Cairo, Egypt
REPORT TO: Head of Social Protection and Safety Nets
DURATION:12 months

WHY TO WORK AT WFP?

SAVING & CHANGING LIVES

Make a difference, and the world will notice. We are driven by our mission to fight world hunger and feed people’s dreams of a brighter future.

GLOBAL COMMUNITY 🌍

Build bridges that unite people across the world. Being part of a global, diverse, and multicultural community like WFP, will continuously expose you to new ideas and perspectives. How we deliver our mission in a deep respect for personal and cultural differences and close collaboration between every member of our global team, will certainly enrich your experience and knowledge on so many levels.

UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES 💡

Unlock possibilities you never thought you’d find. WFP goes anywhere it is needed and does whatever it takes to get the job done.

LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE

Reach beyond yourself and discover your true potential. WFP offers the kind of life-changing experiences you’re unlikely to find in many other organizations.

Join us to make a difference.

Watch this video to learn more about WFP; the 2020 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE!!

Link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/world-food-programme_thankyou-nobelpeaceprize-activity-6721012515532234752-RRa6/
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JOB PURPOSE

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is well known for its ability to deliver food assistance rapidly to people in need. To continue responding effectively to challenging contexts while also contributing to longer-term efforts to end hunger, WFP is strengthening its engagement in support of national social protection systems and safety nets, including school meals. WFP seeks to support governments with technical expertise in the development of sustainable hunger-smart and nutrition-sensitive solutions that will support progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Two: “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture”. This includes providing technical advice and operational services aligned with national strategies (when available) and frameworks, including engagement in the School Meals Coalition.
Fifteen countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe (MENAEE) region have on-going school meals programmes with governments recognizing the multifaceted benefits of school meals that go beyond feeding children, have proven to be a critical safety net, especially in crisis situations, supporting poor families during hardship. In most countries the programmes have not yet been fully integrated into national social protection systems supporting the most vulnerable families and children. The school meals programmes landscape varies from one country to another, in terms of institutional frameworks with some countries having a school feeding policy, strategy, and budget line in place, while others still planning to develop these. Government ownership and leadership in programme delivery and management is also increasing and, in some countries, transition planning and strategies are being developed, to prepare for handover to Governments. This includes support on strengthening the design and operation of quality programmes and related monitoring. Depending on the national context, WFP plays one or both of the following roles: Service delivery – directly managing and overseeing the implementation of school meals programmes; and Capacity Strengthening -providing technical assistance and policy support to governments.
WFP’s Regional Bureau in Cairo (RBC) for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe region is supporting Country Offices in their efforts to support national social protection systems and school-based programmes, towards their food security, nutrition and emergency preparedness and response objectives. RBC provides strategic guidance, policy/technical support and direction, and oversight to WFP operations and activities in 15 countries: Algeria, Armenia, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine and Yemen.
In this context, WFP is seeking to enhance its capacities to support regional and country level efforts through the

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

1-Support Country Offices (COs) to define and set strategic direction school meals engagement as part of wider national social protection and safety nets schemes:

  • Support COs in their formulation of Country Strategic Plans (CSP) and programme strategy, in close coordination with relevant CO colleagues, relevant Regional Bureau thematic units, and HQ counterparts, ensuring alignment with corporate policies/strategies and regional guidance.
  • Support COs in developing the strategic direction and positioning of CO engagement vis-à-vis national social protection and school meals schemes.
  • Support CO efforts to engage with and take forward existing and future commitments made by host governments under the School Meals Coalition (SMC)

2-Provide technical support on social protection capacity strengthening:

  • Provide technical support to CO colleagues including through field missions and Temporary Duty travel (TDYs), as relevant, fostering integration of social protection and school meals programme thinking with the work of other relevant technical teams (cash based transfers, nutrition, emergency preparedness and response planning, TEC…) liaising with relevant CO, Regional Bureau and Headquarters focal points as required.
  • Contribute to the school meals “digital innovation” workstream, including (but not limited to) joint EMIS systems development with UNESCO/UNICEF and governments.
  • Support capacity building of Country Office staff and government counterparts in efforts to strengthen social protection and school meals programming.

3-Support CO and RBC efforts at research and knowledge management in the area of school meals:

  • Support efforts to research and analyze policy and operational challenges of social protection and school meals programmes across the region and in support of RBC and Country Office colleagues, to inform policies, programmes and related activities.
  • Contribute to the development and coordination of case studies, research, operational information, advocacy documents and other knowledge management products, support the organization of external presentations and events showcasing WFP experience and learning, and promote effective information-sharing and exchange.
  • Provide comments and contribute to the content of various CO and regional reports, including to strategically position school meals operations along with their multidimensional benefits;
  • Support knowledge exchange efforts on school meals and social protection practices across the region and globally.

4-Support COs with their partnership development with government, UN, International Financial Institutions, and other development partners:

  • Support the identification, development and management of potential collaborative partnerships including with other UN agencies (e.g. UNICEF and UNESCO, linking to the Education cluster), International Financial Institutions, government and regional entities, and academia;
  • Specifically on private sector (PS) partnerships, work with the RB focal point to ensure that PS prospects interested in school meals have up to date information on the school based programmes in the region and latest innovative projects which can appeal to the private sector – this can take the form of regular updates and/or the development of sector specific value propositions.
  • Support relevant COs in their policy dialogue on social protection and school meals with host governments and development partners, including their efforts to develop their stakeholder engagement plans, positioning and advocacy messages;
  • Support COs to strengthen the integration of school meals in the different Education Cluster/Local Education Group strategies/plans and education-related funds, Initiatives and Programmes such as SDG4 Arab Region, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), Global Partnership for Education (GPE), No Lost Generation (NLG), Life Skills and Citizenship Education (LSCE), etc;
  • Contribute to the preparation of proposals, progress and analytical reports, presentations, briefs, visibility material and information products corporately and for donors.
  • Liaise with other functional sections and units to ensure effective internal collaboration.
  • Support RBC and CO participation in relevant regional events in collaboration with other UN agencies and regional actors, through presentations, case studies, talking points, etc;.

5-Oversight: Undertake oversight of programmatic activities as required.

6Perform other duties as required.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Post-graduate degree (master’s degree or higher) in International Affairs, Economics, Nutrition/Health, Agriculture, Environmental Science, Social Sciences or another field relevant to international development assistance.

Experience:

  • At least 8 years of postgraduate progressively responsible professional experience in international development (more specifically, design and implementation of educational programmes), or other related fields, working with national government and/or with organization advising government
  • Experience of humanitarian and/or development fields
  • Proven ability and experience in the coordination of interagency partnerships, including with government entities
  • Experience of enabling capacity building
  • Experience with UN, and specifically WFP, is an advantage.

Knowledge & Skills:

  • Knowledge of strategies and/or policies at global/regional/national level for social protection and safety nets major humanitarian and development challenges and issues, specifically
  • Excellent interpersonal skills required, including teamwork and coordination capacity
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills
  • Strong analytical and report writing skills
  • Ability to work within tight deadlines and manage multiple tasks simultaneously independently
  • Proven ability to conceptualize, develop, plan and manage programmes, good negotiation and advocacy skills
  • Proficiency in Windows and Microsoft Office are required

Languages: Fluency in both oral and written communication in English and Arabic

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

Deadline for receiving applications is Tuesday 2 July 2024.

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WFP is committed to an accessible, inclusive recruitment process. Please contact us at global.inclusion@wfp.org to advise us of any disability-related reasonable accommodation or accessibility requests you may have. A member of the reasonable accommodation team will contact you to discuss your needs. This email is only to be used for any disability-related accessibility requirements, and not for sending the application itself. Due to the volume of applications, any applications or CVs sent through this email address will not be considered as a formal application and will not receive a reply from WFP.

WFP has a zero-tolerance approach to conduct such as fraud, sexual exploitation, abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to WFP’s standards of conduct and will therefore undergo rigorous background verification internally or through third parties. Selected candidates will also be required to provide additional information as part of the verification exercise. Misrepresentation of information provided during the recruitment process may lead to disqualification or termination of employment.

WFP will not request payment at any stage of the recruitment process including at the offer stage. Any payment requests should be refused and reported to local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.

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