Programme Policy Officer (Deputy Head of Resilience and Food Systems) - NOC - Kabul

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WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles. Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis. We are committed to promoting diversity and the principle of equal employment opportunity for all our employees and encourage qualified candidates to apply irrespective of religion or belief, ethnic or social background, gender, gender identity, and disability.

JOB DETAILS

Job Title: Programme Policy Officer (Deputy Head of Resilience and Food Systems) 
Grade: NOC
Type of contract: Fixed Term
Duration: 12 Months (Extendable)
Duty Station: Kabul
Vacancy Number: 830881
Date of Publication: 11 Jan 2024
Deadline of Application: 25 January 2024

This vacancy announcement is for Afghan nationals only and WFP encourages especially Afghan females and Afghans with disabilities to apply.

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. 

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The hunger crisis in Afghanistan is unfolding at a rapid pace, with 15 million of population now facing acute food insecurity. Work opportunities are shrinking, with most households now reporting just one day of work per week. This comes on top of the worst drought in years, which is especially concerning for the 85 percent of the population who rely on agriculture for livelihoods.

Preventing and mitigating a drastic increase in hunger and malnutrition is the aim of WFP in Afghanistan which can only be achieved through the scaled up and sustained complementary food security and nutrition interventions, combined with a scale-up of resilience interventions to safeguard gains. WFP has embarked on a significant month-on-month scale-up of its crisis response and resilience programmes across the country, ensuring that the programme is delivered at the right scale and time, targeted to the right areas. WFP is also actively following up on evolving trends to pre-empt hotspots, while guaranteeing quality and maximum impact of the programme through the monitoring of these hotspots to be able to support continued donor advocacy.

JOB PURPOSE

In Afghanistan, emergencies pile relentlessly one on top of the other. Nine out of ten Afghans do not have enough food. The staggering economic crisis post August 2021 has led to near-universal poverty across the country and nearly half of the population has little chance to catch their breath from one disaster before the next pounds them back into destitution. Record levels of food insecurity and malnutrition may become the new normal if no urgent steps are taken. 

To address food and nutrition insecurity, WFP Afghanistan’s Country Strategic Plan 2018-2026 focuses on a new strategic shift towards strengthening resilience of communities, recognizing the interconnected nature of relief, nutrition, safety nets, food systems, capacity strengthening and partnerships, addressing some of the above causes within the context of chronic drought and frequent climate-related shocks.

The incumbent would therefore be expected to provide leadership to policy and programme activities that effectively meet food assistance needs especially as they pertain to integrated, climate-adaptative agriculture, vocational skills, income generation and the resilience building of rural and peri-urban communities in Afghanistan.

The incumbent would serve as the Deputy head of resilience and food systems supporting the Head of resilience for climate-adaptive rural development programmes. This includes sustainable vocational skills training, disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, income generation, smallholder agriculture and marketing initiatives, post-harvest management, nutrition sensitive programming, anticipatory actions, and asset creation. The role includes leading a team for the design, management, coordination, implementation, and review of all Climate Change Adaptation, small scale value chains, disaster risk reduction, vocational skills, nutrition sensitive programmes, initiatives to support smallholder agriculture, income generation, anticipatory actions within Resilience and Food systems unit in the WFP Afghanistan Country Office.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Resilience and Food Systems, the Deputy Head of Resilience and Food Systems will support in overseeing the implementation of the resilience and food systems pillar of WFP CSP focusing on the following priorities:

Programme and Strategy Development

• Provide leadership, technical oversight, guidance, and supervision to programme policy officers in the resilience and climate change technical team, Area Offices (AOs) and partners.
• Develop and communicate a strategy and work plan for the design and implementation of an integrated resilience programme, including asset creation and livelihoods, vocational skills training, climate smart agriculture initiatives, disaster risk reduction, nutrition sensitive programming, post-harvest management, income generation, microfinance, smallholder agriculture market support (SAMS), anticipatory actions, food systems and focusing on promoting sustainable, food security, nutrition, and local economies.
• Develop and structure asset creation, livelihoods, small scale value chains, vocational skills training, SAMS activities, and other resilience building initiatives to lead to greater post-harvest losses reduction, alternative livelihood opportunities, income generation, enhanced access to productive household and community assets, increased food production, microfinance, and sustainable access to markets by smallholder food farmers (SHF), especially for women and youth.
• Identify opportunities to integrate asset creation, livelihoods and small-scale value chains, vocational skills, appropriate post-harvest management technologies, climate smart agriculture, disaster risk reduction, anticipatory actions, nutrition sensitive initiatives, adapted agriculture technologies, microfinance, natural resource management best practices to contribute to beneficiary communities’ resilience building against climate shocks, and diversification of livelihoods, income generation and enhanced food and nutrition security. 
• Provide support for RFS Calls for Proposals and partner selection process, leading review of proposals, giving relevant feedback to Area Offices; developing implementation-based plan based on projected needs and available resources, presenting project proposals to the Country Project Committee (CoPAC) and follow up with AOs on issues raised by the committee.
• Ensure effective funds management of resources allocated to resilience and food systems and follow up on the resource situation of projects including commodity and cash availability, in close coordination with budget and programming and the finance teams.
• Represent and active participation in inter-agency strategy and joint programme design and implementation, ensure WFP’s participation in the joint resilience programme with other UN agencies and key stakeholders.

Information and knowledge management

• Ensure accurate management of information related to the resilience and food systems programme in close coordination with the M&E team, SCOPE team, and other sections within CO. 
• Develop and incorporate monitoring formats outlining project activities, achievements, and overall project status in collaboration with M&E Unit.
• Management of the online filing system of resilience and food systems programme
• Prepare analytical and operational reports on the implementation progress of the resilience programme, as well as develop case-studies on specific thematic areas.
• Ensure visibility products are available to promote WFP work and compile best practices.
• Contribute to corporate reports (such as ACRs) and donor-specific reports.

Resource mobilization and Partnerships

• Provide technical input for the development of communication materials, funding proposals and donor reports.
• Establish and maintain operational and strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, UN agencies, NGOs, private sector, and research institutions.
• Support advocacy work, in the areas of climate change, resilience, livelihood pro-smallholder agriculture and market support programmes.
• Enhance WFP’s leadership status in fora related to food security, livelihoods, anticipatory action, disaster risk reduction, climate change and adaptation, resilience, pro-smallholder agriculture and market support, microfinance, nutrition sensitive programming and engagement in humanitarian, transition and development contexts through direct participation, briefings, information products and other materials.
• Any other duties as required.
   

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: 

• Advanced University degree in International Affairs, Economics, Nutrition/Health, Agriculture, Environmental Science, Social Sciences or other field relevant to international development assistance.
• Or First University degree with additional specialized training and additional two years of most related professional work experience

Minimum Experience: 

• At least five years of postgraduate professional experience in the areas of resilience and/ or food systems.

Desirable work experience:

• Has led a large team  or a Sub Office or a small country/area office team or a component of a country office programme portfolio to ensure the effective delivery of objectives.

• Has developed, or supported in the development of, multi-discipline work plans to support the achievement of strategic aims within a defined area.

• Gained broader exposure across areas within a function (i.e. policy, programme etc.)

• Substantial engagement in policy discussions and contributions into policy decisions.

Language:

• Fluency (Level C) in English, Dari and Pashto.

HOW TO APPLY

To be considered, interested candidates are invited to apply via (https://www.wfp.org/careers/job-openings). Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. We want to ensure the recruitment process is fully accessible. Please contact us at afg.hrrecruitment@wfp.org to advise us of any accessibility needs you may have.

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WFP has a zero-tolerance approach to conduct such as fraud, sexual exploitation and 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 requests for payment should be refused and reported to local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action.