Programme Policy Officer -School Feeding (International Consultant), CST level I, Abidjan

🚩 Vacancy Announcement n°: 832568

📢 Job Title: Programme Policy Officer (School Feeding)

✨ Contract type and Grade: International Consultant CST level I

📧 Duration: 11 months

✅ Unit / Division: Programme Unit

📍   Duty Station: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

⏰ Closing date: 29 April 2024

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

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles. Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance. Female Candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), a highly prestigious, reputable & world’s largest humanitarian organization, operates in more than 120 countries and territories, bringing life-saving assistance in emergencies, building pathways to peace, stability, and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change and supporting sustainable and resilient livelihoods for a world with zero hunger. At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do, and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high-performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves. 

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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

Côte d’Ivoire is considered a low-middle-income country and ranks 171st of 188 countries in the Human Development Index. It is subject to pervasive food insecurity, malnutrition, and gender inequalities, which severely affect smallholder farmers as they struggle with issues of land access and frequent climate-related shocks. Côte d’Ivoire has a population of 25 million people, of which 48.4 percent are female1 and 46 percent live below the poverty line. It is ranked 155th on the Gender Inequality Index.

WFP’s Strategic Plan for Côte d’Ivoire (2019 – 2025) focuses on capacity strengthening with a view to shifting WFP-led programmes to government and community ownership. At the core of this strategic approach is the sustainability of the national school meals programme, in which WFP assists 613 schools, or 10 percent of the schools covered by the programme, as a platform for promoting education, nutrition and gender equality and stimulating local food production and rural economies. The country strategic plan constitutes an opportunity to support smallholder farmers (SAMS), particularly women, in a holistic way and to diversify food consumption by introducing policies and practices to reduce post-harvest losses and promote sustainable access to markets. By applying the SAMS methodology, WFP aims to lay the foundations for a more robust economy that is less reliant on imports, offers better livelihood options for vulnerable populations and fosters resilient and sustainable national food systems.

The WFP school meals programme, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the McGovern-Dole programme, is implemented in the West, North and North-East regions of Côte d’Ivoire. The programme includes the provision of school meals and complementary services (promotion of handwashing, access to safe drinking water, literacy classes and support to smallholder farmer groups) to over 125,000 children in 613 primary schools, as well as upstream policy work to support Government strategies.

Sustainability is an important aspect of the programme and WFP is working closely with the Directorate of School Canteens, within the Ministry of Education, to improve institutional capacity for a gradual transfer of WFP-supported schools into the national school feeding programme, as well as a more comprehensive quality coverage of the government programme, in a sustainable manner.

Oversee WFP Côte d’Ivoire school feeding programme, including the McGovern-Dole programme, contribute to policy formulation and provide technical advice and oversight on programme strategy, implementation and reporting for country office operations and Government programme.

The staff member will report to the Deputy Country Director/Head of Programme. S/he will supervise the staff needs to work closely with the Programme Officers and assistant, and will need to coordinate extensively with budget, finance, and monitoring and evaluation teams.

MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Country Office (CO) is seeking an experienced international Consultant to oversee the school feeding activities and to support the transition of WFP-led programme to the government. The consultant will also be responsible for advising on government strategies and policies, with a view to transitioning to a home-grown school feeding, which will result in a more comprehensive coverage of school feeding at the national level, in a sustainable manner. This will entail strong programme analysis skills, experience in design and execution of interventions with main stakeholders (government, UN agencies, NGOs, communities, and beneficiaries). In addition to programme management, the Consultant will contribute to the development of the overall strategy and represent WFP at technical coordination fora at the capital and the field levels, building partnerships with key ministries, UN agencies and other development actors at all levels. Support for resource mobilization efforts will be essential to the scale-up agenda, requiring the Consultant to contribute to the development of funding proposals and donor reports.

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Programme, the Consultant will oversee the school feeding activities focusing on the following priorities:

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive, within delegated authority):

• Coordinate all school feeding-related activities to ensure a singular strategy and message to Government and other stakeholders.
• Oversee the overall implementation of all school feeding activities, including the transition to home-grown school feeding and the handover to the Government, with the programme unit at Country Office and sub office level and with the support of Regional Bureau school feeding unit.
• Support the government in operationalizing school feeding strategies and provide support to the elaboration of policies and legal instruments (e.g., school feeding law).
• Coordinate and oversee implementation of McGovern-Dole programme in line with the legal agreement and all terms and conditions outlined therein; This includes ensuring that programme operations are consistent with plan, other relevant guidance at field offices, and in collaboration with WFP colleagues in Washington and Rome.
• Prepare and update annual work plan and contribute to preparing the Country Capacity Strengthening plans to achieve the targets, along with the budget details to ensure implementation of MGD funded activities as per plan.
• Develop, in coordination with the Deputy Country Director and Head of Programme, the WFP school feeding approach for the new Country Strategic Plan.
• Develop and maintain strategic partnerships to identify opportunities for collaborative approaches and initiatives that improve the school feeding assistance package and support advocacy work.
• Enhance WFP’s leadership status in different forums on subjects related to school feeding and nutrition and other related issues through direct participation, briefings, information products and other material.
• Liaise with internal and external counterparts to ensure effective collaboration, monitor ongoing projects, and highlight potential risks to project delivery.
• Coordinate finalization of the partnership’s agreements with cooperating partners, sub-recipients, and other UN agencies, as required.
• Organize quarterly review meetings with partners, prepare/update the work plan and undertake performance review, as required, and provide feedback.
• Coordinate exchange visits of Government officials to facilitate learning.
• Contribute to the preparation of accurate and timely reporting on programmes and activities that enable informed decision making and consistency of information presented to stakeholders.
• Manage operational research and evidence building, including decentralized evaluations, on issues relevant to school feeding and contribute to undertaking assessments, and preparing ToRs to support the preparation of the School Feeding Policy and Strategy.
• Manage preparation and dissemination of timely analytical and critical reports, publications, and a variety of information products or proposals for internal or external use, especially in collaboration with headquarters.
• Oversee tracking utilization of resources in close collaboration with the Headquarters and Country Office Resource Management and Washington Office to ensure the best use of assigned financial resources for achievement of set objectives.
• Undertake additional activities, as required.

DELIVERABLES /OUTPUTS EXPECTED:

• • Support Government into the transition to a strong national Programme
  • Develop all necessary project reports and documents related to McGovern-Dole and USDA funding including work plans, evaluations, amendments, and reports.
  • Increase engagement with school feeding by high profile donors and UN agencies (USAID, UNICEF, FAO, etc.).
  • Provide coordination for universalization of school feeding by developing a Theory of Change for SF.

Education:

You have

Advanced University degree in International Affairs, Education, Economics, Nutrition/Health, Social Sciences, or other field relevant to international development assistance, or First University Degree with additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses.

Experience:

You have:

• Experience working in school feeding, preferably home-grown school feeding.
• Knowledge of donor funded food assistance programmes, preferably with USAID or USDA.
• Experience preparing and tracking budgets.
• Gained direct experience of different programme approaches.
• Worked with government agencies and gained policy experience.
• Led teams in strategic discussions.

Knowledge & Skills:

• A minimum of 3 years of experience, particularly in managing social development activities/programmes, experience working on food security and education issues
• Familiarity with priorities, policies, systems, and programmes in the education sector; proven expertise in preparing high quality analytical reviews, especially at the programme and policy levels; excellent report writing and communication skills; experience preparing and tracking budgets, excellent interpersonal skills to engage with various stakeholders; and advanced facilitation skills.

Languages:

Fluency in both spoken and written English.

Fluency in spoken and written French mandatory.

Deadline for application:  29 April 2024

WFP Value Proposition

• Meaningful and impactful careers - Our day-to-day work makes a difference in the lives of the people we serve.
• Continuous learning and training - We provide learning tools for our staff to continually develop their careers.
• Multicultural and stimulating working environment - We encourage gender and cultural diversity to make our teams stronger.

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU APPLY

• All employment decisions are made based on organisational needs, job requirements, merit and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
• Female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply.  WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate based on HIV/AIDS status.
•  Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.
• 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.
• 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.

Special recommendation:

Before you apply, please confirm that both (i) your on-line profile and CV are accurate and up to date, (ii) your CV should include your employment history, academic qualifications, and language skills.