Programme Policy Officer – Gender & Protection (NOA) – Garowe

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

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.

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

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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WHY JOIN WFP? 

• WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

• WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.

• WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.

• A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.

• We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT: A key recommendation from the Somalia Country Portfolio Evaluation (2012 – 2017) was to include protection, accountability to affected populations (AAP) and gender into programming. As a result, WFP Somalia has progressively strengthened the integration of gender and protection in programming through the establishment of full time Protection & Gender and AAP technical positions, increased engagement and partnership with various protection actors, and development of guidelines to improve programme design and implementation. Efforts include the development of community-based targeting guidelines for Somalia through the Food Security Cluster (FSC), mapping of GBV referral pathways in collaboration with the GBV sub-cluster and UNICEF, engagement with various actors on disability and inclusion of marginalized/minority groups, and incorporation of organizations representing minority/marginalized groups in the FSC regional coordination hubs. In 2020, WFP also took leadership in championing collective accountability, coordinating the development of key data categories for a collective feedback mechanism that was shared with the Inter-Cluster Coordinating Group (ICCG) and the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT).

With the approval of the Global Protection and Accountability Policy (2020), WFP is required to apply a protection approach to its programming. This means mainstreaming gender and disability into programming and ensuring the inclusion, participation, and meaningful engagement of the most at risk in WFP’s food assistance programmes. To make the protection approach systematic, WFP needs to ground the policy to the relevant local contexts in Somalia. To this end, WFP is increasing its personnel capacity through the recruitment of one National Programme Policy Officer (Gender & Protection) in each of the Area Offices in Somalia to deliver on its commitments.

The incumbents would work closely under the overall guidance and support of the Programme Policy Officers on Gender & Protection and AAP at the Country Office and report to the Area Office Head of Programme - Garowe. Overall, the Gender and Protection Officer will also liaise closely with other teams to ensure cross-functional synergies and provide technical support to improve the integration of protection, gender and accountability across WFP programmes and operations in Puntland and Dhusamareeb in Somalia. This includes supporting the operationalization of relevant WFP policy and strategic frameworks, such as the Gender Policy (2022), the Protection and Accountability Policy (2020), the Disability Inclusion Road Map (2020 -2022), and the Community Engagement for AAP Strategy (2022 -2026) at the Area Office level.

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

Programme support to integrate/mainstream inclusion, gender, and protection:

• Support the Area Office with continuous context-specific protection and gender analysis aimed at providing solid evidence to inform vulnerability-based and inclusive response across the programmatic cycle;

• Analyze documents to identify entry points for advancing protection and inclusion of the most vulnerable populations in the WFP programmes and delivery modalities

• Support participatory implementation and analysis of WFPs programme related to food support and nutrition through field visits and engagement with key local stakeholders;

• Support the M&E team to strengthen the Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) to appropriately respond and refer all cases relating to protection including child protection, fraud, and corruption, GBV and SEA, in alignment with corporate WFP policies and guidelines;

• Support programme staff and cooperating partners to integrate and mainstream inclusion across the operation, including both programmes and support functions;

• In collaboration with the CO Gender & Protection Officers, support programme staff to integrate gender and protection throughout the programme management cycle (design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation), and in needs assessment frameworks as appropriate, including the adaptation of tools, collection, analysis and reporting processes to ensure that different beneficiary needs are identified and met;

• In collaboration with the CO Gender & Protection Officers, provide technical support to Programme staff and Cooperating Partners on the monitoring of the Gender and Age Marker (GAM) exercise including the provision of guidance and training, development of key tools to facilitate data collection, as well as development of narratives relating to gender equality and women's empowerment and protection under the Annual Country Reporting for the Country Office;

• Support WFP’s existing commitments to gender transformative practices and protection, and efforts to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) workplan, together with local PSEA focal points and the PSEA Taskforce;

• Working with the Gender & Protection and Diversity & Inclusion Officers, support the Communications and Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) colleagues to develop participatory initiatives for internal and external dissemination regarding the commemoration of international and national events focused on gender equality such as International Women's Day and the 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-Based Violence

Foster partnerships and collaborations on gender, protection, and inclusion:

• Assist local counterparts in government and other partners to identify protection issues in the framework of WFPs strategies including humanitarian assistance

• Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships on GEWE, protection mainstreaming and disability inclusion with national and local actors, including organizations representing women, persons with disabilities and other particularly marginalized groups in affected communities.

• Participate in all relevant area based inter-agency gender, protection and AAP coordination mechanisms/clusters, coordinating and strengthening the link between WFP’s internal work on gender, inclusion, protection and AAP and its interagency role as a partner and peer within the humanitarian system;

Strengthening Capacity:

• Support knowledge sharing and gathering of best practices and lessons learned on pilot initiatives, policies and programmes relating to gender equality and women's empowerment and protection at the Area Office level through staying abreast on global, regional, and national initiatives;

• In collaboration with the CO Gender & Protection Officers, identify challenges and opportunities to strengthen the capacity of WFP staff and cooperating partners at the field levels, on the overall knowledge and importance on gender and inclusion and its relation to gender-based violence risk mitigation and the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, WFP's policies and obligations, gender and protection analysis etc;

• Other tasks, as required and assigned by the supervisor or by the management.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education: Advanced University degree in International Affairs, Economics, Nutrition, Health, Agriculture, Environmental Science, Social Sciences, or any other related fields. OR First University Degree with additional years of relevant work experience and/or training/courses.

Experience:  At least one (1) year of relevant experience with Advanced University Degree OR first University Degree with a minimum of three (3) or more years of relevant experience in the development/humanitarian field related to protection, gender equity and women’s empowerment, GBV, PSEA, disability inclusion, digital financial inclusion, human rights and/or gender-based violence. Experience in the areas of food security, nutrition, emergency response, social protection, livelihoods and disaster risk reduction will be considered as an added advantage.

Languages: Fluency (level C) in English language and Somali Language.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Knowledge of gender and protection in humanitarian and development settings, gender-based violence, humanitarian policy issues and linkages with food security and nutrition.

• Analytical skills, including gender and protection analysis.

• communication skills, including the ability to effectively communicate through multiple mediums (e.g., policy, advocacy messaging, reporting, training)

• Knowledge and skills in adult learning

• Team spirit and excellent interpersonal relations.

This position is open to qualified Somali national candidates only. Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply. WFP Somalia offers female friendly spaces in the workplace.​

WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK

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Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact:  global.inclusion@wfp.org

NO FEE DISCLAIMER

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• All applications must be submitted exclusively through our online recruiting system. We do not consider CVs or applications sent by email, LinkedIn, or any other channel.

• We strongly recommend that your Workday profile is accurate and complete, and that all sections are filled in, including your employment history, academic qualifications, language skills, and UN grade (if applicable). Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.

• If you experience technical issues while submitting your application, you may contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org. Please note that this email is only for technical issues with an application - unsolicited applications or documents sent to this inbox will not receive a reply.

• At the application stage, the only required documents are your CV and Cover Letter. Additional documents (passport, certificates, recommendation letters, etc.) may be requested later in the process.

• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the recruitment process.

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational 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.

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.