Social Protection Officer

Independent since 2002, Timor-Leste – an island nation situated between Indonesia and Australia – is one of the world’s newest countries. It has successfully managed to transition out of conflict and become one of the region’s most stable democracies, with opposing political forces maintaining a peaceful dialogue to resolve differences. Its economy is dependent on oil and gas revenues, but with aspirations to develop agriculture and tourism.

Timor Leste is a young nation. 59 percent of the population is under 25 years of age and women bear children at very early ages: one in four gives birth before turning 20. The right investments in education, employment and the empowerment of women can accelerate development in the course of a generation. Improved nutrition must underpin these efforts.

The Government of Timor-Leste is firmly committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), of which it was a staunch supporter during negotiations. However, serious obstacles to the achievement of SDG 2 on Zero Hunger and improved nutrition remain.

WFP works in close collaboration and coordination with the Government of Timor-Leste, with a view to strengthening its capacities for delivering social safety programmes, and with other partners including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO).

In Timor-Leste, persistent widespread poverty, high food insecurity, and alarmingly high levels of child malnutrition continue to undermine human capital development and long-term resilience. Timor-Leste has one of the highest rates of child stunting in the East Asia and Pacific region, with nearly half of all children under five affected. This reflects chronic, intergenerational malnutrition driven by limited dietary diversity, poor infant and young child feeding practices, restricted access to quality health and nutrition services, and persistent socioeconomic vulnerabilities—particularly among pregnant and breastfeeding women and young children during the critical first 1,000 days of life. These structural challenges are exacerbated by recurrent climate shocks, exposure to natural disasters, rising food prices, and geographic isolation, which further strain household coping capacities and disproportionately impact women and rural communities.

While the Government of Timor-Leste has made important investments in social protection, coverage and adequacy remain limited. Existing programmes have struggled to reach the poorest households, respond effectively to shocks, or systematically integrate nutrition outcomes. Gaps in social registries, delivery systems, contingency planning, and nutrition-sensitive design constrain the potential of social protection to protect vulnerable households at critical moments—especially during the first 1,000 days of life, when the risk of irreversible malnutrition is highest.

Against this backdrop, WFP is supporting the Ministry of Social Solidarity and Inclusion (MSSI), with technical collaboration from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), to implement the Integrated Nutrition and Adaptive Social Protection for Increased Resilience (INSPIRE) Technical Assistance (TA) Project. INSPIRE seeks to help transform Timor-Leste’s social protection system into one that is adaptive, shock-responsive, and nutrition-sensitive, while strengthening national systems, institutional capacity, and evidence-based policymaking. A cornerstone of this effort is the rollout of the Government’s flagship nutrition-sensitive programme, Bolsa de Mãe Kondisional – SANUTRIO (BdMK SANUTRIO), which targets pregnant and lactating women and mothers of young children to improve nutrition, health, and resilience outcomes.

Under the direct supervision of Social Protection Programme Policy Officer (Head of Unit), the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

Technical documentation and quality assurance

- Support detailed drafting, review, consolidation, and finalization of technical deliverables under the INSPIRE TA, including the SANURIO Operations Manual, the Poverty and Vulnerability Framework, social assistance training manuals, social registry technical documentation, and financing review.

-Systematically address technical comments from ADB reviewers, government counterparts, and other stakeholders, ensuring clarity, coherence, and alignment with agreed objectives and standards.

- Coordinate internal review processes within WFP, facilitating inputs from relevant units and ensuring timely incorporation of feedback.



Research, analysis, and learning

- Conduct desk-based research and analytical reviews related to social protection, adaptive systems, and nutrition-sensitive programming, as required.

- Support the synthesis of evidence and experience to inform programme learning, reporting, and strategic positioning.



Communications and knowledge management (CM)

- Develop and implement a knowledge management and communications plan for the Social Protection portfolio, in close coordination with WFP Communications and Programme teams.

- Identify, document, and package key lessons learned, innovations, and results emerging from BdMK SANUTRIO and INSPIRE implementation.

- Draft high-quality written content, including human-interest stories, technical blogs, briefs, presentations, and learning products for internal and external audiences.

- Support the organization and curation of social protection programme knowledge products, ensuring accessibility and institutional memory.



Programme support

- Provide ad hoc technical and analytical support to the social protection team, including during benefit distributions, trainings, and other major project milestones.

- Perform any other duties as assigned by the supervisor in support of programme objectives.