Internship - Technical Assistance & Country Capacity Strengthening, New York, USA

World Food Programme

Internship

Technical Assistance & Country Capacity Strengthening

New York, USA

The mission of WFP is to end global hunger. 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.

In emergencies, WFP gets food to where it is needed, saving the lives of victims of war, civil conflict and natural disasters. After an emergency, WFP uses food to help communities rebuild their shattered lives. Present in nearly 80 countries, the organization has the global footprint, deep field presence and local knowledge and relationships necessary to provide access to nutritious food and contribute to the lasting solutions, especially in many of the world’s most remote and fragile areas.

Governments are increasingly interested in conducting cost benefit assessments of their safety net programmes. WFP is supporting them by providing technical assistance and has developed a school feeding investment case. It is a cost/benefit analysis of the value added for each dollar invested in school meals. It is a useful tool in showing the extent to which school meals programmes are valuable in the long run and how they are advantageous to the country’s overall development.

The Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) is also a tool aimed at estimating and illustrating to donors and governments the various outcomes of school feeding along the Sustainable Development Goals to position school feeding high up in the social protection agendas, to secure public commitment and budgets, and to strengthen the country capacities in the field of social safety nets.

The Policy and Programme Division is looking to fill two internship positions starting as soon as possible.  The interns will be located in WFP’s office in New York, United States of America.

Key outputs/Responsibilities:

Under the joint supervision of the Senior Consultant and the Senior Programme Adviser, Technical Assistance and Country Capacity Strengthening Service, the intern will perform the following duties and complete the following deliverables:

•    Based on existing reference publications for the health sector (in particular the Global Burden of Disease and the Disease Control Priorities, 3rd edition), provide inputs to improve the current economic model of the WFP Cost-Benefit Analysis, with a focus on health benefits. Identify pathways to impact, relevant indicators and other data points in order to measure quantify, and monetize the school meals value added on children’s health and nutrition.

•    Based on the results from the Capstone Mission Report on school meals programmes in Ethiopia (in particular the Bottleneck Analysis, Systems Map and Theory of Change), and based on WFP data and expertise and the academic literature, generate quantitative analysis and actionable knowledge to leverage school meals to improve children’s health and nutrition.

Essential Requirements:

• Currently enrolled with at least two years undergraduate studies completed, or completed at least one year of graduate studies or recently completed graduate studies (graduation in the past six months) in the field of Global Public Health;
• University course attendance in the past 12 months;
• Excellent knowledge of references and methodologies in the field of Global Public Health, Medicine, Child Health and Development;
• Excellent command of English;
• Excellent analytical skills;
• Ability to work productively and proactively in a multi-cultural environment;
• Previous experience in the development/humanitarian sector would be an asset;
• Excellent knowledge of WFP policies and programmes, especially related to school meals and nutrition, would be an asset;
• Previous experience (academic or operational) in field contexts would be an asset.

Terms and Conditions:

• Interns receive a monthly stipend from WFP up to the maximum amount of US$1000 per month depending on the duty station of assignment.
• WFP is not responsible for living expenses, arrangements for accommodation, necessary visas and related costs.
• WFP will reimburse travel ticket for candidates who are nationals of developing countries and are pursuing their studies in their home country.
• WFP will recognize candidates’ educational credentials from recognised institutions that have been certified by competent international or national authorities such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) or Ministries of Education.

Closing date:   22 May 2018

VA reference no:  82467

Female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply.  WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.