Programming Policy Officer- Nutrition (International Consultant)

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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, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Organization Name: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)

Duty Station: WFP Zambia Country Office

Position Title: Programming Policy Officer (Nutrition)

Duration of Assignment: To start as soon as possible until 31 December 2018 (with possibility of extension)

Type of Contract:  International Consultancy

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.  The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes.  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.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Advanced University degree in Public Health Nutrition, Nutrition, Food Technology, Medicine or other relevant field.
Language: International Professional: Fluency (level C) in English language. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, and/or WFP’s working language, Portuguese.

National Professional: Fluency (level C) in English language and the duty station’s language, if different.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian agency, fighting hunger worldwide. This commitment is further re-emphasized through the Global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals Specifically Goal 2 - Zero Hunger –and Goal 17 - Partnerships for the Goals. WFP Zambia Country Office has domesticated this commitment through the Interim Country Strategic Plan (i-CSP), a transitional programme framework to help address Government priorities  from policy, infrastructure, systems and human resource strengthening perspective to sustainably achieve set goals and targets in Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security.

To achieve these collective goals, WFP Zambia’s work supports the Mission Statement of the National Food & Nutrition Strategic Plan which is to  Eliminate all forms of malnutrition to have a well-nourished and healthy population that can contribute optimally to national economic development. The complex  nature of malnutrition issues in Zambia require long-term policy and programmatic solutions. Stunting rates among children under five years of age average 40 percent nationally, but reach upwards of 50 percent in rural provinces. Nearly 15 percent of children are underweight (male children: 16 percent; female children: 14 percent), and low weight-at-birth is 11 percent.  Among women of reproductive age (15-49 years), 10 percent are underweight, while 23 percent are overweight or obese, having nearly doubled between 2007 and 2014.

Under the current i-CSP, WFP Zambia will ensure that communities in food insecure areas have improved nutritional status in line with national targets by 2020. This outcome will be achieved through two outputs: i) Targeted communities benefit from enhanced access to affordable and acceptable nutritious products in order to improve their basic food and nutritional needs and ii) Targeted communities benefit from improved knowledge in nutrition, care practices and healthy and diverse diets in order to improve their nutritional status.  

JOB PURPOSE

Under the strategic leadership of the Country Director and direct supervision of the Head of Programme,  the Nutrition Consultant will assume the role of the Activity Manager for strategic objective 2 through supervision of the Nutrition Team and provision of technical support for the development and strengthening of nutrition programming for the country office and for government capacity development and augmentation related to nutrition.  

The Nutrition Consultant will also support the Zambia SUN Business Network and use the platform to leverage private sector engagement both in rural and urban settings. Additionally, the consultant will manage resources for the nutrition unit

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

Nutrition Programming

• Provide high-level technical assistance and inputs to accelerate integration of food and nutrition interventions within the national agenda and WFP programming.
• Represent WFP Zambia in various national-level nutrition stakeholder groups and support nutrition sector coordination efforts as requested.
• Expand engagement of local private sector to nutrition, including implementation of nutrition-sensitive complementary initiatives that drive consumer demand for improved nutrition.
• Strengthen Zambia CO relationships with key stakeholders (NGOs, Donors, Private Sector) engaged in nutrition and strategically support development of platforms that bring together these stakeholders in a way that forwards the national agenda.

Nutrition in the First 1,000 Days

• Support the government of Zambia in the implementation of the First 1,000 days programme
• Develop a technical assistance operational plan and support its implementation. Technical support areas might include:

1. Development of national guidelines and implementation for existing nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive initiatives.
2. Strengthening strategies for community-based nutrition interventions.
3. Increasing efficiency and effectiveness of nutrition programming, particularly related to the first 1000 Most Critical Days strategy.
4. Supporting advocacy and operationalization of national nutrition strategies, including the draft National Food and Nutrition Policy, Stunting Action Plan, and national Nutrition Advocacy Strategy

SUN Business Network

• Lead WFP involvement in the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement multi-sectoral platform. Lead plans to strengthen nutrition coordination, including strengthening participation and high-level engagement in the SUN Movement.
• Support  the scale up efforts on the SUN Business Network, coordinate the Fill the Nutrient Gap analysis and Cost of Hunger in Africa study.
• Build strategic partnerships with key agencies and generate evidence to inform programming.
• Support development of national Common Results Framework for nutrition in line with SUN Movement.

Capacity building

• Assess needs for capacity development in nutrition among WFP staff and Government partners.
• Provide capacity building to national government staff to prepare for and respond to nutrition needs including the production and review of training materials, policies and guidelines as well as other capacity development activities.
• Strengthen nutrition capacity amongst WFP staff and its partners on nutrition.

Resource mobilization

• Support the country office in preparing proposals for donors and other resource mobilization efforts for nutrition.
• Advocate for nutrition interventions to donors, governments and other actors; explore possibilities to engage with new donors.
• Lead the development of funding proposals to support, strengthen, and strategically expand WFP CO programming in a manner that complements existing national efforts and fills programming gaps.

Partnerships

• Establish and/or maintain partnerships with key nutrition stakeholders in the country and region;

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Utilizes understanding of WFP’s Strategic Objectives to communicate linkages to team objectives and work.
•  Be a force for positive change: Proactively identifies and develops new methods or improvements for self and immediate team to address work challenges within own work area.
•  Make the mission inspiring to our team: Identifies opportunities to further align individual contributions with WFP’s mission of making an impact on local communities.
•  Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Helps colleagues to see the link between their individual tasks and the contributions of their unit’s goals to the broader context of WFP’s mission.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people's skills: Is able to identify, support and encourage focused on-the-job learning opportunities to address gaps between current skillsets and needed future skillsets for WFP.
•  Create an inclusive culture: Recognizes the contributions of teammates, and encourages contributions from culturally different team mates to recognise the value of diversity above and beyond just including it in programming for beneficiaries.
•  Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Provides and solicits ongoing constructive feedback on strengths and development opportunities to help develop individual skills, whilst also helping others identify areas for improvement.
•  Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Sets clear targets for self and others to focus team efforts in ambiguous situations (e.g., unprecedented issues and/or scenarios)

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Thinks beyond team’s conventional approaches to formulate creative methods for delivering food aid and assistance to beneficiaries.
•  Focus on getting results: Maintains focus on achieving individual results in the face of obstacles such as volatile or fragile environments and/or organizational roadblocks.
•  Make commitments and make good on commitments: Takes personal accountability for upholding and delivering upon team’s commitments and provides assurance to stakeholders.
•  Be Decisive: Demonstrates ability to adjust to team’s plans and priorities to optimize outcomes in light of evolving directives, while also responding quickly in high-pressure environments, such as in emergency settings.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Demonstrates an understanding of when and how to tactfully engage other units in conversations on impact, timing, or planning
•  Build strong external partnerships: Networks regularly with key external partners using formal and informal opportunities to understand each partner’s unique value proposition, and to build and strengthen relationships 
•  Be politically agile & adaptable: Demonstrates ability to adapt engagement approach in the context of evolving partner circumstances and expectations
•  Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Demonstrates ability to articulate to internal and external audiences the value that individual contributions and immediate teams bring to partnerships.

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

OTHER SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS

• Proven track record in strategic analysis of country context
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills, including substantive analysis and report writing skills, as well as ability to convey messages to various stakeholders in a relevant and understandable way
• Excellent interpersonal skills; ability to relate to and communicate with high level stakeholders coming from Government, Private Sector, Donor Agencies, and the broader Development Community

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• 5+ years working in development especially within nutrition sector, preferably within Zambia, for strong understanding of local context
• Experience in other sectors such as food security, agriculture, fisheries etc. Experience in strategy development, policy work, planning and managing nutrition programmes  as well as capacity building
• Experience in resource mobilization and engagement with the private sector is highly desirable
• Experience analysing nutrition survey data and compiling survey reports is desirable

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

27th May 2018

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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.

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.