Livelihoods and Skills Development Programme Policy Officer
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Job Title: Livelihoods and Skills Development Programme Policy Officer
Type of Contract: Regular Consultant
Division: PRO – Programme, Humanitarian & Development Division
Duty Station (City, Country): HQ, Rome, Italy
Duration: 11 months
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. WFP's Strategic Plan (2017-2021) is guided by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set forth in the 2030 Agenda, in particular SDG 2 on ending hunger and SDG 17 on revitalizing global partnerships for implementation of the SDGs.
This assignment sits in the Asset Creation, Livelihoods and Resilience Unit (PROR-L), whose core areas of work include livelihood programmes, i.e. Asset Creation and Skills Development, the Three- Pronged Approach (3PA), and resilience.
In recent years, four major trends – urbanisation, protracted displacement, a renewed interest in gender equality and the youth bulge – have had widespread implications for WFP programming on Livelihoods and Skills Development. Urban and displaced populations are more dependent on human and financial capital (compared to natural and physical capital) for livelihoods. Women and youth similarly lack access to land and other assets. Many were excluded from or denied an opportunity for basic education and are in vulnerable employment. With increasing caseloads of beneficiaries who reflect these trends, there is a need to maintain and focus further the efforts on the Skills Development programme stream which aims at developing human capital.
Food Assistance for Training (FFT) represents the bulk of Skills Development activities within PROR-L, and a major share of WFP’s footprint within the human capital and youth employment portfolios. FFT seek to build the human capital of food insecure and vulnerable women and men participants as an important step towards making them self-reliant and eventually enhancing their resilience to shocks and stressors. Traditionally, a transfer is provided to help participants meet their immediate needs while attending skills development trainings. The objective is to equip participants with skills they can use to generate income, and ultimately, improve their food security and nutrition. In some programmes, the technical skills training is complemented with interventions, such as literacy and numeracy skills, business skills training, asset transfers, access to finance, market linkages and job search services, to enhance the employability or enterprise viability of the training graduate. Upon the initiative of the Innovation Accelerator, PROR-L has also supported in the past few years the EMPACT programme, which focuses on IT skills development for WFP beneficiaries across several COs.
Against this background, the PROR-L unit is seeking to hire a consultant to fill in the position of Livelihoods and Skills Development Programme Policy Officer. The staff member will also act as the main Programme/RAM liaison on the Asset Impact Monitoring from Space (AIMS) project, due to the synergies that have been established in the past between the two projects, with FFT graduates supporting AIMS story map development, and the potential to keep exploring such synergies.
ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILTIES:
The purpose of the position is to coordinate and oversee the successful development and implementation of WFP’s Livelihoods and Skills Development portfolio, and to liaise on a programmatic and strategic level with RAM on AIMS, by contributing to policy formulation and providing technical guidance or oversight on strategy, design and implementation issues, vis-à-vis Country Offices and Regional Bureaux, also related to urban, displacement and youth employment issues.
- Provide support on a broad range of strategic/programmatic (e.g. type of activities, design, context -i.e. recovery, conflict, IDPs, etc… -, layering and sequencing), technical (e.g. standards and norms, toolkits, etc.) and operational issues (e.g. SOPs, training, etc.) relating to livelihoods and skills development.
- Monitor and support operational research and evidence-building on skills development activities for advocacy and resource mobilisation and to provide guidance to strengthen programme/proposals formulation.
- Identify possible capacity gaps on Skills Development programmes at CO and RBx level and strengthen such capacities through in-person and online trainings/ webinars.
- Collect reports, publications, and a variety of information products or proposals for internal and/or external use, which demonstrate how skills development activities efforts are advancing resilience building.
- Supervise and guide the piloting of new corporate indicators in selected Country Offices.
- Provide guidance to COs and engage in technical review of ACRs’ skills development reporting.
- Develop and implement a communication strategy, including drafting of factsheets, media posts, video and photo content, in coordination with the communication teams at Country Office and the knowledge manager at PROR-L.
- Identify and establish linkages with other units/divisions to promote the integration of skills development activities with other programmes and areas of work.
- Lead, in close collaboration with other units in HQ (e.g. PROP), COs and RBx, the policy and programme engagement in the youth employment arena.
- Support, as required, the advancement of the urban resilience agenda from the skills development standpoint.
- Engage, support and contribute to the Joint WFP-UNHCR Hub activities as required, focusing on joint programme implementation and fundraising in the areas of skills development and self-reliance.
- Support the definition of the strategy of engagement and backstoppoing in the EMPACT project vis-à-vis INKA and currently implementing COs.
- Be the main focal point in PRO and the liaison between RAM and PRO in the upkeep and expansion of the AIMS project. This would also include be the main interface with relevant RBx and COs stuff on programmatic issues.
DELIVERABLES:
Over a duration of eleven months, the Livelihoods and Skills Development Programme Policy Officer is expected to deliver the following outputs:
- Support on strategic, technical and operational issues to RBx and COs on Livelihoods and Skills Development programmes provided.
- Collection of evidence, cases studies, and other relevant material on livelihoods and skills development for at least 5 COs carried out.
- Capacity building strategy (both online and in person) for RBx and COs on livelihoods and skills development prepared.
- New corporate indicators tested and maintained.
- Support to COs on livelihoods and skills development reporting in ACRs carried out.
- A communication strategy, including drafting of factsheets, media posts, video and photo content, in coordination with the communication team in PROR, developed. at.
- Coordination with key units and divisions (e.g. RAM, PROP, PROS, PROC, PROR-F etc..) carried out with clear workplans and objectives.
- Establishment, in close coordination with PROP, other units, RBx and COs, of a workplan and objectives on the Youth Employment portfolio.
- Concept note on livelihoods and skills development in urban areas programmatic and strategic priorities.
- Joint WFP-UNHCR Hub activities strengthened, ideally with one joint project identified/implemented.
- Strategy and roles on the engagement with INKA on EMPACT developed.
- AIMS project portfolio expanded, in collaboration with the rest of the AIMS team, to two additional COs. Support in liaising with COs and RBs provided, as well as development of relevant webinars and communication material.
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:
Education:
Advanced University degree in International Affairs, Economics, Nutrition/Health, Agriculture, Environmental Science, Social Sciences or other field relevant to skills development and livelihoods.
Experience:
At least (5) five years of postgraduate progressively responsible experience in livelihood activities.
Has worked in a Country or Field Office in the setup, implementation and management of one or more of the technical areas mentioned above.
Has gained direct experience of different programme approaches related to livelihoods.
Experience on these topics in the Middle East and North Africa region, where the need for Skills Development programmes is currently more acute, is considered an asset.
Knowledge and Skills:
Good analytical skills.
Resourcefulness, initiative, maturity, of judgement, tact, negotiation skills.
Ability to communicate clearly both orally and in writing.
Ability to work in a team and establish effective working relations with persons of different national and cultural backgrounds.
Knowledge of GIS and remote sensing technology and tools is considered an asset.
Languages:
Fluency (Level C) in English. Working knowledge of other UN languages (French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Portuguese) would be an asset.
Terms and Conditions
WFP offers a competitive compensation package which will be determined by the contract type and selected candidate’s qualifications and experience.
Please visit the following websites for detailed information on working with WFP.
http://www.wfp.org Click on: “Our work” and “Countries” to learn more about WFP’s operations.
Deadline for applications: 1 November 2022
Ref.: VA No. 176503
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.
