Programme Policy Officer (mVAM & CFM) SC8 | Kinshasa | DRC

Qualified women and people with physical impairments are strongly encouraged to apply.

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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 (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. We are currently seeking for a programme Officer (Vulnerability, accounting, and mapping) in the Democratic Republic of Congo; one for Kinshasa Country office

BACKGROUND OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the second largest country in Africa, covering an area of 2.34 million km². The population is an estimated 71 million people. Although the country possesses vast resources, a high proportion of the population (about 63.4 percent) live below the poverty line (under USD 1.25 a day) and is unable to meet its basic needs.

The situation in the country is fragile and the development challenges are major. The DRC is ranked 152nd out of 163 countries on the 2016 Global Peace Index and in terms of democracy, it is ranked 157th out of 167 countries on the 2015 Democracy Index of The Economist. On the Fragile States Index 2015, the DRC is listed in the category of “greatest concern and urgency”, with widespread conflict and insecurity caused by the struggle for the control of natural resources, access to land, ethnic tensions, and the activism of armed groups.

Poverty, conflict, displacement and vulnerability continue to undermine food and nutrition security for a growing number of Congolese people, particularly women and children. Health and economic shocks including adverse effects of the covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia conflict, have comme on top of various structural factors that have already made precarious and volatile the country food security and nutrition situation. Despite considerable efforts by national and international partners, the food and nutrition crisis is deepening making it more and more difficult not to leave no one behind.

Among the challenges that the humanitarian actors, including WFP, encounter in assessing the food security situation in order to identify those who are the most in need of food assistance or to set up a monitoring and early warning system, are the dilapidated state of much of the road network, the insecurity due to armed conflicts and the resurgence of epidemics (e.g. Ebola), which make it difficult to access the most vulnerable populations and make these activities very costly and time-consuming. To address these challenges, WFP and its partners have implemented an innovative strategy, called m-VAM which is a remote data collection approach using mobile phone technology, in order to make food security assessments and monitoring more effective and efficient.

In addition, for greater accountability to the populations it assists, WFP has also put in place a Community Feedback Mechanism (CFM) with multiple channels, which allows two-way communication between WFP and communities that are beneficiary of its assistance. A CFM is a formal mechanism for receiving information from people in communities where WFP operates. The main objective is to increase the influence of affected communities over programmes and enhance programme quality. The DRC CFM includes the following components: a toll-free hotline, suggestion boxes, help,feedback desks set up at distributions, community consultations and a centralised database used to record and monitor the resolution of cases. These are essential to ensure WFP can properly monitor its programming,understand and integrate the perspectives of the affected population. To be effective, the CFM includes established procedures for recording complaints, following-up on the issues, taking action, and providing feedback to the complainant in a safe and dignified manner captured in the CFM SOP.

The work on the CFM implementation is done in close collaboration and coordination with the protection and accountability to affected populations team and the designated CFM focal points.

PURPOSE OF THIS POSITION

The World Food Programme in the Democratic Republic of Congo is enhancing its technical unit to build the evidence base that supports food security and nutrition policies and programmes (e.g. needs assessment and situation analyses, programme design, targeting, cost effectiveness, and operational efficiency).

A Programme and Policy Officer (m-VAM) supports the VAM technical unit through his/her participation in the food security and market as well as innovation related activities, including m-VAM food security and market surveys and monitoring. S/he will be responsable for supporting all sub-offices with the mVAM design and implementation, and use of results. Furthermore, he/she supports the community feedback mecanisms (CFM), serving as the key link between the VAM/M&E unit and Protection/Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) unit S/he will be responsable for ensuring the implementation of the CFM SOPacross DRC area and sub-offices, focusing on staff capacity, data quality and reporting/analysis.This will also require regular missions to support the training of partners on the CFM SOP and related tools and the coordination of the CFM focal points based in the various offices.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive) :

Under the general supervision of the Country Office VAM Officer the Programme Policy Officer (m-VAM/CFM) is responsible of the tasks a follows:

Vulnerability Analysis & Mapping

• Coordinate the remote food security and market data collection system (mVAM; mKengela) in place by providing required technical support to stakeholders, including through participation in the analysis of collected data as well as report drafting and dissemination;
• Build capacity of Area and Sub-office staff to lead mVAM data collection, ensuring coherence between approaches in different offices;
• Support Area and Sub-office staff to analyse, communicate and make use of their mVAM data;
• Participate in emergency joint remote data collection, for example when a crisis due to epidemics and conflict, makes an intervention area inaccessible;
• Liaise with HQ and RB on all matters related to mVAM and how they can be adapted to the DRC context;
• Build capacity of WFP staff, partners and national government to conduct remote food security and market data collection and analysis.
• Ensure standard operating procedures are adhered to, with specific reference to terms of data protection, data security and privacy.

Accountability: Community Feedback Mechanism

• Collaborate with the Protection and AAP unit on the implementation of the Complaint and Feedback Mechanism (CFM) SOP;
• Build staff and call centre’s capacity to enable mainstreaming of the CFM into daily activities which includes regular missions to support the training of partners on the CFM SOP and related tools;
• The coordination of the CFM focal points based in the various offices;
• Supervise CFM assistants;
• Support WFP management, activity managers, and field offices in addressing CFM findings to ensure follow-up actions are taken as required;
• Contribute to and support evidence-based decision-making through the production of updates, dashboards, and reports summarizing all feedback received, reflecting data trends, status of issues resolution, and implementation progress;
• Manage contracts and collaboration with call centre based in Kinshasa and oversee billing and payment.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

OUR WFP VALUES :

• Integrity
• Collaboration
• Engagement
• Humanity
• Inclusion

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

1st December 2022

Ref.: VA 178475

Kindly note the only documents you need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter. Additional documents such as passport, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc may potentially be requested at a future time.

For candidates who experience problems accessing WFP E-recruitment platform and need accommodations in applying, please contact [email protected] mentioning the VA number in the subject line.

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.

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