Inclusive DRR Expert – International Consultant
WFP encourages female candidates and people with disabilities to apply.
WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles. Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis. We are committed to promoting diversity and the principle of equal employment opportunity for all our employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of religion or belief, ethnic or social background, gender, gender identity and disability.
Job Title: Inclusive DRR Expert
Type of contract: Short-Term Consultancy (or When Actually Employed)
Duration: 8 months
Duty Station: Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic (remote work as negotiable)
Vacancy Number 747106
Date of Publication: 04/04/2023
Deadline of Application: 18/04/2023
BACKGROUND: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, 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. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic agreed to increase collaboration in 2023 – 2027, further aligning WFP’s support to the national social and civil protection measures. This is especially critical in times when the country is facing the negative impact of several global crises, and when more frequent and severe climate-related shocks affect well-being and prosperity, impeding the access to a nutritious diet especially for the most vulnerable. WFP and the Kyrgyz Government will be jointly implementing the WFP’s Country Strategic Plan (2023-27 EN|RU) that includes 4 Strategic Outcomes:
WFP and the Kyrgyz Government will strengthen the capacity of 500 thousand food-insecure households to improve their productivity, incomes, livelihoods and nutrition practices. Complementing the Government’s ’social contract’ and public works efforts, WFP will provide food-insecure families with food or cash when participating in the rehabilitation of pivotal community assets (bridges, dams, reservoirs, drinking water pipelines etc.) or in structured curricula to gain knowledge and skills (e.g. agro-forestry, agro-processing) to improve their employability. WFP will also strengthen the capacity of institutions with improved assessment, targeting and monitoring methodologies to better reach the most vulnerable with inclusive social measures and contribute to related digitalization initiatives.
In the event of a large-scale emergency, WFP and the Kyrgyz Government along with other humanitarian partners will cooperate to provide unconditional food assistance to vulnerable populations in crisis-affected areas to meet their critical food needs, enabling their early recovery. This activity will be implemented upon activation of the disaster response coordination unit and national disaster response mechanisms.
WFP and the Kyrgyz Government will assist more than 400 thousand vulnerable people in communities prone to hazards and climate change risks to enable them to be financially resilient when affected by disasters and other shocks. Communities will benefit from gender transformative approaches with rehabilitated assets and knowledge that help them to protect, improve and adapt their livelihoods to climate variability. Process and systems improvement in early warning and anticipatory action as well as, financing permitting, investment in warehousing infrastructure will improve food systems and Government capacity.
WFP will continue working with the Kyrgyz Government in optimising the National School Meals Programme so that pre-school and schoolchildren aged 3 –12 can receive hot, diverse and nutritious meals at schools (soups, porridges, salads, fresh pastries, vitamin-rich drinks etc.) to improve their micronutrient intake. WFP aims to equip another 300 schools with fortified wheat flour, modern kitchen equipment and training on the school meals organization. WFP and the Government will strengthen technical and financial capacities of schools and involved institutions and pilot innovative solutions to enhance sustainability. Schoolchildren and their caregivers will continue to benefit from activities and trainings related to healthy eating and hygiene. Climate change is a major threat to food security the world over. In Kyrgyz Republic, the alterations in precipitation patterns have already led to an increase in the short-run crop failures and long-run production declines. Heat stress may result in large-scale losses of livestock due to increased mortality and decreased reproduction rates. Hotter summers and an increase of extreme weather events are leading to reduced capacities of the livestock producing farmers in terms of fodder production. The increased intensity and frequency of weather-related events (i.e., floods, droughts, heatwaves and windstorms) are likely to lead to even more significant production losses, with broader economic implications. In the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which includes parts of Eastern Europe and Asia, climate adaption is interlocked within the geopolitical interests of countries dependent on fuel mining, thereby a far more challenging element to implement. WFP's project with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) "Climate services and diversification of climate sensitive livelihoods to empower food insecure and vulnerable communities in the Kyrgyz Republic", implemented under Strategic Outcome 3, aims to reduce vulnerabilities to climate change and increase the adaptive capacity and resilience of rural communities. This is done by providing support to the Kyrgyz Hydromet (KHM) to produce reliable climate services products and support the end-users to access, understand, and act upon this information in a timely manner. Other activities within this project include promoting climate change adaptation actions at the community level, generating and providing critical knowledge, awareness, and best practices to inform broad-based capacity building and improved decision making. Under WFP's GCF project, 102,000 direct (20,400 households) and 700,000 indirect beneficiaries will be reached, between Batken, Osh and Naryn provinces through implementation of the following three inter-linked components:
Additionally, WFP in Kyrgyz Republic has secured a multi-year multi-million contribution from the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development (SDC) to support the new CSP in order to strengthen and upscale Disaster Risk Management (DRM) activities of vulnerable communities by supporting informed, coherent, gender- and nutritious- sensitive local adaptation, enabling the environment for risk financing and build-back-better mechanisms to climate-proof the food systems and guarantee food security. There is a need to ensure a robust and sustainable mechanism for gender mainstreaming into policies is in place. This includes supporting government entities in using gender-sensitive approaches in their activities related to Climate Change Adaptation (CCA), with action plans and policies for ensuring equal opportunities and gender equality. To illustrate, within the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the following recommendations were provided by the treaty body:
Climate change and gender equality have become issues of common concern globally, nonetheless there is a differentiated impact and as a result strategies required to secure adequate coping capacities and resilience building for men and women. The potential of women in promoting climate change mitigation and adaptation has not been fully realized. Although many studies around the world have shown that climate affects people of different genders differently, including the most recent rapid assessment conducted in partnership with UN Women and Agha Khan Development Network (AKDN) the vulnerability mapping was developed, however there is lack of clear vision and approach on how to interpret the outcomes of the mapping into the set of meaningful intervention on the national and local levels. There are, furthermore, aspects of the research which provide the basis and foundations for further work to happen. Below is a list of areas the Strategic Outcome 3 team could build on and design projects and opportunities for further funding (either through existing channels or via funding streams not yet identified). PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT: To support WFP in Kyrgyz Republic to secure evidence-based development of national and local development strategies, in particular those related to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and DRM. ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES: Under the supervision of the Outcome Manager for Strategic Outcome 3 and in close collaboration with the Head of Programme, Programme Policy Officer (Gender) and the national Programme and RAM staff, the Consultant will take the role of an internal advisor and undertake the following tasks:
DELIVERABLES:
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:
All WFP Employees are expected to demonstrate the competencies and standards of behaviour aligned with our core values and defined in the WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK, namely: Leading by example with integrity, Driving results and delivering on commitments, Fostering inclusive and collaborative teamwork, Applying strategic thinking, Building and maintaining sustainable partnerships. HOW TO APPLY To be considered, interested candidates are invited to apply via (https://www.wfp.org/careers/job-openings). Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. WFP will not request payment at any stage of the recruitment process including at the offer stage. Any requests for payment should be refused and reported to local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action. Request for Disability related Reasonable Accommodations: It is important to WFP to create an accessible and inclusive workplace for everyone. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions. If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the selection and hiring process, please direct your request and inquiries to the Diversity and Inclusion team on: global.inclusion@wfp.org, cc’ing bangkok.recruitment@wfp.org. A member of the reasonable accommodation team will contact you to confidentially discuss your needs. This email is only to be used for any disability related accessibility requirements, and not for sending the application itself. Due to volume of applications, any applications or CVs sent through this email address will not be considered as a formal application and will not receive a reply from WFP. WFP is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce. WFP has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, abuse of authority or discrimination. 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. |