Project Coordinator: Food and Nutrition Crisis response – LSFF+

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Job Title: Project Coordinator: Food and Nutrition Crisis response – LSFF+

Type of Contract: International Consultant

Division: Nutrition Division (NUT)

Duty Station (City, Country): Rome HQ, Italy

Duration: 11 months

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

About the Organization:

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is the frontline humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. On average, WFP reaches more than 130 million people with food assistance in 80 countries. Around 14,000 people work for the organization, most of them in remote areas, directly serving the hungry poor.

In 2017, WFP approved their Nutrition Policy, which focuses on supporting countries to achieve zero hunger through improved nutrition, with prevention and treatment of all forms of malnutrition a central part of this policy. In support of this shift in programming, WFP will play a bigger role in addressing micronutrient deficiencies around the world through its food assistance programmes. This includes making sure that nutrient rich rations are provided when WFP distributes food, and making sure that, to the fullest extent possible, the food WFP purchases internationally, regionally and locally is appropriately fortified for the environment where it will be delivered and maximises the nutritional impact of interventions. Further, WFP plans to explore other modalities to encourage governments, assistance programmes, and markets to provide or encourage the use of fortified commodities, and ultimately to encourage local fortification of local crops in contexts where it is appropriate, feasible and cost effective.

About the Project:

After more than a decade of progress towards SDG 2, food insecurity is on the rise. Life is getting harder each day for the world’s most vulnerable and hard-won development gains are being eroded by the Global Food Crisis (GFC). Access to nutritious food is being affected and the continued impacts of the GFC are expected to further impair the availability as well as the cost of food. The key factors currently contributing to increased food insecurity include higher prices of foods, decreased availability of nutritious foods, increased cost of living (fuel, transport) and declining real or relative incomes, reducing affordability of diets that meet food and nutritional needs, increasing food insecurity and risk of malnutrition. Other stressors include supply chain disruptions and shrinking foreign reserves to pay for imports.

Nationally led social protection systems are instrumental for protecting vulnerable populations during crises. Humanitarian responses remain important, but investments can achieve both immediate and lasting impacts if channeled through and used to strengthen national social protection systems that can flex in the face of shocks and crises. If this also involves implementation of nutrition-sensitive approaches as part of social protection systems, this will also better enable people to meet their food, nutrition and associated essential needs – a key priority particularly in the face of the GFC given the impacts on food security. This can involve providing specialized nutritious foods to social assistance recipients in specific phases of life (e.g., pregnancy or early childhood), promoting improved demand for nutritious foods through social and behavior change communication and improving access to nutritious foods, including fortified staples (widely and regularly consumed foods to which one or more essential micronutrients are added). Whilst the GFC is creating a major challenge to food security and nutrition, it also presents an opportunity to strengthen the nutrition-sensitivity of social protection systems to support populations in the near term as well as in the face of future shocks and crises.

With this in mind, WFP is proposing to focus on:

1. supporting priority countries in the Asia-Pacific region (namely Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan) to scale the fortification of the staples that are part of the transfer package of their national social protection systems. This will contribute to control of micronutrient deficiencies to mitigate their deleterious impact on human health and economies, particularly among those most affected by the GFC and at risk of future shocks. This will be complemented by targeted social and behavioral change (SBC) activities to ensure uptake and appropriate use of the fortified staples by beneficiaries and among the broader population through market purchase.

1. identifying sustainable solutions to improve supply of and demand for fortified complementary foods that are specifically designed for children aged 6 to 23 months in West Africa, and in the immediate term supporting production line improvement of a manufacturer in Ghana that will start producing Super Cereal Plus (SC+), thus strengthening WFP’s access to Specialized Nutritious Foods (SNFs) for humanitarian response. SNFs are a range of food products that provide varying levels of calories and nutrients needed to prevent or treat malnutrition.

Providing adequate food assistance in an emergency can save lives, but the right nutrition at the right time can also help change lives and break the cycle of poverty. By working together, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and WFP can support activities that will alleviate the impact of the GFC for 2.5 million people in the coming 18 months, in addition to supporting innovation and learning for sustainable change in national systems that serve to support the most vulnerable, as well as build resiliency to mitigate the impact of subsequent crises. This work will build on the many years of experience of WFP in supporting national social protection systems, scale-up food fortification and extensive efforts to improve production of SNFs and to build an enabling environment for food fortification and market-based approaches to improve diets.

Purpose of the Assignment:

As Project coordinator, the purpose of this position is to coordinate the 18-month project using LSFF to mitigate the GFC. Under the guidance of the Chief of AS4FN and sitting in the Fortified Foods and Specialized Nutritious Foods Development Team, this position will be responsible for global coordination and reporting of activities under this grant, spanning across Nutrition and Social Protection at Headquarters, two regions and five countries, working closely with WFP staff in these regions and bureaux. This role will require effective engagement and management of diverse stakeholders, including WFP staff at Country Office (CO), Regional Bureau (RB) and HQ levels, international academic experts and relevant country-level policy stakeholders. Additionally, this role will support the development and implementation of workplans for each CO, coordinate the review for local production of nutritious processed (complementary) foods in West Africa, in addition to the global workplan in close consultation with project stakeholders and donors. The Project coordinator will be the external face of the project and responsible for managing relationships with key stakeholders in the absence of the Chief of AS4FN. The Project coordinator shall bring experience and expertise in large scale food fortification, nutrition, food safety and quality, stakeholder engagement, policy support to governments, and relationship management. The Project coordinator must be well connected in the fortification community and be experienced in managing projects, have an extensive network, and strong and tactful communication skills.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Consultant will:

• Coordinate the WFP-BMGF LSFF+ project:

• Liaise with RBs to coordinate all programmes funded by WFP’s partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the use of LSFF+ in response to the GFC;

• Liaise with PPF to identify and optimize opportunities presented under the partnership as they relate to the mission of WFP;

• Liaise with finance at the Nutrition Division to monitor spending of the grant and liaise with RBs and COs as warranted;

• Liaise with Social Protection (SP) Unit and the intra-divisional nutrition sensitive SP team to secure learning and documenting lessons on integration of LSFF into social assistance programming;

• Support decision-making process between COs, RBs, HQ, and the donor to refine the specific work streams;

• Maintain an overview of each country’s workplan that is updated on a bi-monthly basis;

• Manage grant related communications with the donor;

• Manage the overall design and sub-contracting of a review to identify the requirements for an investment case to sustainably increase supply and demand for local/regionally produced fortified (complementary) foods for institutional (humanitarian) buyers and local markets in West Africa, in collaboration with the Regional Bureau for Western Africa (RBD);

• Liaise with RBD to support the initiation of SC+ production by a local company in Ghana;

• Ensure provision of fortification expertise to WFP’s Nutrition Division, especially as related to the integration of fortification in social prection through the Division’s Strategic Objectives;

• Support on-going work in Nutrition Division on investing in local production of alternative SNFs and its linkages with the afore-mentioned review to identify requirements for an investment case in West Africa.

DELIVERABLES QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• Timely and high-quality responses to donor inquiries and completion of all reporting requirements associated with the global implementation of this project

• Coordination across the various country-level project implementation plans, M&E frameworks, budgets, etc. to ensure successful programme implementation

• In coordination with Nutrition, Social Protection and Partnership Divisions’ Communications Colleagues, ensure appropriate and times communication and advocacy assets are created and disseminated through WFP communication platforms

• Development, Execution, and overall Oversight of contract/agreement for the review to identify the requirements for the investment case described above

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

The candidate must have an advanced degree related to nutrition, public health, or international development.

Experience:

A minimum of 7 years of working experience, some of which at WFP and/or in international development.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Strong Communication abilities to engage with various stakeholders from different sectors and backgrounds, ability to interact with leaders and external audience with maturity and tact, ability to interact with vulnerable people groups
• Experience managing complex programmes at the global level
• Collaborative spirit able to liaise with a wide range of people at all levels and across different cultures and to act with credibility and diplomacy
• Outstanding organizational and time-management skills with an ability to plan ahead, anticipate requirements, problems and obstacles, and an ability to juggle competing priorities successfully, and to work to tight deadlines
• Strong drive, self-motivated and able to work with a high degree of autonomy
• Fully committed and motivated to achieve the aims of the UN World Food Programme
• Publications: Academic publications in the field of food fortification, health or nutrition a benefit.

Languages:

Fluency (level C) in English language. A second UN language, in addition to English (especially French), would be preferred.

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: 10 May 2023

Ref.: VA No. 826672

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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