Programme Policy Officer_School Feeding_NOB/Ouagadougou
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WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. 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 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 (Master) in international management, economics, nutrition, agriculture, environmental sciences, or local development.
Experience: Minimum of seven (7) years of experience in Project management, school feeding, resilience Programmes and other safety nets Programmes?
Language: Fluency (level C) in French (duty station's language) and Fluency (level C) in English.
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
In Burkina Faso, the World Food Programme (WFP) is working alongside the government to implement a comprehensive school feeding program. This program encompasses regular school feeding, emergency school feeding, and school feeding initiatives utilizing local products. However, the country is currently facing a severe political crisis and escalating conflicts, resulting in a significant increase in internal displacement. Since 2019, over 1.8 million people have been displaced, making it one of the fastest-growing internal displacement situations in the world.
The mounting challenges of political instability, conflict, climate change, and socio-economic issues are the primary drivers of food insecurity in Burkina Faso. Approximately 3.5 million people, which accounts for around 16 percent of the national population, are currently experiencing food insecurity. To compound the situation, poor harvests and high food prices further exacerbate the difficulties faced by the vulnerable population, creating a complex scenario with multiple shocks.
The Government of Burkina Faso demonstrates its commitment to addressing these issues by allocating CFAF 18.8 billion annually towards the implementation of school canteens. Recognizing the importance of these efforts, the WFP is dedicated to supporting the Ministry of Education and the Presidential School Feeding Initiative in enhancing their performance. This support extends through various programs, including collaborative initiatives with other UN agencies.
In response to the challenges posed by child malnutrition, the diversification of school meals, effective governance of school canteens, and the development of the local economy, the WFP, leveraging its expertise in school feeding programs based on local production and purchases from small-scale producers, stands ready to assist the Government in improving its national program. The WFP will accomplish this by sharing experiences related to the purchase of school food by communes, establishing connections between small-scale producers and school markets, strengthening storage capacities, developing a simplified purchasing guide, monitoring fund traceability, and implementing priority actions outlined in the national school food and nutrition strategy. These actions include diversifying school meals, enhancing governance, and improving the regulatory framework of the sector, among others.
JOB PURPOSE
The Programme Policy Officer's role involves contributing to the improvement of the program unit's performance through the management of strategic results 1 and 2 outlined in the Burkina Faso Strategic Plan 2019_2025. Their priority actions are aligned with the implementation of a school feeding model that emphasizes local production in the targeted model communes. Specifically, the candidate's responsibilities include:
1. Designing and overseeing the implementation of school feeding programs, with a particular focus on those based on local production, to address Burkina Faso's food assistance requirements effectively.
2. Providing support for the development of agricultural value chains and agri-food processing, aiming to strengthen the local agricultural sector's capacity to produce food for school feeding programs.
3. Contributing to policy formulation related to school feeding, particularly in the implementation of the Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF) strategy, which aims to source food locally and support local farmers and food producers.
4. Participating in the implementation of specific projects that align with the goals and objectives of the Burkina Faso Strategic Plan, particularly those related to school feeding and improving food security.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)
1. Contribute to the design of school feeding programs that utilize locally produced food, ensuring their alignment with WFP's policies and program directives.
2. Implement and manage school feeding activities based on local production in specific intervention areas, taking into account identified funding and programs/projects of significant size and complexity, adhering to WFP standards and procedures.
3. Foster collaboration and synergy with other WFP activities in Burkina Faso, such as resilience-building, nutrition programs, humanitarian assistance, social protection, and gender equality initiatives.
4. Conduct research and analysis on policy and operational issues to inform the formulation of Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF) policies, programs, and activities.
5. Contribute to initiatives that promote complete value chains involving farmer organizations to enhance production (and processing), income generation, and capacity building, with the aim of creating long-term impacts, in coordination with relevant units like resilience, nutrition, and procurement.
6. Assist in preparing accurate and timely reports, publications, information products, and proposals for both internal and external use.
7. Foster effective collaboration by liaising with internal and external counterparts, monitoring ongoing projects, and identifying potential risks to project implementation.
8. Support the identification, development, and management of partnerships and collaborative working groups to improve the delivery of food assistance.
9. Represent WFP at appropriate meetings to contribute to discussions, share experiences, advocate for HGSF, and identify potential areas of collaboration.
10. Support the strengthening of the national HGSF program, policies, strategies, action plans, protocols, and guidelines in line with national priorities.
11. Provide support and technical expertise to the Ministry of Education in planning, formulating, and implementing HGSF programs that enhance government and community ownership and effectiveness.
12. Support capacity building efforts for WFP staff, partners, government officials, and communities in preparing for and responding to food assistance needs through training and provision of equipment related to HGSF.
13. Provide guidance and supervision to staff under their responsibility, accompanying them in conducting complex portfolio analyses.
14. Contribute to resource mobilization efforts for WFP projects, advocating for school feeding program opportunities, and monitoring project resource availability, including food and cash.
15. Ensure efficient and effective use of financial resources to achieve objectives within a realistic budget.
16. Undertake any additional tasks requested as required.
4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES
Purpose
- Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Understands WFP’s Strategic Objectives and the link to own work objectives.
- Be a force for positive change: Flexibly adapts individual contributions to accommodate changes in direction from supervisors and internal/external changes (such as evolving needs of beneficiaries, new requirements of partners).
- Make the mission inspiring to our team: Recognizes and shares with team members the ways in which individual contributions relate to WFP’s mission.
- Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Sets own goals in alignment with WFP’s overall operations, and is able to communicate this link to others.
People
- Look for ways to strengthen people's skills: Assesses own strengths and weaknesses to increase self-awareness, and includes these in conversations on own developmental needs.
- Create an inclusive culture: Participates in open dialogue, and values the diverse opinion of others, regardless of background, culture, experience, or country assignment.
- Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Proactively seeks feedback and coaching to build confidence, and develop and improve individual skills.
- Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Participates in accomplishing team activities and goals in the face of challenging circumstances.
Performance
- Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Shows willingness to explore and experiment with new ideas and approaches in own work.
- Focus on getting results: Consistently delivers results within individual scope of work on time, on budget and without errors.
- Make commitments and make good on commitments: Commits to upholding individual accountabilities and responsibilities in the face of ever-changing country or functional priorities.
- Be Decisive: Makes rational decisions about individual activities when faced with uncertain circumstances, including in times of ambiguity regarding information or manager direction.
Partnership
- Connect and share across WFP units: Seeks to understand and adapt to internal or cross-unit teams’ priorities and preferred working styles.
- Build strong external partnerships: Demonstrates ability to understand and appropriately respond to and/or escalate needs of external partners.
- Be politically agile & adaptable: Portrays an informed and professional demeanor toward internal and external partners and stakeholders.
- Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Provides operational support on analyses and assessments that quantifies and demonstrates WFP’s unique value as a partner.
FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES
– Knowledge and comprehension of Burkina Faso's national school feeding program and its collaboration with the Ministry of Education.
– Familiarity with national agricultural policies, strategies, and school feeding plans. A strong understanding of the Presidential Initiative aimed at providing at least one balanced meal per day to every school-age child will be an advantage.
– Proficient in operational, analytical, and problem-solving skills, enabling effective project management.
– Demonstrated ability to generate high-quality documents and articulate clear project objectives.
– Skilled in delivering confident presentations and facilitating workshops and group discussions.
– Proficiency in computer literacy.
– Capability to engage in open dialogue, value diverse opinions, and appreciate perspectives from individuals of varying backgrounds, cultures, and origins.
DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE
1. Extensive expertise and experience in effectively implementing cash transfer programs.
2. Demonstrated accountability for successfully executing agriculture and food security projects.
3. Actively participated in policy discussions and played a key role in shaping decision-making processes.
4. Made significant contributions to the development of innovative project and program solutions/initiatives, expansion of successful school feeding programs, consolidation of best practices, and the establishment of strategic partnerships with implementing partners.
5. Collaborated closely with the Government of Burkina Faso and managed projects funded by prominent donors, showcasing a proven track record in navigating diverse stakeholder environments.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Contract type: Fixed Term (NOB)
Duration: 12 months renewable
Duty Station: Ouagadougou
Number of position: 01
Be a burkinabe national
Female candidacies are strongly encouraged
NB: Only selected candidates will be contacted
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
If interested, please submit your application before Sunday July 30th, 2023
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WFP has a zero-tolerance approach to conduct such as fraud, sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to WFP’s standards of conduct and will therefore undergo rigorous background verification internally or through third parties. Selected candidates will also be required to provide additional information as part of the verification exercise. Misrepresentation of information provided during the recruitment process may lead to disqualification or termination of employment
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.
