Monitoring Assistant SC4, Khorog Field Office, Tajikistan

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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.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

Despite positive economic growth and progress in poverty reduction, Tajikistan is still facing a challenging food security and nutrition situation. Recent economic challenges compounded by population growth have contributed to the reclassification of the country as low-income in 2018 while the COVID pandemic and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has further increased household vulnerability. Malnutrition rates remain the highest in Central Asia, and the number of undernourished has remained stagnant. Tajikistan faces different environmental challenges, including environmental and soil degradation and poor natural resource management. Additionally, Tajikistan is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, which has further exacerbated food security and livelihoods of vulnerable communities. Given the above, the government has identified food security and access to quality nutrition as one of its development priorities.

WFP Tajikistan has commenced its Country Strategic Plan 2023 – 2026 in tandem with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) covering the same period. By means of the CSP, WFP is undertaking a strategic shift from direct implementation to enabling and strengthening capacities of national and subnational institutions to deliver on their food security and nutrition priorities.

WFP activities support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). The geographic scope of WFP Tajikistan operations encompasses the entirety of the country. In addition to the country office in Dushanbe, WFP has field offices located in Bokhtar, Gharm, Khorog, and Khujand to oversee operations in those specific regions.

To support evidence-based decision making, WFP collects food security and nutrition data through various platforms and in coordination with the government Agency for Statistics, among other entities. Monitoring of operations in Tajikistan includes monthly process monitoring, biannual post distribution outcome surveys, and, as relevant, baseline surveys and specialized monitoring or surveys. As part of accountability to affected populations, WFP emphasises the creation of a community feedback mechanism (CFM, generally called a complaints and feedback mechanism), which is a formal mechanism for receiving information from and providing information to people and communities where WFP operates.

JOB PURPOSE

The above described initiatives require enhanced capacity at the field office level and strong coordination with internal and external stakeholders. The Monitoring Assistant will support the overall implementation of WFP Tajikistan’s Khorog field office monitoring data needs.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

Working within the Khorog field office’s programme team and reporting directly to the Programme Associate at the Khorog field office, the incumbent is expected to perform the following duties and responsibilities:

• Monitor the implementation of WFP’s resilience and livelihood activities in accordance with the WFP standard guidelines/practices and report progress periodically to the Programme Associate / Head of Field Office for their information, reflections and actions;

• Verify the planned movements and distribution of food or non-food items, reporting issues or discrepancies to the supervisor for timely resolution of problems and ensure that the quantity distributed, and the quality of the operation is in line with WFP standards;

• Monitor and review the overall cash distribution process starting from beneficiary selection, registration and verification to bank cards distribution;

• Maintain information records and monitoring plan documentation, such as records of commodity movements and programme checklists, in order to assist in the effective delivery and distribution of food items or non-food items.

• Collate assistance programme(s) data in accordance with clear direction, in order to support programme reviews and informative decision-making.

• Liaise with cooperating partners and internal counterparts to gather feedback and comments to support programme reviews and improve services.

• Receive and collate comments and feedback from cooperating partners, beneficiaries, and communities, to support identifying programmatic issues with a view to fostering efficient operations.

• Provide guidance for cooperating partners on WFP operational practices, monitoring tools and methods in order to support them to complete self-monitoring tasks and to contribute to the visibility of WFP in the coverage areas. • Review and make changes in line with established guidelines to the proposals and projects’ related reports provided by the Cooperating Partners

• Serve as the field focal point to any of WFP’s outsourced monitoring entities by introducing them to local authorities, cooperating partners, and any other stakeholders, providing them with relevant information on WFP projects and schedules, receiving and reviewing their reports, and following up on any issues raised by them. • Prepare field mission reports to document programme implementation.

• Follow set emergency response processes and procedures for emergency food assistance.

• Support the implementation of the WFP Tajikistan CSP through ensuring cross-cutting efforts such as nutrition-sensitivity, gender and diversity inclusion, protection and accountability, and capacity development, are integrated throughout the portfolio and to ensure equal participation and consideration of women and men, boys and girls, and people living with specific needs and/or disabilities.

• Any other duties as required.

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Helps teammates articulate WFP’s Strategic Objectives.
• Be a force for positive change: Suggests potential improvements to team’s work processes to supervisor.
• Make the mission inspiring to our team: Explains the impact of WFP activities in beneficiary communities to teammates.
• Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Articulates how own unit’s responsibilities will serve WFP’s mission.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people's skills: Trains junior teammates on new skills and capabilities.
• Create an inclusive culture: Seeks opportunities to work with people from different backgrounds.
• Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Serves as a peer coach for colleagues in same area of work.
• Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Tracks progress toward goals and shares this information on a regular basis with supervisor.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Explores ways to consistently be more efficient and accurate in own areas of work and shares new methods of work with colleagues.
• Focus on getting results: Focuses on getting results and tracks trends in completion rates for own tasks to identify opportunities for efficiency.
• Make commitments and make good on commitments: Takes responsibility for own tasks and notifies supervisor as soon as possible of potential delays in meeting deadlines or commitments.
• Be Decisive: Independently decides what action to take when faced with critical choices in the workplace or in dangerous situations in the field.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Suggests opportunities for partnering with other units to supervisor.
• Build strong external partnerships: Identifies opportunities to work with colleagues and partners in the field towards common goals.
• Be politically agile & adaptable: Develops an understanding of the value of WFP’s teams and external partners in fulfilling team’s goals and objectives.
• Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Aligns own activities with supervisor’s priorities to fulfill internal and external partner needs.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Completion of secondary school education. Language: Fluency in both oral and written communication in the UN language in use at the duty station and in the duty station’s language, if different.

Experience: Four or more years of progressively responsible experience in monitoring, evaluation, or any other relevant field.

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• Worked within the humanitarian or development context. • Experience in working with various communities • Experience collecting primary observational and structured data through various quantitative and qualitative monitoring techniques. • Experience in analysing quantitative and qualitative process, output and outcome data. • Working knowledge of international monitoring and evaluation systems and standards. • Experience working in mountainous and remote regions.

OTHER SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS

Travel Requirements:

• Will travel extensively and regularly throughout the region to remote and sometimes difficult to reach project locations with potentially minimal services. • Will travel at times to other areas of the country (such as Dushanbe) in the event of meetings or workshops.

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

Capability Name Description of the behaviour expected for the proficiency level Strategic Management Displays basic understanding of WFP’s policies and strategies to perform monitoring and/or evaluation activities and their inter-relationship. Performance Management Applies knowledge of WFP’s performance management system to manage resources and relationships to undertake monitoring actions or deliver straightforward evaluations of operations, programmes, or processes to WFP monitoring and/or evaluation quality standards. Qualitative/Quantitative Methodology Understand and applies an appropriate mix of established methods and data collection tools to monitoring, reviews or straightforward evaluations, in line with WFP’s strategic and operational results frameworks (metrics), WFP guidance and technical standards. Data Analytics and Visualization Collects and summarizes programme data, including information on shipments, distribution site logistics, the status of personas in need, and beneficiaries planned and reached for all programme assistance modalities and activities. Programme Monitoring and Review Gathers, organizes, and provides data on programme outputs, processes, and outcomes, including distribution plans and the status, quantity, and quality of food and cash distributed and technical assistance provided.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Contract Type: Service Contract

Grade: SC 4

Contract Duration: 1 year with possibility of extension

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

Deadline for receiving applications: Not to exceed 8th February 2024

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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

Qualified females candidates and candidates with disabilities are highly encouraged to apply

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.