Programme Consultant - Scaling Up Nutrition Academia & Research (SUNAR)

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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.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Type of Contract: Consultancy (CST Level I)

Duty Station: National SUN Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan

Duration: 3 months

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 in International Affairs, Economics, Nutrition/Health, Agriculture, Environmental Science, Social Sciences or other field relevant to international development assistance, or First University Degree with additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

This job is based in National SUN Secretariat, Islamabad. The consultant will report to Government SUN Focal Point and SUN Program Policy Officer or the designate. Job holders operate with a high degree of independence, manage more junior staff to ensure that programme and policy objectives are achieved in full. They are usually involved in a wide variety of programme and policy activities and analytical work, some of which may be of a considerable complexity. At this level job holders are expected to contribute to performance improvement.

JOB PURPOSE

Background & Rationale:

There has been enormous support from the Nutrition Development Partners in the establishment of all Six SUN Namely Government, Donors, UN, Civil Society Alliance, Business and SUN Academia & Research Network Pakistan (SUNAR, Pak). These networks have played an important role in promoting the nutrition agenda in different ways including technical support, advocacy & awareness, coordination, development of strategies, policy, action plans and mobilizing resources. The partners have been instrumental in sustaining the networks by providing the dedicated HR and operational support.

SUNAR, Pak is an indigenous effort of government of Pakistan under the SUN/Ministry of Planning Development and Special Initiatives to bring in research institutions/universities spread over Pakistan on a single platform to leverage the significant potential of these institutions in promoting nutrition through evidence generation, creating awareness, advocacy and policy planning. SUNAR, Pak was established on May 30, 2016 after an extensive consultative process. Currently 46 Academic Institutions/ Universities involved in nutrition/food security teaching and research are members of the network.

However, due to lack of dedicated support we not been able to smoothly run the network and exploit the potential. We are looking for a short-term consultant to bring back SUNAR Pak Network on track

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

1. Contribute towards the development of a wide variety of projects, plans and processes, ensuring alignment with wider programme policies and guidance. 2. Provide project management support to specific and defined programmes and projects of considerable size/complexity, ensuring a coordinated approach with wider programmes that complies with WFP standards and procedures. 3. Develop and coordinate data gathering and monitoring systems ensuring that rigorous quality standards are maintained. 4. Research and analyse a range of policy and operational issues to inform the development of policies, programmes and activities. 5. Contribute to the preparation of accurate and timely reporting on programmes and activities that enable informed decision making and consistency of information presented to stakeholders. 6. Liaise with internal and external counterparts to ensure effective collaboration, monitor ongoing projects and highlight potential risks to project delivery. 7. Support the identification, development and management of potential partnerships to collaborative working leading to improved food assistance packages. 8. Support the capacity building of WFP staff, partners and national government to prepare for and respond to food assistance needs, e.g. through providing inputs into training materials. 9. Guide and supervise more junior staff, acting as a point of referral and supporting them with analysis and queries. 10. Other as required.

Key deliverables: 1. Revise the SUNAR Pak ToRs 2. Develop/revise guidelines for the membership and election process 3. Facilitate SUNAR membership drive 4. Conduct SUNAR elections 5. Develop SUNAR engagement strategy in line with SUN 3.0 and other national and international priorities 6. Conduct training/workshop for SUNAR members regarding SUN and their roles and responsibilities in promoting nutrition agenda

Required competencies: • Policy planning • Development of strategies/guidelines and proposals • Teamwork • Excellent analytical skills • Ability to meet tight deadlines and to work effectively under pressure

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

Capability Name Description of the behaviour expected for the proficiency level Programme Lifecycle & Food Assistance Displays ability to identify the main hunger problem at the national or subnational level to design and implement context-specific programmes that integrate complex analysis and the full range of food assistance tools. Transfer Modalities (Food, Cash, Voucher) Demonstrates ability to analyse and consolidate quantitative and qualitative information from different sources (e.g., market studies) to inform transfer modality selection and programme development. Broad Knowledge of Specialized areas (i.e. Nutrition, VAM, etc.) Demonstrates the ability to interpret basic data in the context of WFP specialised fields to contribute to technical programme design, implementation and monitoring. Emergency Programming Displays ability to translate understanding of programme principles in emergencies and protracted conflict situations into relevant, effective, and context specific approaches. Strategic Policy Engagement w/ Government Develops thorough recommendations using multiple inputs (e.g., government counsel, research, own experience) to strengthen national or subnational entities and government owned food and nutrition security programmes.

OTHER SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS

We are looking for a short-term consultant to bring back SUNAR Pak Network on track with the following strategic priorities and key deliverable:

a) To advocate and campaign for nutrition sensitive budgeting at provincial and district levels b) To generate visible political support and commitments from all major political parties at district, provincial and national level c) To develop SUNAR as an advocate, influencer and whistle blower for the implementation of national and provincial nutrition related commitments and progress d) To strengthen SUNAR by increasing inclusive, multi-sectoral and equitable membership from across Pakistan, for nutrition inclusive policies and programs at local, provincial and national level e) To build technical capacities of member organizations for contextualizing nutrition specific advocacy and awareness raising activities

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• Has deepened technical knowledge through exposure to technical teams. • Has taken leadership of implementing programmes. • Has provided input into policy discussions and decisions.

Has 5 Years of Experience in; • Coordination • Working with government, academia and other development partners • Running organization/institution/firm or business • Conducting organizational elections • Establishment of governance structures • Policy planning • Development of key documents such as strategies, policy guidelines and ToRs

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

13 March 2022

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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.