Programme Policy Officer - FLA - CST I, Bangui

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JOB TITLE: Programme Policy Officer (FLA)

TYPE OF CONTRAT: Consultant Level I

UNIT/DIVISION: PROGRAMME OPERATIONS

DUTY STATION (city, country) : Bangui, CAR.

DURATION: 11 months

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), a highly prestigious, reputable & world’s largest humanitarian organization, operates in more than 120 countries and territories, bringing life-saving assistance in emergencies, building pathways to peace, stability, and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change and supporting sustainable and resilient livelihoods for a world with zero hunger. At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do, and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high-performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves. To learn more about WFP, visit our website: UN World Food Programme (WFP), and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest

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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The Central African Republic (CAR), a least-developed country and among the world’s poorest, is impacted by historic conflicts, poor governance, and weak institutions. The compounded effects of widespread violence, socio-political instability, structural and governance deficits, and climate change have left more than half of the population in need of humanitarian assistance. Insecurity has disrupted the health and education sectors, constrained access to basic services and increased inequalities, affecting particularly the most marginalized groups (women, girls, youth, ethnic minorities). The latest results of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC analysis, April 2023) show that 39% of the population analyzed (2.4 million people) are in Crisis and Emergency situations (IPC Phase 3 and 4). As of June 30, 2023, CAR had 485,825 internally displaced persons (IDPs), comprising 129,047 people in sites and 356,778 in host families. Households in host communities (69%) would like to see sustainable local integration in their current area of displacement, while the most cited priority assistance needs in IDP host communities remain food distribution (35%) income-generating activities (IGA) (15%). and shelter items (14%).

To address these challenges, crisis response remains the priority under CAR country strategic plan (CSP 2023-2027) launched in March 2023. Thus, WFP support the Government of CAR and the humanitarian community in providing humanitarian food assistance to the most vulnerable people affected by crisis mainly through general food distributions, nutrition prevention and treatment intervention, school-based programme, and resilience building using in kind food transfer, Cash-based Transfers (CBT) and capacity strengthening. WFP is committed to strengthening the consideration of humanitarian, protection principles, accountability, and gender to ensure the full participation of the community and thus facilitate the resilience during the CSP implementation process.

WFP maintains its deep field presence throughout CAR with a Country Office (CO) in Bangui and field-offices located in Bouar, Paoua, Kaga-Bandoro, Bambari, Bria, Bossangoa and Bangassou.

In 2024, through its Country Strategic Plan (CSP) WFP CAR WFP will continue to support the Government of CAR and the humanitarian community in providing humanitarian food assistance to the most vulnerable people affected by crisis. Informed by conflict analyses, the approach will remain contextualized and agile throughout the CSP, it will promote and foster partnerships with United Nations (UN) entities, particularly Rome Based Agencies (RBA), International Financial Institutions (IFIs), and national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Given the importance of the partnerships that WFP is looking forward to having, it will be important to have someone dedicated to the implementation of the Field Level Agreement and will have the main tasks of ensuring that WFP policies, guidance, and Country Office–level Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are routinely followed when working with partners so as FLA management and partnership performance evaluation.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Head of Programme, and the general supervision of the Head of Programme the Programme Policy Officer/FLAs will be responsible for the following:

• Provide high level analysis and comprehensive situation overviews of the FLAs.
• Prepare the Due Diligence Report (DDR) to check the shortlist NGOs are not involve in any act of Terrorism, fraud, child abuse, trading of arms, force labour, have any UN sanction, force labour,
• Contribute to the call for project proposals for the various activities as per the implementation period.
• Review project proposals of Programme activities following the Cooperating Partner Committee (CPC) in accordance with the calendar of activities and respect of related Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s).
• Organize the cooperating partner committee at the level of the Country Office,
• Draft FLAs and MOUs for selected partners.
• Register signed FLAs and MOUs in the WFP SAP system (create Service Outline Agreements and Purchase Orders) and COMET,
• Contribute to the management of the budget related to NGOs for implementation and activity management.
• Run fund consumption reports of the different activities and use these reports to monitor commitment, actuals, and grant/PO balances.
• Create Service entry sheets and good receipt note entries in WFP’s SAP system, based on the cooperation Partner (CP) monthly distribution report cleared by CO Monitoring & Evaluation Team.
• Process payment claims of CPs. Ensure the correct exchange rate is used and follow up on any commodity losses reported in the distribution report.
• Track of payments made to the CPs. Maintain the payment tracking sheet, prepare monthly status report, and flag any issues that require action.
• Review request for cash requirements and initiate remittance actions through WINGS
• Liaise closely with Programme colleagues at the sub office level, and Country office Finance on issues related to cooperating partner payments.
• Update the performance evaluation tools based on the lessons learned.
• Prepare and update SOPs related to FLA management.
• Develop the capacities on: WFP and NGO staff on FLA & partnership, and extraction of reports.
• worked closely with the Budget and Programming Unit (BPU) to manage CP costs for both food, CBT, and other implementation costs.
• Commit CBT grants into PO according to their TDD and TOD,
• Liaise with BPU to get the picture of the funding window to prepare and update monthly expenditure plan for the Programme Unit and the Field Offices,
• Other as required.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

Mapping and systematic efficient Due Diligence of Cooperating partners through UNPP.

Effective end-to-end management and monitoring of FLA process.

Identification of capacity strengthening gaps through capacity assessments, spot-checks and performance evaluations whereas provide adequate training plans in coordination with other Units.

Improved availability and quality of data.

Set up and update SOPs for FLA management.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Advanced University degree in Economics, International Development, Social Sciences or other related field, or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or training/courses.

Experience:

At least six years professional experience in the humanitarian/development sector with increasing responsibility especially in FLAs management in a hardship duty station or emergency contexts.

Has developed, or supported in the development of, single discipline work plans to support the achievement of WFP strategic aims within a defined area.

Gained experience of analysing local political situations and assessing risk accurately.

Has experience leading a team to ensure the effective delivery of objectives.

Participated in a vendor/government/ partner negotiation within area of focus.

Strong communication skills, ability to work independently.

Knowledge

& Skills:

Strong project management, coordination and interpersonal skills required. Ability to bring together multiple technical teams to integrate planning and implementation objectives. Ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure in difficult conditions with minimal supervision. Initiative, enthusiasm, creativity, and flexibility. Experience in managing teams

Languages:

Fluency (level C) in French (as CAR is a French working environment) and Basic in English is required.