📢 Vacancy Announcement n°: 169141

👉Job Title: Programme Policy Officer (National Technical Advisor), NOC

📌Type of Contract: Fixed-Term

🚩 ️Unit / Division: Country Office Management

⭐Direct Reporting Line: Regional Director for WFP Regional Bureau for Western Africa

📍 Duty Station: Praia (Cabo Verde)

🌟 Duration: 1 year (renewable based on performance)

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE:

Since its establishment, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has been entrusted with a dual mandate: to meet emergency and protracted relief food needs (saving lives) and to support economic and social development (changing lives). To contribute to national development agendas in an impactful way, WFP innovates to tackle the root causes of hunger and malnutrition and builds resilience both at a community and system level. The organization works with multiple stakeholders, aiming to build strong partnerships – including at the technical level – with national governments, development partners (incl. International Financial Institutions), as well as the private sector.

Effective design and implementation of development programmes require:

1. Robust engagement and investment in relationships with governmental authorities (local, subnational and national), and other development actors including International Financial Institutions (IFIs);
2. Expertise in public policy and public administration and contextual knowledge of how respective Governments and ministries operate.
3. Ensure the generation of robust evidence to support food security and nutrition policies and programmes.

Programme Policy Officer (National Technical Advisor) will help position WFP strategically as a key development partner amongst the national stakeholders and will co-lead the engagement with the national Government, International Financial Institutions and other development actors in the country to maximize the impact of WFP’s development programmes.

The Programme Policy Officer (National Technical Advisor) will facilitate WFP’s contribution to the design of key policies and programmes in the country and will mobilize resources for WFP programmes contributing to the country’s development agenda.

COUNTRY CONTEXT:

Cabo Verde is a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) in the Sahelian eco-climatic zone, situated off the coast of Senegal and within easy reach of Europe and the Americas with a population projected to be 555,988 for 2020 of which 276,871 are female (49.8 percent), and 28.1 percent are children under 14 years. The Cabo Verdean population is extremely young, with an average age of about 27.6 years in 2020, compared to a world average of 30 years. Poor in traditional natural resources and with only 10 percent of land arable, Cabo Verde’s locational, structural, and geophysical characteristics substantially contribute to its economic, social, and environmental vulnerability and determine its strategic choices and development pathway.

With regards to food security and nutrition, given its territorial fragmentation, the existence of a limited area of arable land (10%), limited irrigation systems (5% of arable land is irrigated), and its exposure to extreme weather phenomena as a result of climate change, Cabo Verde is highly vulnerable to food insecurity – both cyclical and structural. Soils are mostly of volcanic origin but are poor in organic matter, and crop yields are low. As a result, more than 80% of food supplies are imported, especially cereals (rice and wheat), whose dependence has been increasing exponentially over the years.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Cabo Verde led to a further a deterioration in food insecurity conditions. According to the recent Early assessment of the prevalence of Food Insecurity in Cabo Verde (FAO, 2020), 36.0% of population experienced moderate or severe food insecurity during the last semester of 2020. For 30.4% of the individuals COVID-19 has been identified as one of the main drivers. In general, households in rural areas present a situation of structural food insecurity while households living in the urban environment were impacted more severely due to the pandemic and food insecurity affected women-headed households (39,2%) more than men-headed households (29%). Acute malnutrition is low (4.4%), but 5% of children under 5 remain underweight. The prevalence of anemia in children under-five years of age at 43% is considered a public health problem, as well as iron deficiency, and stunted growth in children under 5.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Regional Director and the regional Operations and Partnerships teams, the Programme Policy Officer (National Technical Advisor) will undertake the following key responsibilities to advance the positioning of WFP with the government of Cabo Verde and within the UN team in Cabo Verde, particularly in programme and partnership building, monitoring and evidence generation and resource mobilization with the Government, IFIs and other development actors:

ADVICE AND ANALYSIS

• Provide advice to the Regional Director and Resident Coordinator in terms of strengthening WFP’s relationship with the Government and positioning WFP as a key actor in the humanitarian and development space.
• Proactively scan the country’s humanitarian and development landscape and identify viable opportunities for strategic engagement, to refine WFP’s value proposition and specific offerings for WFP’s strategic engagement with the Government and other actors, including IFIs, particularly in the areas of food security and nutrition analysis, emergency response, social protection, rural transformation, sustainable infrastructure, and human capital development.
• Analyse the national development, budgeting, and spending priorities, as well as relevant external developments and processes involving the Government and IFIs (e.g., national budgetary processes, approval of key strategic documents, and loan negotiations), to determine how WFP could support the Government with furthering its priorities and closing the funding gap.
• Provide technical advice and support to WFP and its partners on matters pertaining to food security and nutrition strategies, policies, and programmes, and ensure the timely and productive use of related outputs.

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

• Establish and maintain partnerships to identify opportunities for collaborative approaches and initiatives with Government and key development actors, including IFIs, academia, regional organisations and other UN agencies, as well as other relevant stakeholders working on development issues.
• Identify programmatic complementary approaches to the overall UNCT and especially complementarity with United Nations Rome-Based agencies.
• Consolidate evidence base to inform CCA development/adjustment and contribute to the design and strategic WFP positioning in the UNSDCF.
• Inform and support the Regional Director and to the Resident Coordinator as well as its technical teams on the engagement with key partners on the strategy, design, relevance, and impact of programmes that can be supported by WFP to advance national development priorities.
• Provide advice on WFP’s representation and messaging in various national instances/committees /working groups (on humanitarian/development issues) and support the positioning of WFP among key external stakeholders as a UN agency with a dual humanitarian and development mandate and a trusted development partner.
• Engage with national institutions, universities, and think-tanks to establish WFP as a thought leader in the country in the humanitarian and development arena.

TECHNICAL ADVISORY

• Provide advice and guidance on the development of programme activities, providing technical analysis, interpretation, and recommendations to enable food assistance needs to be met effectively.
• Contribute to the development of systems and tools for the monitoring and assessment of food assistance needs in line with innovative methodologies and best practices.
• Lead the development and implementation of Monitoring, Review and Evaluation plans that will provide the most relevant and strategic information to manage progress towards achieving expected results (as set out in global and regional plans), while being compliant with WFP evaluation and monitoring requirements.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of the national government and interagency monitoring, reporting and evaluation frameworks.
• Position WFP through strategic partnerships and complementarities and contribute to national development goals by leveraging WFP's global expertise and know-how in an advisory role.
• Build capacity of partners and national government to conduct food security, nutrition, markets, and resilience analysis, as well as monitoring & evaluation, to effectively inform preparedness and response activities.

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:

• Internal: Reports to the Regional Director. Works closely with the Country Office Management and Programme and Partnerships Teams
• External: Facilitates engagement with the Government, including relevant ministries and agencies, and key development actors, including IFIs, UN sister agencies and academia.

KEY DELIVERABLES:

1. On-going strategic advice leading to game-changing support from WFP to the government.
2. Increased funding for WFP’s work contributing directly to the country’s development portfolio.
3. Government and development actors (including IFIs) engagement strategy including stakeholder mapping for WFP at the country level.
4. Lead the implementation of the CO partnerships strategy both by supporting the Regional Director and the Resident Coordinator and by building and maintaining partnerships directly as relevant.
5. Joint concept notes with the national government on areas of joint engagement.
6. Advocacy documents and position papers on WFP’s development work.
7. Regular stakeholder meetings and technical workshops, where relevant.
8. Establish and implement an evidence generation system.
9. Analysis of evidence generated and recommendations to senior management.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED :

Education:

Advanced university degree in Public Administration, Political Science, Economics, International Development, statistics or other relevant field.

Desired technical skills and experience:

• At least 5 years of experience working in the public sector/ international development/ humanitarian sector.

• Significant experience in developing relationships and ability to engage and interact effectively with staff at the Ministerial level and at the IFI Management level.

• Proven record of accomplishment in building strategic partnerships.
• Demonstrated experience in analyzing country and cultural contexts, assessing food availability, access and utilization, and exposure to risks.
• Experience with vulnerability analysis exercises.
• Prior experience with establishing/managing food security and vulnerability monitoring systems.
• Experience in programme/project design processes and coordination with internal and external stakeholders, including governments and IFIs.
• Experience working closely with academia and think tanks.
• Knowledge of WFP operations and international experience is a plus.

Languages:

Fluency (level C) in English language and Portuguese.

Deadline for application: 22 July 2022.

Qualified female applicants are encouraged to apply.

WFP has zero-tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate based on race, sex, color, ethnic group, age, sexual orientation, other affiliation, or HIV/AIDS status.

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