Programme Policy Officer NOA (School Feeding)

.

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles.

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.

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.

BACKGROUND

The World Food Programme (WFP) has implemented the School Feeding Programme (SFP) in Tajikistan since 1999. As of May 2019, SFP covers 52 districts and reaches over 400,000 beneficiaries, targeting primary school students at approximately 2,000 schools, accounting for more than half of the schools across the country. The SFP has been implemented with financial support from the Russian Federation, implemented through two Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), one with the Ministry of Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (EMERCOM) and the other with the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation (MINFIN). Funds from EMERCOM are used to procure and deliver food commodities, whereas funds from the MINFIN are spent on capacity development and augmentation (CD&A) activities. The CD&A activities are implemented in partnership with the Social and Industrial Foodservice Institute (SIFI).

Responding to the Decade of Action (2020 – 2030), WFP will work with the government and partners to jointly ensure all primary schoolchildren have access to good quality meals in school, accompanied by a broader integrated package of health and nutrition services. Together with the government, WFP will develop time-bound national targets and handover strategies, leading to a gradual decrease of WFP operational beneficiaries in the coming years. Through this process and beyond, WFP will continue to support development and testing of innovative and new approaches.

PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The above described initiatives would require enhanced capacity at the country office level and strong coordination with internal and external stakeholders. The National Programme Policy Officer (SFP), NOA, will lead the largest SFP activity, daily hot meals in schools, and support the SFP team during the gradual handover of SFP activities to the government.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

Working within school feeding activity team and reporting directly to the National Programme Policy Officer (SFP), NOC, the incumbent is expected to perform the following duties and responsibilities:

• Coordinate the provision of daily hot meals in schools across the country, ensuring alignment with and compliance with WFP standards and procedures and with government policies;
• Guide field offices in gathering SFP data (including case studies, success stories, and routine monitoring), ensuring rigorous quality standards are maintained;
• Prepare accurate and timely reporting on SFP activities that enable informed decision making and consistency of information presented to stakeholders;
• Manage (with UNICEF) a national school infrastructure and capacity assessment to support the Ministry of Science and Education;
• Research and analyse policy and operational issues to support senior colleagues in the development of policies, programmes and activities.
• Support the implementation of the WFP Tajikistan Country Strategic Plan through ensuring cross-cutting efforts such as nutrition-sensitivity, gender and diversity inclusion, protection and accountability, and linkages with other activities, including resilience and capacity development, are integrated into SFP;

• Ensure strong collaboration with partners (public, private, or civic) that lead to improved SFP packages;

• Provide technical guidance, training, support and advice to all country and field office SFP staff;

• Support the capacity building of WFP country and field office staff, partners, and government counterparts to plan and implement SFP;
• Assist in managing the overall SFP portfolio, including activities related to MINFIN contributions;
• Any other tasks as needed.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION: Advanced University degree in International Affairs, Education, Social Sciences or other field relevant to international development assistance, or First University Degree with additional years of related work experience. LANGUAGE: Fluency (level C) in English and either Tajik or Russian is required.

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• Experience implementing education and/or social protection programmes with UN agencies, government entities, or civil society;
• Provided inputs to programme policy, planning and implementation;
• Established relationships and engaged closely with external counterparts;

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

21 OCTOBER 2020.

.

Female applicants are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of 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.