Programme Policy Officer (Planning and Design)

Contract

This is a UNV International Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Specialist contracts.

Under it’s Country Strategic Plan (2021-2024), WFP is supporting the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) through one of the world's largest hunger crises for another year. DRC is home to the highest number of food-insecure people worldwide; 26.4 million people (a quarter of the population). While WFP is making significant operational achievements, the contextual drivers of food insecurity worsened, threatening efforts towards the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 (Zero Hunger). Hunger and conflict fuelled one another, and political instability and climate-related shocks compounded to drive humanitarian needs. This volatile context drove food costs out of reach, particularly with the backdrop of global disruptions to supply chains arising from the Ukraine crisis. Populations in eastern DRC are currently living with war and displacement. Armed groups killed civilians and impeded access to fields, roads, markets, income, education and food. Overall, 5.5 million people are internally displaced (the highest number in Africa), 75 percent of whom live with host families already vulnerable to food insecurity. WFP’s life-saving food and cash assistance comprises the largest part of its operations to contribute to averting catastrophic hunger levels. WFP is also ensuring that children in schools ate nutritious balanced meals and partnered with the Government nutrition programme to distribute specialized nutritious foods to treat and prevent malnutrition in children, and pregnant and lactating women and girls. To complement crisis work, WFP is leveraging opportunities to protect livelihoods and build productive capacities. WFP is also training smallholder farmers (mostly women) on post-harvest loss management, business skills and collective marketing and helping local communities rebuild infrastructure.

Under the supervision of the Head of Programme and Planning Section in the general supervision of the Head of Programme, the UNV Programme Policy Officer for Planning and Design will carry out the following tasks: - Analyse the context of WFP operations in DRC and support the planning processes including but not limited to advocacy and operational plans. - Support the risk management activities in the programme unit - Provide technical support to field offices to ensure quality assurance and improvement of programme activites - Provide inputs to internal and external analysis and publications - Coordinate with colleagues to track performance across units and country offices - Provide support to the country capacity strengthening workstream of the country office. - Perform other related duties as assigned by the supervisor.

• Professionalism and integrity: demonstrated ability to apply good judgment, maintain confidentiality and be accurate and objective; ability to take initiative, ownership, and work independently under established procedures; willingness to accept wide responsibilities;
• Judgment and Decision-making - Discretion and sound judgment in applying expertise to complex and/or sensitive issues which are typically broad in scope.
• Planning and organizing: ability to establish priorities and to plan and coordinate own work; ability to coordinate work with others, work under pressure, with conflicting deadlines, and to handle multiple concurrent projects/activities;
• Communication: good spoken and written communication skills; good interpersonal skills; ability to empathize with staff coming from very diverse backgrounds;
• Teamwork and Respect for Diversity: ability to operate effectively across organizational boundaries; ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity;
• Flexibility and willingness to live and work in hazardous conditions, involving physical hardship and little comfort, to include possible travel within the Mission area;

• Commitment towards the UN Core Values.

• programme management in fluid and complex contexts.

• Proficiency in analytics, visualization and presentation.
• Knowledge of databases would be an asset.
• Food assistance and capacity strenghtening related experience (WFP or WFP- partners) an asset.
• Experience of monitoring, supervising personnel and working in multicultural environments is essential.
• Fluency in English is required, intermediate level of French is desired.

The DR Congo is the third largest country in Africa by area, after Sudan and Algeria, and the 12th largest in the world. It is larger than Western Europe, and as a result very diverse. With a population of nearly 71 million, the DRC is the 18th most populous nation in the world, and the 4th most populous nation in Africa, as well as the most populous officially Francophone country. Its capital, Kinshasa, is the most populous city in sub-Saharan Africa. Living conditions – including cost of living and availability of food/markets, level of accommodation and utilities, etc. – vary widely between duty stations throughout the DRC. All duty stations (except Lubumbashi and Kinshasa) are non-family duty stations, and most are currently between UN Security Level System 2 (low), 3 (moderate), 4 (substantial) and 5 (high). Volunteer’s discretion until permanent accommodation is secured. In most locations, basic infrastructure is given and private accommodation can be rented (electricity and water cuts can be frequent, though). Many UN Volunteers co-rent and share private accommodation. In remote areas (e.g. Dungu), UN personnel stay in UN-provided accommodation (e.g. in the form of containers). All accommodation must comply with Minimum Operating Residential Security Standards (MORSS). Some degree of medical service is provided in all duty stations on a 24/7 basis, through MONUSCO. UN Volunteers should be aware that they are exposed to a number of tropical diseases, including malaria. Prophylactic drugs are strongly recommended. Certain vaccinations, e.g. the one against yellow fever, are mandatory for UN personnel to be able to enter the DRC. Travelers may be asked to provide proof of mandatory vaccinations at N’Djili airport. All UN Volunteers should ensure that they are up-to-date with appropriate vaccinations, which should be properly endorsed in the yellow International Certificate of Vaccination. It is advisable not to drink tap water. Bottled mineral water can be bought in all cities. Various mobile phone companies operate in DRC. SIM and top-up cards are widely available. There are duty stations in DRC where mobile networks are not available and UN personnel can only rely on office internet/phone connections. The unit of currency is the Congolese Franc. The US dollar is the other preferred currency. It may be impossible to exchange traveler’s checks away from the capital city. Credit cards are usually accepted in major hotels only in Kinshasa. In larger towns and cities (e.g. Kinshasa, Goma, Bukavu, Kisangani, Lubumbashi), UN Volunteers are recommended to open US Dollar bank accounts, while in other places, banks may be absent (including ATMs) and VLA payments will be processed in cash. UN Volunteers have the possibility to send part of their allowances to a bank account abroad. In addition to French, there are four major spoken languages in DRC, namely Lingala, Kikongo, Tshiluba and Swahili.