Project Coordinator SSA

Duty Station: Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic

Organisational Context:

The Kyrgyz Republic is a small, landlocked, mountainous country bordered by China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan with a population of just over 6.2 million people, mainly living in rural areas. After it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the economy grew, poverty fell, child mortality declined and life expectancy increased. However, since 2008 there have been a series of economic and political setbacks, and now the pandemic increased the number of poor people in the country, because of reduced economic activities, decreased remittances, price spikes and a growing fiscal gap.

WFP has laid the foundations for a programme of support through social protection, rural development, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation with a view to supporting policy development and institutional capacity strengthening, establishing pilot productive safety nets and optimizing school feeding modalities to bring immediate and longer-term benefits for food-insecure, vulnerable and poor communities. Activities under the Country Strategic Plan (CSP) 2018-2022 are aimed at strengthening the national capacities with a view to institutionalizing and scaling up WFP’s interventions with complementary government resources and promoting comprehensive food security governance at all levels to address food insecurity and malnutrition.

JOB TITLE:

Project coordinator -Short Term

TYPE OF CONTRACT:

National short-term project coordinator, SSA 7

UNIT/DIVISION:

Programme

DUTY STATION (City, Country):

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

DURATION:

ASAP - December 30, 2022

BACKGROUND

The WFP Kyrgyz Republic Country Strategic Plan (CSP) for 2018–2022, approved in November 2017 by the Executive Board, focuses on five Strategic Outcomes (SO):

I) Providing hot school meals for primary school-aged children (SO1);

II) Supporting vulnerable and food insecure smallholders to enhance their livelihoods (SO2);

III) Strengthening resilience to shocks and climate change for vulnerable communities (SO3);

IV) Capacity-strengthening of government institutions for a comprehensive food security and nutrition management system (SO4);

V) Emergency support and early recovery (SO5).

In response to a dramatically increasing caseload of affected poor families and the socioeconomic deterioration of many sectors, the Government has specifically requested WFP to lead the food security and nutrition response and provide emergency food and cash assistance to the most vulnerable and poorest populations, including the “new poor”, who have been impacted by the socio-economic shocks of COVID-19. Additionally, with the country struggling to recover from the socio-economic consequences of the ongoing crisis, social impatient institutions (SII) in the country are left to tackle long-term consequences of the pandemic by themselves. Therefore, WFP in its Country Strategic Plan under the Strategic Outcome 1 introduced Activity 8 to focus on providing short-term assistance to vulnerable populations, including people in social institutions during and in the aftermath of the crisis. Despite the emergency assistance already provided by WFP to these institutions, SIIs still need support to meet their essential needs, create better living conditions in terms of access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and kitchen facilities and build resilience against health shocks.

PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The Project Coordinator will coordinate the implementation of the project “Improving the Lives of the People Living in Social Inpatient Institutions”. The project aims to improve the lives of the people in the SIIs across the country through rehabilitating the kitchen and basic WASH infrastructures in the institutions, while enhancing the inhabitants’ and staff’s knowledge and skills within the area of nutrition management for their improved food and nutrition security.

Supervision received: The Project Coordinator will be directly supervised by the National Programme Officer and Head of SO1, under the general supervision of the Deputy Country Director/Head of Programme.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES AND DELIVERABLES OF THE PROJECT COORDINATOR include:

The coordinator will be the main person responsible for the project results by carrying out effective operational and financial management of the project by fulfilling the following tasks:

Project management

- Create a project management calendar to track progress towards each goal and project objectives;

- Develop and monitor project work plans, deliverables, and indicators and regularly inform SO 1 and WFP management about the status of tasks;

- Assess the risks and problem areas of the project, as well as propose possible solutions to eliminate them and make adjustments to the project implementation plan and activities accordingly;

- Maintain project documentation.

Coordination

- Coordinate the work of the engineer, nutritional experts, field monitors for providing engineering assessments, design plans and monitoring of the rehabilitation works, as well as conducting trainings and other activities focused on nutrition improvement, and the enhancement of safety and hygiene standards;

- Liaise with internal and external counterparts (incl. with the Ministry of Health and Social Development and the Ministry of Education and Science, both at the central and district levels under the supervision of the Programme Officer) to ensure effective collaboration, monitor ongoing project activities and highlight potential risks to project delivery.

- Support the identification, development and management of potential collaborations within the framework of the project;

- Organize and participate in meetings with stakeholders and document, track and follow-up on meetings discussions and decisions. Ensure that stakeholder views are directed towards the best solution.

Quality Assurance and Sustainability Measures

- Ensure proper filing of the detailed technical monitoring and engineering assessments of the SIIs to obtain a comprehensive list of their needs in the areas of 1) WASH component, 2) kitchen and canteen infrastructure improvements, 3) promotion of healthy nutrition and improvement of menu; 4) establishment of internal monitoring of meals organization and provision in terms of safety, balanced and diversified food provision;

- Follow up, coordination and quality assurance of infrastructural improvements of the kitchens, canteens, latrines and other premises related to WASH infrastructure of SIIs in Batken, Jalal Abad, Chui, Talas and Issyk-Kul provinces;

- Follow up, coordination and quality assurance of activities to improve quality of meals offered in the targeted SIIs (training of cooks on meals preparation and basic nutritional knowledge, enhancement of the menu; raising the residents’ awareness on nutrition);

- Ensure project M&E and reporting through regular progress monitoring of the project implementation as per WFP monitoring standards and relevant monitoring tools, and an end-of-project assessment report.

- Capacity building of key staff/administration of the institutions and other relevant stakeholders on WASH, hygiene and safety, nutrition, healthy lifestyle principles and the prevention of infectious diseases.

Donor visibility and Reporting

- Assure the proper set up of the visibility items in all targeted SIIs and organization of joint missions and visits with the Swiss Embassy and WFP management.

- Timely and reliable inputs provided to donor and other regular reporting.

- Perform other tasks, as required.

DELIVERABLES:

• Project calendar and work plan.
• Monthly progress reports.
• Project management documentation.
• Donor reports and visibility measures.
• End-of-project assessment report.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• Advanced University degree in International Affairs, Nutrition/Health, Agriculture, Social Sciences or other fields relevant to international development assistance, or First University Degree with 2 additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses.
  • At least 2 years’ experience in project management/coordination and implementation within Education, Nutrition, Food Security, Humanitarian Assistance, Children, WASH, or other relevant fields.
  • Solid analytical and writing skills.
  • Flexibility and excellent interpersonal relations, with strong communication skills for effective and tactful internal and external coordination.
  • Fluency in written and spoken English, Russian and Kyrgyz languages.

TALENTED WOMEN ARE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY

We look for applicants with the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian values. We commit to promote diversity, gender parity and equality between men and women.

WFP strives to build a work environment that is safe and respectful, and free of sexual harassment and abuse of authority. We believe in open communication, and every individual at WFP is treated with respect regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, religious and political beliefs, etc.

Closing date: 3 February 2022

This position is open ONLY to Kyrgyz citizens or those authorized to live and work in the Kyrgyz Republic according to national regulations. Applicants who do not meet this criterion will not be considered for this position.

WFP does not charge any fees at any stage of its recruitment process.

Only candidates who are short-listed will be contacted.