Regional Gender and Protection Officer at World Food Programme (WFP)

Job description

Duties and Responsibilities:

Under the direction of the Senior Regional Programme Advisor and with technical support from the Gender Office and Protection unit at Headquarters, the Gender & Protection Advisor will provide advice, analysis and overall support to guide WFP’s humanitarian response in East & Central Africa. The Advisor will also provide strategic and technical support for the mainstreaming of gender equality and women’s empowerment, in accordance with the Regional Implementation Strategy for the Gender Policy, and protection and AAP across WFP operations in the region. They will support efforts to integrate into WFP programmes accountability to affected populations (AAP), gender and protection; apply a conflict sensitive or peacebuilding approach as appropriate; and support principled humanitarian access including in integrated UN settings.

Efforts to integrate AAP, gender and protection in WFP programmes are informed by WFP’s Humanitarian Principles (2004), WFP’s five commitments to Accountability to Affected Populations (2012), WFP’s Humanitarian Protection Policy (2012), WFP’s Role in Peacebuilding in Transition Settings (2013) and WFP’s Gender Policy (2015). The selected candidate will be responsible for coordinating the regional bureaus’ efforts to support country offices with the practical implementation of these policies.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Advanced university degree (MA or PHD) in one of the following disciplines: social sciences, gender, international development, development economics or another related field like international relations, human rights, political science, or humanitarian studies.

Language: Fluency in both oral and written communication in English is essential. Working knowledge of French is a strong advantage, as are other main languages spoken in the 8 countries covered.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Core responsibilities

• Provide policy advice, technical guidance and implementation support to country offices, with specific attention to the implementation of the Regional Gender Policy Implementation
• Strategy, country-level Gender Action Plans, the Protection of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and the scale-up of Complaints and Feedback Mechanisms (CFMs) which meet the minimum WFP AAP standards, and the full integration of gender and protection in project design and implementation, including choice of transfer modalities and targeting processes;
• Provide advice Regional Bureau management on technical and strategic issues;
• Undertake and/or support training and capacity strengthening for WFP staff and cooperating partners;
• Continue to nurture and develop existing partnerships and identify opportunities for synergies and collaboration with new partners;
• Support robust mainstreaming of gender and protection/AAP into WFP programming and operations, including systematic age and gender analysis, monitoring and evaluation, reporting, and policy advice on specific gender/protection/AAP issues which impact WFP operations;
• Support Country Offices in establishing appropriate and effective Complaints and Feedback Mechanisms including referral systems for GBV and SEA;

Programme Support

• Facilitate and support the integration of gender and protection perspectives in the overall strategic planning and programming;
• Work with RB and CO teams to strengthen the evidence base that informs gender and protection approaches to programming, and to set up or adapt existing monitoring systems to measure progress; ;
• Work with RB and CO teams to ensure that protection and AAP are systematically integrated into key planning and programming to assess and mitigate risks;

Advocacy and partnership

• Together with the Gender Results Network and Protection focal points, identify opportunities for advocacy for the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment, and protection-sensitive planning and risk mitigation;
• Represent WFP and participate in relevant fora, conferences and trainings aimed at strengthening public and policy advocacy;
• Work with management to support adequate allocation of human and financial resources for effective mainstreaming of gender and protection-sensitivity;
• Coordinate with Donor Relations to identify and pursue resource mobilization opportunities for gender, protection and AAP activities at the regional and country levels.

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

Experience: At least five (5) years of solid progressively responsible professional work experience working on gender and protection, preferably in humanitarian settings.

Knowledge & Skills:

• In-depth knowledge of gender and protection in humanitarian and development settings, including gender-based violence, humanitarian policy issues, and their linkage with food security and nutrition.
• Solid analytical, writing skills, and communication skills (including developing advocacy messages)
• Sound knowledge and skills in training and facilitation
• Knowledge of UN system policies and functions of gender-mandated agencies
• Flexibility to travel on short notice and in challenging and difficult environments.
• Team spirit and excellent interpersonal relations.

Desirable skills: Training and/or experience using MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint and other WFP software; knowledge of WFP administrative policies and procedures.

Deadline for applications: 11 th April  2018.  Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.