Organization: WFP – World Food Programme
Location: Nairobi
Grade: Level not specified – Level not specified
Occupational Groups:
Poverty Reduction
Women’s Empowerment and Gender Mainstreaming
Disability Rights
Closing Date: 2025-01-07

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP’s values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The WFP Regional Bureau for Eastern Africa (RBN) is based in Nairobi and provides strategic direction, technical guidance, resource mobilization and management support to WFP operations and activities in ten countries: Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The Regional Bureau for Eastern Africa (RBN) provides strategic guidance, technical and operational support and direction to WFP operations and activities in ten countries: Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda.

In Eastern Africa, the situations necessitating emergency response have become increasingly complex and frequently have cross-border and cross-line implications. Emergencies can be driven by single shocks but more often are fuelled by a complex and protracted set of issues, including conflict, climate change, economic crisis, natural hazards, and outbreaks of disease. This has resulted in an overall worsening food security trend with more than 62 million food insecure people in Eastern Africa as at July 2024.  Women and girls, along with people with disabilities, older people, individuals with diverse SOGIESC, minority groups, and others are disproportionately impacted by these shocks and it is critical that their specific and diverse circumstances are taken into account in WFP’s interventions at all stages and levels of the programme cycle.

The Regional GPI Advisor will provide advice, analysis, and overall support to guide WFP’s humanitarian response and overall activities in Eastern Africa.

More specifically, he/she will support efforts to integrate gender, protection, accountability to affected populations, and inclusion into WFP programmes; provide guidance on issues relating to international human rights and humanitarian law including women’s rights and apply a gender-transformative, conflict sensitive, or peacebuilding approach as appropriate; and support principled and inclusive humanitarian access including in integrated UN settings. Efforts to integrate gender, protection, inclusion, AAP, conflict sensitivity, and peacebuilding activities 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 and Accountability Policy (2020), WFP’s Gender Policy (2022), and WFP’s Role in Peacebuilding in Transition Settings (2013), among others. The selected candidate will be responsible for coordinating the Regional Bureau’s efforts to support Country Offices (COs) with the practical implementation of these policies.

JOB PURPOSE

The GPI Advisor will report to the Head of Programme Operations Unit in RBN, with technical support from HQ. The GPI Advisor will manage a small team including functional focal points on gender and protection / AAP.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

The GPI Advisor will be responsible for coordinating a small team and the below key duties:

Technical Support to Country Offices

• Analysis: The Advisor will provide technical guidance, advice, and where needed in-country support to COs in undertaking integrated gender, protection, and inclusion (GPI) analysis with a particular focus on aspects impacting food insecurity and vice-versa and arising from WFP operations and presence.
• Work on data protection and privacy and privacy impact assessments (PIAs) as necessary, in accordance with corporate policy and guidance. Guidance on IHL implications for operations will also be required where relevant, including on cross-border assistance and application of Security Council Resolution 2417.
• Provide support on risk analysis as part of corporate risk management should also be provided where relevant.
• Response: Provide technical guidance and advice on the integration of gender, protection, disability inclusion, conflict sensitivity, and AAP to COs in the region through remote support as well as in-country missions.
• Based on the GPI analysis, provide support to the country offices and partners to develop risk mitigation measures including programme adjustments, advocacy initiatives, partnership building and coordination enhancement activities, etc. The Advisor shall work closely with WFP field staff; protection / gender-mandated and non-mandated agencies; WFP Cooperating Partners; and other relevant interlocutors on the ground in this regard.
• Advise, guide, and steer RBN and Country Offices on the implementation of the corporate Gender Policy including the mainstreaming of gender equality and women’s empowerment within WFP operations and programmatic interventions at the regional level and at Country Office level.
• Monitoring: The Advisor will work with the Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (VAM) teams and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Units in the region to integrate relevant GPI concerns into assessment and monitoring tools and support the roll-out of any updated monitoring mechanisms with WFP and partners at the CO and field level.
• Manage the effective application and use of relevant markers including the Gender and Age Marker (GaM) and Gender Equality and Accountability Marker / GPI Accountability Marker (GEAR / GPI-AR) through supervision of team members focusing on the area and/or by supporting country office teams to sustainably report on gender equality, women’s empowerment, protection, and inclusion outcomes, and mainstreamed gender equality objectives/goals in all WFP strategies, projects and programmes.
• Research and conceptual development: Where appropriate, support COs to develop and assess potential theories of change of how WFP’s programming may contribute to peace and to gender transformation and suggest means of measuring such contributions and engage /support research on the same where possible and relevant.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

• WFP regionally has an increasingly rationalized and streamlined approach for operationalizing its corporate crosscutting commitments, and can demonstrate tangible progress on key benchmarks through technical support and, where relevant, oversight to all country offices in the Region.

• Annual Country Reports (ACR) for the year have met minimum quality standards from the perspective of corporate cross-cutting issues.

• Capacity building provided to the country office staff on protection, accountability to affected populations, disability inclusion, gender transformative approaches and women’s empowerment, and / or other cross-cutting topics as relevant.

• Support to COs to finalise / update Gender Action Plans, GPI Action Plans, Community Engagement Action Plans, Protection Analysis, or other key foundational documents, with minimum 5 COs supported to finalise / update one or more during the consultancy

• Technical, policy and programmatic support provided as needed on the integration of gender, protection, disability inclusion, AAP, and other cross-cutting perspectives in the overall strategic planning and programming of WFP projects/programmes.

• Strengthened coordination mechanisms for gender mainstreaming and gender-transformative programming developed among gender advisors and gender results networks.

• Facilitated WFP engagement in regional interagency working groups and networks including on Gender in Humanitarian Action, Disability Inclusion, Accountability to Affected Populations / Community Engagement, Protection, Gender-Based Violence, PSEA, and/or others.

• Support provided to country offices as needed in mainstreaming gender, protection, AAP, conflict sensitivity, disability inclusion, and others into needs assessment and monitoring frameworks including adaptation of tools, collection, analysis and reporting processes

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Advanced University degree in International Law, Development Studies, Gender, Social Sciences, or a related field relevant to international development and humanitarian assistance.

Experience:

• At least 5 years (majority of which at international and field level) of postgraduate progressively responsible professional experience in development projects or humanitarian assistance, including crisis and post-crisis contexts; experience in the Eastern Africa / Horn of Africa region is highly desirable.
• In-depth knowledge of gender, protection, and inclusion in humanitarian and development settings, especially in the areas of Protection, AAP, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, Gender-Based Violence, Disability Inclusion, humanitarian policy issues, and their linkage with food security, nutrition and climate change.
• Demonstrated experience working on humanitarian protection and/or international humanitarian law,human rights law and programming in a field setting.
• Experience of managing teams and projects.
• Experience in the design and delivery of training and other learning initiatives related to areas including gender transformative approaches, accountability to affected populations, protection and gender mainstreaming, disability inclusion, and conflict sensitivity.

Knowledge & Skills:

Knowledge of UN system policies and functions of various agency mandates including those on gender and protection in particular.

Experience working with WFP or a WFP cooperating partner in the field is a strong asset.

Strong knowledge of food security and/or nutrition programme principles and practices in a variety of contexts.

Languages:

Excellent written and spoken English (level C) is a requirement; working knowledge of a second official UN language is an advantage.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

WFP is dedicated to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our recruitment process is inclusively crafted to welcome candidates of all backgrounds, celebrating diversity and ensuring a respectful environment for all. We aim for an accessible and fair recruitment journey. Should you need any reasonable accommodations or have accessibility concerns, please reach out to us confidentially at global.inclusion@wfp.org. Our DEI team is here to ensure your full participation in our recruitment process.

NO FEE DISCLAIMER

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete, and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, language skills and UN Grade (if applicable).
• Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.
• Please make sure you upload your professional CV in the English language
• Kindly note the only documents you will need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter
• Additional documents such as passport, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc. may potentially be requested at a future time
• Please contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org in case you face any challenges with submitting your application
• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

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.

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