• Country: Conakry, Guinea
• No of vacancies: N/A
  
• Salary: N/A 
• Organization: WFP
• Gender: Both
• Deadline:  2024-01-20

Organizational Setting and Background

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization in saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies, improving nutrition situation of vulnerable people, and working with smallholder farmers and communities to increase livelihoods and build resilience.  WFP operates its programmes in 81 countries with 6 regional offices and 81 country offices globally.

WFP Guinea Country Office is one of the 81 country offices across the world. WFP has been present in Guinea since 1964 providing nutritious and immediate food assistance to affected populations during and in the aftermath of crises. WFP Guinea Country Office works in partnership with the government to improve children’s school attendance and performance, enhance nutrition among the population, increase people’s livelihoods, build sustainable food systems and communities’ resilience to shocks whilst improving their access to profitable and stable agricultural markets.

The Partnerships and Communication Unit within the Country Office in Conakry works to position WFP with public, private and external partners to attract policy support, resources, technical assistance and innovative solutions to advance the work of WFP in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG) Zero Hunger.

The Partnerships and Communication Unit is seeking a Partnerships Intern. The internship holder will participate in various partnerships-related activities. The intern will support the unit in its engagement with internal stakeholders and a wide range of public, private, and external entities. These can include governments, United Nations agencies, intergovernmental institutions and their member states, international financial institutions, individuals, businesses, foundations, and NGOs.

Country Context

Guinea ranks 182nd out of 191 countries in the latest Human Development Index report for 2021-2022, indicating a decline from the 178th position in 2020. Despite a threefold increase in its GDP since 2012,

the nation’s GDP per capita in 2021 was only USD 189, a stark contrast to the regional average of USD 1,484. This economic growth is primarily propelled by mineral extraction. The main socio-economic

activities include agriculture, livestock farming, fishing, small-scale trading, craftsmanship, and artisanal mining. Approximately 50 percent of Guinea’s 13.5 million population continues to grapple with poverty.

Moreover, life expectancy at birth stands at 61.7 years in 2022, reflecting the challenges faced by thepopulation. Guinea’s demographics are characterized by a high annual growth rate of 3.5 percent in

2022.

Despite Guinea’s wealth in natural resources, including the ownership of nearly two-thirds of the world’s bauxite reserves, the country is confronted with significant socioeconomic hurdles. Living conditions are

characterized by poor access to drinking water and electricity, as well as very weak education and healthcare systems. In addition, Guinea is heavily dependent on food imports, especially rice. The

country ranks 24th among the countries most vulnerable to climate change.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Support managers in the preparation of briefing notes, talking points, strategic agreements, joint strategies, and MOUs to promote the SDGs and Zero Hunger on the national, regional and global agenda and to reach advantageous outcomes for WFP.
• Proactively contribute to the partnerships portfolio, including partner profiling and outreach activities.
• Participate in the development of new projects and contribute to drafting project concept notes and project proposals under the guidance of the Head of Unit.
• Support the drafting of corporate and donor reports such as monthly Country Brief, gather and present internal and external data/information, using key information systems.
• Perform other duties as required.

Desirable Experience

• Has initial experience or demonstrated interest in international development.
• Has preliminary understanding or experience of working in partnerships with different categories of organisations.
• Has developed powerful narratives by using data analysis visualization to enable action-oriented discussions with partners.
• Has prepared briefs to raise resources for operations and collaborated for timely registration, maintenance and update of contributions and forecast.
• Strong written and oral communication skills in English and French, including substantive analysis and report writing skills.
• Has motivated team spirit and contributed to a gender-balanced, inclusive and sound working environment.
• Is familiar with or interested in the United Nations system and working environment.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:

Education

Currently enrolled in a recognized university or graduate school or be a recent graduate (max. 6 months after graduation) in university degree in Political Science, International Development, Development Economics, International Relations, Law, Marketing, Communications or other relevant field, or has attended University courses in the last 12 months and have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies.

Proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook).

Language

Excellent written and spoken English is required (proficiency/level C), minimum working professional level of French is desired.

Supervision

Under the direct supervision of the Partnerships & Communication Officer, the incumbent will be provided with close mentoring, guidance and technical supervision. Performance planning and reviews as well as learning and development discussions will be elemental part of the supervision.

Training components

Throughout their assignments, WFP interns have access to a sector-leading learning platform, WeLearn. Depending on opportunities and availability of funds, he/she may participate in WFP workshops or seminars, as appropriate.

Learning elements

At the end of the assignment, the Intern should:

• Understand WFP and the UN system.
• Understand the role of WFP Guinea office in the whole WFP system.
• Learn how to develop and manage partnerships with government counterparts.
• Learn practical skills in Private Partnerships such as developing private sector partnerships and coordinating the private sector campaign.

Information on the country of assignment

Guinea is located in West Africa and its capital is Conakry, which is the largest city and the main center of financial and economic activities with a high population density.

Climate: Guinea has most of the time a tropical monsoon climate, and a rainy season followed by a dry season. The dry season is influenced by the Harmattan winds. The average temperature is 29°Cto 30°C; The rainy season is from June to October.

Population: The population of Guinea is approximately 12,093,349. The population of Guinea contains around 24 different ethnic groups, with the Fulani constituting 40% of the population. Other ethnic groups include Mandinka, Soussou, Kissi, Kpele and non-African groups.

Religion: About 85% of the population is Muslim. Other religions practiced in the country are Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and others.

Security: Guinea is a generally safe country to visit, but there are persistent socio-political moments and cases of crime, especially in Conakry. It is wise not to travel at night since armed robbery has increased in the south. Please refer to the security guidelines provided by the UNDSS Office.

Currency: the local currency is the Guinea Franc (GNF). 1USD =8516 GNF (UN January 2024 rate) and Conakry DSA is 221 USD.

Health: There is currently no epidemic in the country. However, taking all priority vaccines is required.

APPLY NOW