Protection & Gender Consultant

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

1 December 2024-23:59-GMT+02:00 South Africa Standard Time (Johannesburg)

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

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.

To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok.

WHY JOIN WFP? 

• WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

• WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.

• WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.

• A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.

• We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).

The Protection and Gender Officer is responsible for coordinating and providing technical support for the Country Office’ efforts to integrate gender, protection and accountability to affected people in its programming and provide strategic and technical support for the implementation of the WFP corporate Gender and Protection policies.

Reporting line: Regional Advisor – Gender, Protection, Inclusion

The Officer will liaise with the Country Offices (COs) in the Regional Bureau for Southern Africa and HQ to keep them abreast of main developments, coordinate technical advice and support, and advance the implementation of relevant corporate policies in the region as part of the RBJ Gender, Protection, and Inclusion Team.

Key functions:

Programme support to integrate Gender and Protection in WFP operations

• Provide strategic and technical support for the mainstreaming of gender and protection across WFP operations across the region.

• Provide technical support at regional and country office level on integration efforts of Gender, Protection and Inclusion priorities in programming and operations.

• Develop and regularly update contextual gender analysis, protection risk analysis and diversity mapping, in support of Country Offices and at Regional level.

• Advise the Country Offices on the implementation of mitigation measures and appropriate adjustments to ensure inclusion of most vulnerable and at-risk groups.

• Support the analysis of primary information from stakeholders (affected populations, local civil society, INGOs, UN agencies and others) on the situation and experiences of crisis affected populations and apply a gender and protection lens to the planned interventions accordingly.

• Provide technical support to country office to facilitate progress on WFP’s ambitions on community engagement for accountability to affected people, including integrated action planning.

• Support the Regional Bureau and Country Offices to integrate gender and protection in assessments, monitoring, implementation, evaluation, and reporting tools, and develop integration/mainstreaming tools as required.

• Support the Regional Bureau and Country Offices to design Country Strategic Plans in line with corporate guidance and relevant processes on gender, protection, and inclusion.

• Support the Country offices on humanitarian access in full compliance with the principled humanitarian action as and when needed/requested, and actioning findings from relevant studies on unequal access.

• Contribute to the design and implementation of approaches related to information provision, community consultation, feedback, and complaints mechanisms to ensure these are safe, gender response and inclusive.

• Support with the implementation of the WFP’s Gender Policy and Protection and AAP Policy within the Country Offices. Ensure that the programming goals, objectives, processes are gender responsive and meet the needs and priorities of women, men, girls and boys of all diversities.

• Support in the testing, continuous improvement and the configuration of systems to align with the needs of WFP in the Regional Bureau for Southern Africa.

Capacity strengthening

• Develop/adjust and implement trainings in support of Country Offices and the Regional Bureau for WFP staff on gender, protection, AAP, inclusion, and community engagement

• Provide accompaniment and technical support to staff in relevant functional areas in Country Offices and Regional Bureau.

• Document lessons learned and best practices in protection risk analysis, mitigation and integration related to gender and protection

• Support cross learning and sharing of good practices across the region, and support in disseminating WFP corporate guidance on gender, protection, inclusion, AAP

Desired experience for entry into the role

• Strong analytical, writing and communication skills

• Sound knowledge and skills in training and facilitation

• Strong experience in gender, protection, and/or GBV programming in humanitarian and development settings.

• Knowledge of UN system policies and functions pertaining to promotion of gender, protection, accountability and inclusion, risk mitigation and good practice

• Strong capacity in establishing and sustaining relationships with diverse stakeholders

• Capacity to innovate solutions for gender, protection, accountability, and inclusion relevant to social, cultural and political norms at local, national, and regional levels

• Experience in community engagement activities, focusing on participatory analysis, action planning, and beneficiary feedback.

• Fluency in English, both oral and written, is required. French or Portuguese in addition would be highly desirable.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education: Advanced University Degree in one of the following disciplines: Social Sciences, International Development, Political Sciences, International Law or related field; must have specialization in gender, protection and/or human rights related fields.

Experience: 3-5 years or more of solid, responsible, and relevant work experience in humanitarian organizations and operational implementation of gender/protection programming and gender/protection integration in other humanitarian sectors, with a strong focus on protection risk reduction, conflict sensitivity, gender in humanitarian and development operations, community engagement, and inclusion.

Knowledge and Skills:

• In-depth knowledge and operations experience in risk identification and operationalization of mitigation measures, gender, gender-based violence, protection, humanitarian principles, access, and other humanitarian policy issues, and their linkages to humanitarian assistance.

• Demonstrated field experience working on gender, protection, human rights and accountability to affected populations.

• Experience in protection mainstreaming, including in advising on strategies to ensure meaningful access, participation and empowerment in humanitarian contexts, accountability, and safety and dignity of beneficiaries.

• Experience in gender mainstreaming in humanitarian and development contexts.

• Understanding of food security programming, previous experience with WFP or any of its cooperating partners is a strong asset

• Demonstrated skills in context analysis, technical support and effective communication.

• Flexibility to travel on short notice and in challenging environments

• Innovative and self-driven with strong commitment to results.

Languages: Oral and written fluency in English. Working knowledge of French or Portuguese highly desirable.

WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK

 

WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission.

Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework

 

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.