BACKGROUND

The World Food Programme (WFP), the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saves lives in emergencies and leverages food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability, and prosperity for people recovering from disasters, the impacts of climate change and conflict. WFP is committed to advancing gender equality, protection, and inclusion as integral to this mandate. Guided by its 2026 Strategy on Sexual Exploration and Abuse and Sexual Harassment, 2022 Gender Policy, 2020 Protection and Accountability Policy, and 2021 Community Engagement Strategy for Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP), 2021 Disability Inclusion Roadmap WFP seeks to promote safety, dignity and equitable access to assistance for women, men, girls, boys, and marginalised groups, while ensuring accountability to affected populations. At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do.

In the Caribbean, WFP’s Multi-Country Office (MCO) works with governments and regional institutions to strengthen emergency preparedness, response and resilience across 22 countries and territories. This includes supporting social protection systems, delivering assistance during crises and enhancing people’s risk management capacities to prepare for, cope with and adapt to shocks and stressors. WFP collaborates with regional and national partners such as the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), the Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and national disaster authorities, ministries of social development, agriculture and finance and cooperating partners from national and international non-governmental organisations, civil society and other stakeholders at local level. As the MCO expands its portfolio and partnerships, it aims to reinforce principles of gender equality, protection and inclusion across its operations and in support of its partners to better serve vulnerable populations and build resilience in small island developing states.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

The Programme Associate (Gender, Protection, Inclusion) will provide specialized support and technical analysis to the MCO’s regional portfolio managed from the Barbados office, ensuring that protection, gender-sensitive, inclusive and transformative approaches and principles are systematically integrated into programmes, operations and partnerships including in emergency contexts. The Programme Associate will contribute to advocacy and capacity-building efforts on gender, protection and inclusion for WFP staff and cooperating partners. This includes strengthening programme quality and building partner capacity to apply gender, protection, and inclusion principles across planning, implementation, and monitoring to maximize safety, dignity, and equality, and minimize social tensions and unintended discrimination or exclusion. The role involves conducting analytical work to inform evidence-based strategies and activities, providing technical support to integrate gender, protection, inclusion and accountability to affected people (AAP) into all aspects of WFP’s work, and collaborating closely with activity managers to ensure compliance with corporate standards. The Programme Associate will also contribute to risk analysis, design and review of programme tools, and support monitoring and reporting to ensure continuous improvement of programme delivery. The Programme Associate will also serve as the focal point for the Framework for Accountability for Results (FAR) during the design of the new Multi-Country Strategic Plan (2027-2031, currently under development) ensuring integration of gender, protection, and inclusion outcomes into strategic plan activities.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under the overall direction and guidance of the technical lead for emergency preparedness and response and cash-based transfers and in close collaboration with other teams and units, the Programme Associate (GPI) will be responsible for the following tasks:

Gender, Protection, Inclusion policy and mainstreaming

• Provide specialized technical support to ensure MCO programme operations align with WFP corporate policies, strategies and technical guidance on gender, protection inclusion and AAP
• Act as the MCO Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) focal point and support management and activity managers to advocate and raise awareness on protection, gender, and inclusion across the MCO and Satellite Offices
• Provide specialized project management support to promoting gender-responsive, inclusive, and accountable programming through initiatives such as Gender Equality Certification Programme (GECP), cross-cutting context analysis (e.g. Integrated cross cutting context analysis and risk assessment), and risk assessments
• Liaise with programme teams in integrating GPI throughout the programme cycle (design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation), including adapting tools and processes to identify and meet diverse beneficiary needs

Capacity strengthening and partnerships

• Collaborate with the programme team to assess Cooperating Partners on PSEA, environmental and social risk screening, AAP, gender, and protection
• Identify capacity-building needs and design targeted initiatives for WFP staff, partners, and government counterparts
• Support the design and implementation of gender and protection capacity development initiatives, including training on protection analysis, response planning and integration into WFP operations

Analysis, data and monitoring

• Support the Research, Assessment and Monitoring (RAM) team to identify research and data gaps related to GPI, marginalised groups, indigenous and tribal people and inclusion; prepare and deliver relevant products, research and policy briefs
• Act as the MCO focal point for the Framework for Accountability for Results Framework (FAR) during the design of the new Multi-Country Strategic Plan (MCSP)
• Support the coordination of the FAR rollout, monitoring and reporting including evidence briefs, consultations, and integration of mandatory elements (budget allocations, GPI results) into the MCSP technical package
• Support the tracking of gender related activities to facilitate the completion of the Annual Gender and Age Marker (GAM) survey as a part of the WFP’s Annual Country Report process

Community engagement, feedback and referrals

• Collaborate with MCO programme teams, Satellite Offices, and Cooperating Partners to design and implement effective, context-specific community engagement plans
• Support the RAM team to ensure WFP’s community feedback mechanism is efficient, streamlined, and responsive to protection-related issues across all functional areas
• Support the development and strengthening of government-led community feedback mechanisms, including those linked to social protection systems, school feeding and other relevant sectors.

Emergencies

• Contribute to ensuring that affected communities are meaningfully engaged throughout the programme cycle, with inclusive two-way communication mechanisms in place that meet WFP’s minimum requirements
• Support WFP’s community and feedback mechanisms in collaboration with RAM and programme teams, ensuring alignment with WFP’s protection and AAP policies, and avoiding duplication across systems
• Contribute to developing and regularly updating risk matrices and risk mitigation measures, including programme adjustments, advocacy actions, partnership strengthening, and enhanced coordination activities

Coordination

• Participate in relevant Caribbean interagency coordination mechanisms on GPI, AAP, and PSEA
• Work with the WFP MCO activity managers to ensure adequate allocation of human and financial resources and support resource mobilization for implementing action plans

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

• Gender Equality Certification Programme (GECP) for the MCO, including submission of required documentation and implementation of agreed action points
• Development and roll-out of a GPI capacity building plan, including at least two functional training for WFP staff, cooperating partners and government counterparts
• Delivery of at least one operational research product addressing GPI related gaps (e.g., marginalised groups, inclusion in social protection or school feeding), with findings shared to inform WFP and government programmes
• Updated risk matrix and mitigation measures and other plans that can feed into regional and Satellite Office-level emergency response plans
• Integration of FAR requirements into the MCSP technical package and completion of preparatory work for FAR rollout.
• Completion of GAM survey for the ACR

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Completion of secondary school education. A post-secondary certificate in the related functional area.

Experience:

At least six years of relevant experience in the humanitarian and/or development sectors with focus on gender, protection and inclusion. Experience of undertaking capacity building of colleagues or partner organisations. Experience in humanitarian and/or development project management. Experience in developing and maintaining partnerships with a variety of stakeholders: governments and/or humanitarian & development stakeholders, preferably related to social protection, food security & nutrition and related emergency responses or other types of programmes. 

Knowledge & Skills:

• Practical knowledge integrating humanitarian protection, gender equality, women’s empowerment, accountability to affected people, disability, sexual and gender-based violence and humanitarian principles into humanitarian assistance.
• Mentoring and capacity building skills.
• Strong analytical, writing, and communication skills
• Experience in the design or facilitation of training and/or capacity strengthening initiatives with colleagues and/or partner organisations
• Client orientation with excellent interpersonal and team skills, including coaching or mentoring skills.
• Cross-cultural sensitivity.
• Knowledge of UN system policies and functions of protection-mandated agencies is an asset.
• Ability to build relationships with a variety of individuals across functions and experience in coordinating the work of others and self, training, and supporting others.

Languages:

Fluency (level C) in both oral and written communication in English.