Programme Policy Officer P3 (Gender & Protection Officer)

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles.

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.

Are you a Gender/Protection Professional/Specialist interested in further developing your professional experience while contributing to ending global hunger? Would you like to join WFP, a highly reputable organisation bringing positive change to lives of people affected by hardships? Would you like to join a global organisation investing in its people?

If your answer is yes, then this is a great opportunity for you to become an integral member of a diverse and passionate team that works on varied and international projects directly contributing to beneficiary assistance.

About WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.  The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes.  With more than 18,000 colleagues worldwide, WFP works to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

Why you should join WFP?

• WFP assists more than 86 million people around 83 countries. Your work will have a positive impact on lives of the world’s most vulnerable people
• The way WFP serves hungry and affected people – including women, minority groups, children and elderly, is truly important for their safety and dignity
• You will join a diverse team of professionals and will have a chance to exchange your experience and expertise with your colleagues
• WFP invests in the training and development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, mentorship and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities
• Our team is growing internationally and the timing to join us cannot be better!
• We offer attractive compensation package (please refer to Terms and Conditions section)  

WFP Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Country Office, Programme Unit

WFP DRC Country Office is seeking to fill the position of Programme Policy Officer Gender & Protection (further refered as Gender & Protection Officer) at the P3 Level, based in Kinshasa.

The position will report to the Deputy Head of Programme, work in close coordination with activity managers from different functional units and will technically support and coordinate work from Protection Officers as well as gender and protection focal points at field office level.

With technical support from the Gender Office and Emergency & Transition unit at headquarters and advisers at the Regional Bureau in Johannesburg, the Gender and Protection Officer will provide strategic and technical support to improve the integration of protection, gender and accountability across WFP programmes and operations in DRC Country Office.

WFP is globally known for its ability to deliver food assistance rapidly to people in need. However, to continue responding effectively to challenging contexts while also contributing to longer-term efforts to end hunger, WFP is also committed to analyse the different needs, capacities, vulnerabilities and strengths of the affected populations. The Gender and Protection Officer will ensure that WFP have sound accountability systems in place, that activities foster the safety, dignity and integrity of the affected populations and that assistance is accessible impartially to those in need.

WFP provides In-kind or cash food assistance to almost 7 million people in need across DRC by working in close cooperation with approximately 50 partners. Food or cash is distributed to those who are most vulnerable, contributing to establishing a safety net and restoring their dignity.

The WFP’s nutrition programmes help pregnant and lactating women and adolescent girls and their children to fight and prevent malnutrition. Specialized food item provides them with balanced and healthy food that is essential for their physical and mental well-being.

WFP also provides food assistance in the form of meals to school aged students and their families. This support improves the students’ health and makes them and their families more motivated to pursue the children’s right to education.

WFP also supports vulnerable households in protecting and improving their livelihoods through trainings and rehabilitation of local infrastructures. The most vulnerable DRC families have the opportunity of improving their income and build their own resilience to future shocks.

WFP with FAO and UNICEF implements a joint resilience approach giving to women the necessary tools to manage better their family’s dietary requirements, resources and take active role in the management of farmer organizations. Empowering women contributes to breaking the vicious cycle of violence against them.

Job purpose

The selected candidate will be responsible for assisting the Programme Unit to mainstream gender equality, women’s equality, protection and Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) as well as assist in providing technical guidance to Program Units and field offices to undertake conflict sensitive programming. Contribute to the Network of Focal Points to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in WFP’s operational environments.

Key Responsibilities

1. Work with senior management in Country, Area and Sub-Offices to foster a strong culture and leadership that support protection mainstreaming, gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) across programming and operations.
2. Carry out gender and age analyses, protection assessments and advise the Country Office on the implementation of the Gender and Protection Action Plans;
3. Support programme staff to integrate gender equality mainstreaming, women’s empowerment and protection throughout the programme management cycle (design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation);
4. Support the finalization of country-specific tools and guidelines to assist field offices mainstream both protection and gender in their activities;
5. Undertake field trips to oversee and support field operations;
6. In collaboration with the relevant programme staff ensure gender, protection and SEA issues can be captured through the Beneficiary Feedback Mechanism and responded to appropriately;
7. Devise and support the implementation of gender and protection capacity development initiatives. Train colleagues on gender; protection analysis, response development and integration of these areas in WFP’s work. 
8. Represent WFP in all relevant inter-agency gender, protection and Accountability to Affected People meetings and other coordination mechanisms established;
9. Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships on GEWE with WFP’s internal and external partners to support gender transformative programme development and implementation on GEWE initiatives.
10. Participate in the Country Office PSEA Focal Points Network and train partners to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA);
11. Liaise with colleagues and any partners working on programmatic complaints and feedback systems in the country to ensure coherence, collaboration and cross referral between systems.

About You

• The ideal profile is a professional who is highly adaptive and can communicate effectively with diverse audiences who might not share the same technical knowledge;
• The ideal candidate is an experienced professional who is truly committed to support a wide range of programmatic aspects in the complex and challenging WFP’s operations in DRC. The ideal candidate has operational experience in humanitarian settings, and can adapt policies and principles to the realities of a complex emergency, is able to prioritize and strike balances between ideal goals and operational requirements, and translate gender and protection objectives into tangible results on the ground

Qualifications & Key Requirements

• University degree in Gender Studies, Law, Political, Social Sciences, Social Work or a related field
• At least five years of professional experience in the field of humanitarian assistance, displacement and refugee assistance, gender equality and women’s empowerment, protection, including gender-based violence and disability
• Strong knowledge of foundational concepts in relation to GEWE, protection, protection mainstreaming, inclusion, and gender-based violence, including global standards and guidelines
• Strong knowledge of how to communicate with communities, establish feedback and complaints mechanisms and how to respond to gender & protection concerns
• Experience in trainings and capacity building of partners and staff
• Knowledge of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) cluster system and interagency work in crisis response

 Additional/Nice have requirements:

• Familiarity with UN System
• Previous experience in sub Saharan countries

Language:

• Fluency (level C) in English and French languages.
• Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language: Arabic, Chinese, English, Russian, Spanish, and/or WFP’s working language, Portuguese

CLOSING DATE: 31 August 2020 

VA number: 123510 

Terms and Conditions

Mobility is, and continues to be, a core contractual requirement in WFP. The selected candidate will be employed on a Fixed-Term contract with a probationary period of one year.

WFP offers an attractive compensation and benefits package including basic salary, post adjustment, relocation entitlement, travel and shipment allowances, 30 days’ annual leave, home leave, an education grant for dependent children, pension plan and medical insurance. For more details, please visit icsc.un.org.

Qualified female applicants and qualified applicants from Low- and Middle-Income countries are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status

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.