Programme Policy Officer NOB (School Feeding Coordinator), Dushanbe

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WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles. Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis. We are committed to promoting diversity and the principle of equal employment opportunity for all our employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of religion or belief, ethnic or social background, gender, gender identity and disability.

Job related key information

Job Title: Programme Policy Officer NOB (School Feeding Coordinator) Grade: NOB Type of contract: Fixed Term Duration: 12 months Duty Station: Dushanbe Vacancy Number: 168421 Date of Publication: 06 July 2022 Deadline of Application: 21 July 2022

Terms and conditions

WFP offers a competitive benefits package including salary, pension, leave, plus medical insurance

BACKGROUND

The World Food Programme (WFP) is currently operating under a Country Strategic Plan (CSP) 2019-2024, the duration for which will be shortened to end in 2022 whereby a new CSP 2023 – 2026 will commence in tandem with the new UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) covering the same period. By means of the CSP, WFP is undertaking a strategic shift from direct implementation to enabling and strengthening capacities of national and sub-national institutions to deliver on their food security and nutrition priorities. WFP activities support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). The geographic scope of WFP Tajikistan operations encompasses the entirety of the country. In addition to the country office in Dushanbe, WFP has field offices located in Bokhtar, Gharm, Khorog, and Khujand to oversee operations in those specific regions.

WFP has implemented the School Feeding Programme (SFP) in Tajikistan since 1999. SFP covers 52 districts and reaches over 450,000 beneficiaries, targeting primary school students at approximately 2,000 schools, accounting for about half of the schools across the country. The SFP is implemented under two main areas: provision of hot meals to schoolchildren and capacity development and augmentation (CD&A) to support nationalization of the programme.

Under the CD&A, WFP provides technical capacity development and augmentation to central and subnational mechanisms with the overall school feeding mechanism in a range of activities that build upon innovative approaches to enhancing food security and nutrition. At the central level, WFP seeks realize the Strategy for Sustainable Development of School Meals in the Republic of Tajikistan for 2017-2027 and prepare for the transition of it school feeding programme to government ownership. Sub-nationally, schools are being empowered to seek resources that support provision of diversified daily nutritious meals to schoolchildren. WFP therefore directly assists schools in creating opportunities that directly support the meals or provide income to purchase other foods and supplies. In addition, as part of the long-term process to nationalize school feeding and secure sustainable access to locally produced healthy foods, WFP seeks to increase local agricultural production, especially for women’s groups, and strengthen food systems and value chains by linking smallholder farmers to schools.

These initiatives require enhanced capacity at the country office level and strong coordination with internal and external stakeholders.

JOB PURPOSE

The above described initiatives would require enhanced capacity at the country office level and strong coordination with internal and external stakeholders. The Programme Policy Officer (SFP Coordinator), NOB, will oversee all aspects of SFP initiatives, ensuring the gradual handover of SFP activities to the government is well organized and systematically achieved in a sustainable manner.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

Working within the school feeding activity team and reporting directly to the head of programme, the incumbent is expected to perform the following duties and responsibilities:

External Coordination • Represent WFP in various technical forums with national stakeholders and with key government officials involved in national SFP decision-making, including at the inter-ministerial coordination council, with line ministries (e.g., Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Health and Social Protection, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Ministry of Agriculture, etc.), and other government entities at the central level; • Represent WFP in the relevant UN Cooperative Framework results/outcome groups and the Development Coordination Council working groups, including education and social protection, providing key highlights from each meeting to programme management; • Serve as main SFP liaison to UN agencies, international financial institutions, and non-governmental organizations to ensure synergies with WFP’s SFP are incorporated in project implementation and to engage in joint programming where possible; • Provide advisory and technical support to the government in designing and implementing the national SFP through all relevant platforms; • Lead the implementation of the SFP nationalization strategy in coordination with national government entities; • Strengthen inter-ministerial coordination forums at central and subnational levels for the implementation of the national SFP through its inclusion in district development plans; • Ensure strong collaboration with partners (public, private, or civic) that lead to improved SFP packages; • Facilitate learning exchanges among field offices, with other development partners and through South-South and triangular cooperation.

School Feeding Portfolio Coordination • Lead efforts on complementary activities for optimal school feeding by reviewing existing plans, developing implementation strategies and new concept notes and launching activities; • Manage SFP staff in the implementation, planning, and monitoring of all new and ongoing initiatives; current activities include, but are not limited to: o Providing daily hot-meals in schools through in-kind support or funds transfers; o Operationalizing the SFP centre with the Ministry of Science and Education; o Overseeing progress of ongoing CD&A activities (e.g., income generation activities, district bakeries, food storage and processing centres, etc.); o Reviewing all pilot projects and plan for next phase based on recommendations; o Expanding public-private partnerships that support SFP; o Integration of nutrition, gender, and diversity across the portfolio; o Monitoring progress against and updating scoring of Systems Approach for Better Education Results – School Health and School Feeding; o Expanding upon the public finance mechanism strategy; o Developing potential new programming, including those that target adolescents and youth. • Ensure accurate tracking and management of budgets and expenditure plans, highlighting shortages and status of progress, and providing recommendations on such; • Coordinate with monitoring and school feeding staff and focal points to develop a robust monitoring and reporting system reflecting all SFP activities to ensure a standardized approach that can be fully digitized; • Lead the digitization efforts of the SFP and establish linkages to the education information management system (maktab) of the Ministry of Science and Education in collaboration with the relevant WFP units and through discussions with government counterparts at relevant ministries: o Revamp discussions to enhance and improve monitoring and assessment of SFP; o Conduct a gap analysis and provide recommendations on requirements in relation to information, technology, processes, objectives, staffing, technical skills, management systems/structures, resourcing; o Ensure the connection of WFP-supported school monitoring and assessment data to maktab (coordinate with UNICEF); o Create a sustainable handover plan to ensure the government can use, maintain, troubleshoot, and further develop the system; • Ensure the preparation of accurate and timely reports, fact sheets, and other advocacy materials related to SFP that enable informed decision making, consistency of information, and are suitable for various audiences; • Contribute to all reporting and resource mobilization efforts (e.g., donor, government, corporate, programmatic, etc.) relevant to the SFP; • Support the capacity building of WFP staff, partners, and government counterparts through technical guidance, training, support and advice to prepare for and respond to SFP; • Support the implementation of the WFP Tajikistan Country Strategic Plan through ensuring cross-cutting efforts such as nutrition-sensitivity, gender and diversity inclusion, protection and accountability, and linkages with other activities, including resilience and capacity development, are integrated into SFP.

Team Management • Create an inclusive work environment through respectful and constructive communication and holding self and other team members accountable for their actions; • Hold regular meetings and/or use other innovative and effective ways to ensure proper information sharing and communication within the team/staff members under direct supervision or coordination; • Actively manage underperformance through regular conversations, providing support/coaching, documenting as required, and proactively seeking second level supervisor and HR advice; • Ensure substantiated input and completion of all phases in PACE within established deadlines for all team members under direct supervision; • Perform all duties and functions of an activity manager as relevant to internal WFP processes and procedures in accordance with all deadlines (e.g., potential partner proposals, field level agreements, and service provision processes and contracts; invoice/transfers clearances; corporate systems such as WINGS/COMET; monthly deliverables such as mission plans, country brief inputs and bank forecast inputs; responding to official letters requesting support or information; serving as hiring manager; etc.); • Any other tasks as needed.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

Advanced university degree in in International Affairs, Education, Social Sciences or other field relevant to international development assistance, or first university degree with 5 years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses.

WORK EXPERIENCE

At least 3 years of postgraduate professional experience (or First University degree with 5 years of experience) working with UN agencies, government entities, or civil society in the fields of education and/or social protection.

• Engaged in high-level decisions regarding programme implementation and policy development; • Established relationships and engaged closely with external counterparts at the middle to high level management; • Strong and proven background in initiating and scaling-up innovative programming for sustainable development, preferably within the education sector

KEY COMPETENCIES

• Strategic policy engagement with government: develops thorough recommendations using multiple inputs (e.g., government counsel, research, own experience) to strengthen national or subnational entities and government owned food and nutrition security programmes. • Broad knowledge of specialized areas (e.g., nutrition, research, assessments, monitoring) • Strategic thinking: analyses and evaluates data and considers the impact of decisions; designs new and innovative ways of doing things (when relevant) • Action management: delivers results, delegates appropriately, adapts readily to change • Partnering and teamwork: inclusive and collaborative; builds and shares new perspectives; gives timely and constructive feedback

LANGUAGES

Fluency (level C) in English, Tajik and Russian is required.

WFP is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce. WFP has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, abuse of authority or discrimination. 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.