ABOUT WFP
The United Nations World Food Programme 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. Every day, WFP works worldwide 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.
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
WFP is well known for its ability to deliver food assistance rapidly to people in need. Increasingly, this emergency assistance is delivered in conflict-affected areas, where it runs the risk of inadvertently becoming caught up in the conflict itself. Many WFP staff around the world work hard to understand the contexts where they work and intuitively try to ensure that WFP programming and operations do not contribute to conflict or tensions. However, WFP needs to go beyond ‘Do No Harm’ to become truly conflict sensitive in the many complex emergencies in which it operates. WFP has committed to the application of conflict sensitivity in all of its operations, not only through the 2013 Policy on WFP’s Role in Peacebuilding in Transition Settings, but also more recently in signing up to the 2020 OECD DAC recommendation on the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus (HDPN).
The need for greater conflict sensitivity within WFP operations was identified in the Stockholm International Peace Research institute (SIPRI) case studies (2020-2022) which noted that “WFP programming often shows a lack of conflict sensitivity. Where appropriate, WFP also seeks to make Contributions to Peace (CtPs) through its Food Security and Nutrition interventions and has a small but growing portfolio of projects with specific peace objectives funded through the UN Peacebuilding Fund.
In order to build on this and give an adequate regional conflict sensitivity dimension, including dedicated capacities to strengthen WFP´s contributions to peace and the integration of a Humanitarian, Development and Peace nexus approach, WFP is proposing to recruit a Peace and Conflict Advisor for the Latin America and the Caribbean region.
JOB PURPOSE
This Peace and Conflict Advisor is to work in the WFP Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (RBP) based in Panama, providing support to both the Regional Bureau itself and to specific Country Offices (COs) in countries in the region affected by conflict, tensions and/or violence.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)
The RBP Peace and Conflict Advisor will have the following responsibilities:
Technical support: Operational support to the COs in the region to apply Conflict Sensitivity to new and existing programming, with a specific emphasis on supporting the design of next generation Country Strategic Plans (CSPs). This includes:
- Researching and drafting conflict analyses and Conflict Sensitivity Risk Assessments (in line with corporate guidance);
- Linking conflict analysis to analysis of food insecurity and nutrition (where appropriate) and / or to analysis of conflict-driven migration;
- Incorporating conflict analysis into technical access cells / processes in the region;
- Working with management/programme teams to develop and implement feasible mitigation measures to risks and gaps identified through analysis;
- Where a programme seeks to support peace (including reducing gang-violence, preventing conflict-induced migration, or violence against indigenous peoples), ensure that high quality conflict analysis underpins programme design and that clear, plausible, evidence-based theories of change are articulated, and that outcome measures capture meaningful results;
- Developing programming options for working with ex-combatants and a specific evidence generation agenda to integrate into monitoring frameworks and wider research processes at CO level.
Mainstreaming of Conflict Sensitivity and contribution to peace: With a specific focus on those Country Offices prioritized by the Regional Bureau in consultation with the respective CO:
- Review competencies for conflict sensitivity and peace contributions for key roles in the CO, identifying where capacities need to be built;
- Identify key blockages to the mainstreaming of Conflict Sensitivity in CO processes / systems, and propose revisions to processes.
Capacity building: With a specific focus on those Country Offices prioritized by the Regional Bureau in consultation with the respective COs:
- Provide capacity building to country teams on Conflict Sensitivity ensuring different capacities for different roles are built. This will include on-the-job accompaniment as well as other training/capacity building events, backstopped by the Peace and Conflict Team at HQ.
- Identify and support a CO champion(s) and build their capacities to sustain progress after consultancy ends.
- Provide focused support to build capacities to understand host / migrant tensions and for enhanced 2-way communication with communities.
Strategic Positioning: Provide strategic advice to RBP and COs Senior Leadership on WFP’s strategic positioning concerning conflict sensitivity risks, programming with specific peace outcomes and the integration of an HDP nexus approach throughout WFP´s interventions in the region, including: (i) the identification of possible conflict sensitivity risks and plausible contributions to peace through WFP programming to support social protection mechanisms, drawing on experiences in Colombia and other COs in the region; (ii) the provision of guidance on the level of ambition COs in the region could aspire to in contributing to peace through programming; and (iii) engagement with relevant stakeholders in WFP HQ, to help clarify WFP’s corporate position and provide advice on how to implement such positioning in the region. Identify conflict sensitivity risks emerging through trade offs / dilemmas in the application of the humanitarian principles to humanitarian responses in the region, proposing mitigation measures where feasible. Identify and suggest to RBP and COs Senior Leadership potential strategic partnerships with other member of the UN System concerning joint UN programming with specific peace outcomes as well as the integration of an HDP nexus approach into analysis, planning and design of joint UN interventions.
Knowledge Management: Document and disseminate good practices and lessons learned from the CO experiences. Be an active member of the nascent WFP Peace and Conflict Community of Practice, and ensure relevant learnings shared through the community of practice are applied to the CO’s approach.
Any other duties as required.
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
. Good conflict analyses exist to guide country programmes, with conflict sensitivity risks identified and captured in the risk register, with clearly articulated mitigation measures.
. Gaps in systems and process to enable conflict sensitivity identified and enhanced.
. Gaps in capacities for conflict sensitivity identified for different roles across in specific Cos
. Increased capacities developed for WFP staff in the region.
. Good practices and lessons learned documented and shared.
STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Education: Advanced academic degree in conflict studies or another relevant discipline.
Experience: More than twelve years of professional experience providing technical support to integrate conflict sensitivity into both humanitarian and development programming;
Experience in design, drafting, presentation and dissemination of conflict analysis;
Experience in capacity building (training, accompaniment);
Solid knowledge of peacebuilding programme design, including the articulation of theories of change;
Languages: Fluency in English and Spanish. Knowledge of French (desirable).
Knowledge & Skills:
Commitment to WFP’s mission and values;
Proven research and analytical skills;
Excellent presentation skills (oral and written);
Strong communication skills and cultural antennae (able to work across cultures);
Strong advocacy, influencing and networking skills;
Ability to work independently under minimal supervision;
Proficiency in Window MS office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook).
Technical training in areas that are directly or indirectly relevant to peacebuilding and/or Conflict Sensitivity (desirable).
DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE
Experience in supporting strategic planning processes to integrate conflict and peace;
Experience in drafting peacebuilding proposals, including articulating results frameworks;
Some prior exposure to working with WFP, either directly (as an employee) or indirectly (as a partner).
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Position: Peace and Conflict Advisor (Programme Unit).
Number of openings: 1
Based in: Panama City, Panama
Type of Contract: Consultant
Duration: 6-9 months.
Only short-listed qualified candidates will receive an acknowledgement.
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
The deadline to apply for this position is February 18, 2022.
Link to apply:
How to apply
To apply, please create a personal account and fill out the profile form with your personal information at career opportunities. If you are internal applicant, apply through your E-Recruitment profile.
In the application form, ensure filling the mandatory sections, attaching your CV, answering the pre-screening questions and agreeing on the legal statement before submitting your application. Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis on account of potential and performance. All applicants will undergo a rigorous process which includes screening against job requirements, a technical test, and a panel interview.
Link to apply:
https://career5.successfactors.eu/sfcareer/jobreqcareer?jobId=156925&company=C0000168410P