The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian agency, fighting hunger worldwide. More than half the population of Afghanistan – a record 22.8 million people – will face acute food insecurity in 2022. The combined effects of drought, conflict, COVID-19, and the economic crisis, have severely affected lives, livelihoods, and people’s access to food.
The team of 600 staff, 550 of which are Afghan nationals are working tireless to bring emergency food and nutrition assistance to the millions of people suffering across the country. The assistance provided by WFP includes emergency food assistance, school meals, nutrition programmes and important self-reliance and resilience programmes. The packet of support can include food, cash, or vouchers.
PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) Officer will work closely with key stakeholders (internal and external) to establish an AAP strategy and approach that complements existing good practice and addresses current and emerging AAP needs. The work of the AAP Officer will support implementation of the WFP Protection and Accountability Policy (2020), Disability Inclusion Roadmap (2021), Gender Policy (2021) and relevant WFP policies and good practice requirements. The AAP Officer will join the Programme Unit, and report directly to the Protection and Access Adviser.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)
- Strategy design: In close collaboration with key stakeholders, particularly affected populations across all diversities, establish an Accountability to Affected Populations (or Community Engagement) Strategy. The Strategy will appreciate AAP as both a process and a result in-and-of itself. The Strategy will have a strong focus on programme excellence ensuring that AAP is connected to enabling Zero Hunger goals and centrality of protection.
- Community Feedback and Response Mechanisms (CFRM): In close collaboration with the CFRM Manager, and informed by participatory processes, the AAP Officer will oversee the rollout of expanded feedback and response mechanisms. This will include strengthening existing CFRM systems and introducing new approaches. Interagency collaboration will be essential to ensure that WFP’s CFRM complements existing interagency approaches and efforts.
- Information and Knowledge Management: Working closely with the CFRM Manager, and the CFMR Information Management Officer, establish modern and interactive AAP information management tailored to needs of decision makers and WFP operations. This will include leading the collaboration between Protection and Accountability and VAME Teams to integrate accountability data captured through different data points (i.e., data captured through monitoring, vulnerability assessments, CFMR, others).
- Programme Excellence: Working closely with WFP and Cooperating Partner (CP) staff, community engagement and related data analysis (ad-hoc, regular, and through existing systems such as CFRM) to inform WFP’s design and implementation of activities. This will require ensuring that programmes can evidence how feedback from affected populations has informed decision making throughout the programme cycle.
- Embedding AAP capacity: Through user-focussed learning methodologies, design, and rollout an AAP capacity strengthening agenda for WFP and CP staff.
- Partnerships: Establish partnerships to strengthen AAP for Zero Hunger results including partnerships with donors, interagency forums, UN and I/NGO agencies. Importantly, establish partnerships with affected populations directly, and relevant representative groups, for AAP including with people with disabilities, organisations of disabled people, women, women’s civil society groups, youth, youth representative groups, ethnic and religious minorities and their representative groups, amongst others with a particular focus on ensuring meaningful inclusion of marginalized groups in informing decisions made by WFP throughout its activities.
- Team Leadership: Support the Protection and Access Adviser with day-to-day oversight and supervision of staff working on accountability within the Protection and Accountability team.
- Ad hoc tasks: Undertake ad-hoc tasks as required. This may include, but is not limited to, support with donor reports and engagements, providing AAP / Protection talking points and summaries (internal and external facing).
Education & Experience
University degree in Human Rights, International Relations, Development Studies, Political Science, Sociology, Communications for Development, Humanitarian Affairs, or related topics.
At least 2-6 years of relevant professional work experience in Accountability to Affected Populations and/or Protection. Experience in relevant areas of work will be considered.
Experience in analyzing cross-cutting issues such as protection, gender, migration, conflict sensitivity, data protection and/or complaints and feedback mechanisms, managing complex monitoring and/or evaluation activities spanning a range of policies and programme initiatives in international development or humanitarian contexts is an asset.
Skills & Attributes
- Applied experience in Accountability to Affected Populations
- Applied experience in community engagement and working with diverse populations
- Excellent research, data analysis and reporting skills;
- In-depth knowledge of results-based management principles and practices and WFP’s corporate accountability frameworks;
- Understanding of food security and/or nutrition programming;
- Understanding of human rights, humanitarian principles, and some grasp of cross-cutting issues and their importance in humanitarian data analysis;
- Skills in correlating vulnerability data relating to cross-cutting issues such as gender, protection and gender-based violence with food insecurity and related data;
- Proven ability to develop quality reports and analyses with minimal direction;
- Ability to present data and content visually including use of software such as InDesign, Illustrator and/or Tableau;
- Proven ability to network effectively with multiple work units;
- Willingness to build capacity of others through formal and informal training processes; and
- Prior experience working in Afghanistan and understanding of the context is highly desirable
Languages: Fluency (level C) in written and spoken English. Knowledge of one or more languages spoken in Afghanistan is an advantage.
For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.