Programme Policy Officer

The World Food Programme (WFP) prioritizes the mainstreaming of gender, protection and disability inclusion throughout all its work. A people-centered approach is adopted to ensure that the needs and preferences of communities shape the design of our programmes. The WFP Philippines Country Office focuses on ensuring that food assistance is inclusive and adaptive to the needs and capacities of affected populations. To achieve this, WFP ensures that communities have access to information on WFP activities, their rights, and feedback mechanisms in ways that are accessible to the diverse information needs and preferences of the people we serve. WFP also ensures that all programming is done through a protection and gender lens, to support affected communities adequately and ensure a do-no-harm approach. 

WFP is recruiting a Programme Policy Officer (Gender, Protection and Inclusion) who will work under direct supervision of the Head of Programme with overall guidance from the Deputy Country Director.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT:

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, working in more than 80 countries. It is well known for its ability to deliver food assistance rapidly to people in need. In 2020, WFP received the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize award for “…its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war”. 

• In the Philippines, WFP focuses on crisis response and resilience building. Two of its strategic objectives are as follows: “By 2028, communities exposed to shocks and stressors in the Philippines are better able to meet food, nutrition and other essential needs with inclusive and equitable emergency preparedness and response capacity at the national and local levels.” and “By 2028, communities vulnerable to food and nutrition insecurity in the Philippines are more resilient and can better manage risks affecting human capital gains and food systems, inclusively and equitably”. Going forward, preparedness is core to WFP’s pillar on crisis response in the Country Strategic Plan (CSP) 2024-2028. These strategic objectives are framed within the context of the Philippines being one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. It is an archipelago exposed to multiple hazards including intense typhoons, long-lasting floods, landslides, volcanic eruptions, and droughts. Disasters remain a leading cause of hunger, affecting all aspects of food security: economic and physical access to food, availability and stability of supplies, and nutrition.
• In the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), WFP works closely with the authorities to scale up the implementation of integrated resilience programmes along the lines of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, contributing to social cohesion in the region. These programmes are people-centered engaging communities throughout the programme cycle, including in targeting processes. WFP’s work in BARMM focuses on strengthening the capacities of the Government to implement the BARMM Food Security and Nutrition Road Map, Social and Behavioral Change Communication, Social Protection while considering nutrition, gender equality and women’s empowerment, protection and accountability to affected populations throughout all the work. In this context, WFP in BARMM is embarking on the implementation of a new project to promote equal opportunities for women’s leadership, empowering them to actively participate and equitably reap the benefits within governance systems. The project intends to strengthen the capacity and skills of women from IP communities and rural areas to adapt to the impacts of climate change and emerging hazards on food and nutrition security. The project also aims to improve the food and nutrition security of women from WFP’s ongoing targeted rural areas by empowering women and fostering nutrition-sensitive food systems transformation.
• Countrywide, WFP collaborates with the Philippine Government for the implementation of the Multi-Hazard Impact-Based Forecasting and Early Warning System (MHIBFEWS) Project. This initiative, implemented jointly with PAGASA, OCD, Landbank, and other stakeholders seeks to enhance the resilience of the vulnerable populations in the pilot LGUs of Tuguegarao City, Legazpi City, Palo, and New Bataan. The project is set to transform the existing forecasting and early warning by shifting from a hazard-based to an impact-based system. This methodology will improve the prediction and management of severe events caused by strong winds, floods, landslides, and storm surges. By providing timely and actionable warning information, end-users, including female-headed households can better manage threatening impacts brought about by climate-induced shocks. To enhance the effectiveness and inclusivity of the MHIBFEWS Project, gender-sensitive approaches will be integrated into its capacity-building efforts.
• After pilot implementation of DSWD’s Project on Local Adaptation to Water Access (LAWA), with assistance from WFP, between 2023 and early 2024, it is now being scaled up with the Breaking Insufficiency through Nutritious Harvest for the Impoverished (BINHI) programme. This new programme, called Project LAWA at BINHI, aims to strengthen the adaptive capabilities of poor and vulnerable families to mitigate the impact of food insecurity and water scarcity brought about by climate change. As Project LAWA at BINHI aims to support the most marginalized members of communities, there is a need to ensure that a gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI) lens is integrated into its implementation and harmful gender norms and inequalities are identified and addressed to foster an inclusive programme empowering all participants. With this, a Gender Programme Programme Officer will be required to lead research to understand the extent to which a Gender, Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) lens has been engaged in past/current Project LAWA at BINHI implementation.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES (not all-inclusive, within delegated authority):

Mainstreaming Gender and protection within WFP Philippines operations

• Contribute to the development and lead implementation of gender, protection, and inclusion strategies and activities within WFP Philippines and ensure harmonization with WFP’s global gender, protection, and inclusion policies and guidelines.
• Conduct protection risk analyses and other studies related to gender and inclusion.
• Lead the coordination of the WFP Gender Results Network.
• Lead the implementation of the Gender Equality, Social and Disability Inclusion Action Plan and the Community Engagement for Accountability to Affected Populations Action Plan.
• Provide technical support and guidance to WFP staff and partners on gender, protection and inclusion issues, including the integration of protection and gender considerations into programme design, implementation, and monitoring.
• Keep abreast of developments in protection, gender and inclusion components of government policies and programmes.
• Develop and deliver training sessions and capacity-building activities for community members, local authorities, and other stakeholders on issues related to protection, gender, and accountability to affected populations.
• Lead the gender, protection, and inclusion team and the implementation of all gender, protection and inclusion activities.
• In cooperation with the Research, Assessment and Monitoring Unit (RAM), analyze gender, age and diversity-disaggregated data and provide programmatic recommendations.
• Supporting the RAM team with managing the Community Feedback Mechanisms and advise on protection-related complaints and feedback.
• Operate as a Focal Point for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.
• Represent WFP at inter-agency protection, gender, and inclusion platforms and lead on WFP’s contribution to inter-agency strategies and work plans.
• Perform documentation and reporting tasks.
• Perform other duties as required.

Project Specific Deliverables:

LAWA/BINHI 

• Lead development of the implementation of strategies embedding GEDSI lens and consideration in Project LAWA and BINHI processes.
• Together with WFP’s RAM team lead research to understand the extent to which a GEDSI lens has been engaged in past/current Project LAWA at BINHI implementation.
• Ensure the incorporation of gender-transformative approaches that actively challenge and address gender inequalities and empower all genders within the project sites and communities.

MHIBFEWS 

• Develop a comprehensive gender-sensitive capacity development plan.
• Ensure the designing and tailoring of training modules targeted to the specific needs of national government officials and LGUs.
• Deliver training sessions for staff of partner agencies and LGUs, incorporating gender-sensitive approaches.
• Facilitate workshops and hands-on training to build technical and institutional capacities.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• Education: Master’s Degree in any of the following disciplines: International Relations, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Humanitarian Action, Gender Studies or similar specializations
• Experience: More than 5 years of experience in gender and/or protection, disability inclusion, research, community-based activities, volunteering, or similar

Knowledge & Skills:

• Knowledge of gender, protection and disability inclusion concept
• Experience in applying gender-transformative approaches to food security and nutrition programmes
• Experience in managing a small or medium size team
• Experience in integrating gender and protection in the design and implementation of programmes
• Experience with field work/data collection
• Experience with protection monitoring
• Experience with community engagement and organizing
• Good team working skills
• Good management skills
• Good communication skills
• Excellent analytical skills

Languages:

• Excellent oral and written skills in English

Source: https://wd3.myworkdaysite.com/en-US/recruiting/wfp/job_openings/job/Manila-Philippines-The-RepOf-Th/Programme-Programme-Officer–Gender–Protection-and-Inclusion-_JR105968