Programme Policy Officer

About WFP

The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

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Why Join WFP?

WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.
WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.
A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.
We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).

About the National Programme and Policy Officer Position at WFP Tanzania

This position is based in Dar es Salaam and reports directly to the Head of Programme, who oversees overall performance and strategic alignment for the implementation of Strategic Outcomes (SOs) which are SO1 (Refugees & DRR), SO2 (Nutrition and School Feeding) and SO3 (Agriculture and climate resilience interventions) and other crosscutting elements (such as gender, protection, energy etc.) of the Country Strategic Plan (CSP) for 2022-2027 period. This position is the Strategic Outcome 1 Manager who will lead SO1 on ‘crisis affected populations in Tanzania to meet their essential food and nutrition needs in anticipation of, during and the aftermath of shocks and build resilience to shocks and stressors by 2027’. This carries the roles of supervising the Activity 1 manager on the refugee operation, and to oversee Activity 2 to strengthen the capacity of the government to prepare and respond to all forms of disasters in Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar. This post requires solid team management experience and would provide backstopping on management activities for the Programme unit.

As well as providing support to the Activity 1 manager on the refugee operation in Kigoma, this position further entails close working relationships with field-based offices notably in Zanzibar, Dodoma and Arusha as a strategy to provide on-the-ground support on capacity building initiatives, and policy advice to national government on DRR activities including on adaptive social protection, climate resilience and anticipatory action, as required and in consultation with the respective technical leads. The post supports mechanisms for integration of DRR, Social Protection and Anticipatory Action programmes, striving to maintain a close link to the Anticipatory Action and Climate Risk Management Coordination for technical guidance and support as well as with adaptive Social Protection programmes at Country Office.

The incumbent would need a strong understanding and demonstrated experience of coordination with Government and UN Agencies as well as with NGO partners. The latter includes Disaster Management Department of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO-DMD) and other DRR line Ministries, PMO-LYED, TASAF, TMA, UN Emergency Coordination Group (ECG), National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) NGO DRR Group and Social Protection Working Groups.

Background

Tanzania has experienced sustained economic growth in recent years, achieving Lower Middle Income Country status in 2020. Despite a positive development trajectory, the increasing frequency of extreme weather events threatens to undermine progress in poverty reduction and exacerbate existing inequalities, including between men and women and people with disabilities. Tanzania ranks 151st globally in terms of readiness for climate change adaptation.

The CADRI report of 2022 showed the country to be vulnerable to recurrent natural and human-induced hazards. Recently, the frequency and magnitude of such hazards have been rising. The most prevalent hazards over the past 20-year period are floods, epidemics, earthquakes, drought and storms. Currently, more than 70% of all disasters are linked to recurrent droughts and floods, which are likely to be exacerbated by the impact of climate change. Traditionally efforts to manage disasters in the country have focused on more of response to affected population with little attention given to activities that enhance mitigation and preparedness. The DRR actions have been implemented amid lack of linkages to community-based mechanisms that support social assistance through enhance adaptive capacity, especially amongst the vulnerable poor population in disaster prone areas.

The CADRI report further identified capacity areas that need to be enhanced through strengthening government systems in terms of enhanced disaster preparedness and response capacities. The WFP CSP approach to these barriers includes measures to strengthen early warning systems, anticipatory action, and integration of shock-responsiveness and climate-smart approaches into existing social protection and agricultural programs. The incumbent to this position is expected to play a crucial role of leading designing and implementation of inter-connected activities that ensures the inclusive approach to manage disasters in the country.

As SO1 Manager, the incumbent will also supervise the Activity 1 manager for the refugee operation. This operation is managed from Kasulu, with support from the Activity 1 and SO1 Managers based in Dar es Salaam. The Great Lakes region has experienced decades of political instability and social unrest, driving a continuous refugee flow. Tanzania currently hosts refugees and asylum-seekers, mainly from Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo. Most of the refugees in Tanzania live in two camps located in the country’s Northwestern region of Kigoma: Nduta and Nyarugusu camps.

Key Accountabilities/Responsibilities

Lead Strategic Outcome 1, with supervision and support for both Activity 1 and 2 Successful coordination, technical support, design and implementation of capacity building initiatives for strengthening Government systems to prepare and respond to disasters through DRR, social protection and anticipatory action and related programmes with Government and other stakeholders including UN Agencies and NGOs
Development of DRM programmes that link to social protection and Anticipatory action to ensure integrated interventions.
Support development of Contingency Plans for various hazards (floods, droughts, epidemics) under the leadership of Government through PMO-DMD, and support planning of simulation exercises.
Provide technical input to the review and formulation of policies and strategies related to DRR, Social Protection, Agriculture and Food Security.
Lead the process for resource mobilization through development of funded proposals for SO1, and ensure timely and high quality reporting for both financial and technical aspects.
Participate effectively in the UNSDCF processes including development of Joint Work-Plan (JWP) under relevant Outcome Group(s).
Participate and provide technical input to the donors’ working groups notably the DPG – Environment, DPG Agriculture and UN Emergency Coordination Group (ECG).
Participate in review of various relevant internal and external documents, including assessments, studies, appraisals and funding proposals among others.
Provide support on programme management activities as required.

Education

Master’s degree in social sciences including Agriculture, Economics, DR Management (DRM), Social Protection, environmental sciences and Community Development, or at least 8-10 years of relevant experience if the candidate does not have a Master’s degree.

Experience

Over 5 years of post-graduate with professional experience in Programme management. Must have experience in disaster preparedness and response, such as planning and managing DRM, Social Protection, Anticipatory Action, Refugees and / or related technical programmes. Solid experience in management, both for teams and projects is a requirement, as is demonstrated experience in engagement with government UN and NGO partners.

Knowledge and Skills

IT literacy with strong analytical, written and oral communication skills, excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work in a team; ability to plan and organize work with minimum supervision; ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines; Working relations with government entities is highly desirable. General knowledge of UN system policies, rules, regulations and procedures.

Languages

Fluent in English and Kiswahili languages.

Job Requisition ID: JR109774