National Program Officer (Safety Nets) At World Food Program

The WFP is looking for candidates of integrity and professionals who share our humanitarian principles.
Staff selection is done on a competitive basis and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.

In accordance with current United Nations policies, female candidates are strongly encouraged

Job Title: National Program Officer (Safety Net)

Type of Contract: Service Contract

Place of assignment: Port-au-Prince

Position Level: SC8

Duration: 12 months

Number of positions: 1

Unit: Program

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THE CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE OF THE POSITION:

The World Food Program (WFP) is the largest humanitarian agency fighting world hunger. WFP works towards a world where every man, woman and child has constant access to enough food to lead a healthy and active life.

THE CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE OF THE POSITION:

Haiti’s Human Development Index (HDI) ranks 169 out of 189 countries in 2019. Rates of extreme poverty and poverty are high and their cause is multidimensional. This poverty is manifested in particular by high illiteracy rates, a life expectancy of 63.29 years in 2017, high infant mortality and significant inequalities between the sexes. A large majority of the population does not have access to basic services such as drinking water, electricity, sanitation and health coverage.

In addition, Haiti is vulnerable to natural disasters. It is considered the fifth country most exposed to natural disasters. The country has suffered in less than ten years more than four major disasters from which the country is still struggling to recover: the earthquake of 2010, tropical storm Isaac and hurricane Sandy in 2012, hurricane Matthew in 2016 , hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. The country is therefore exposed to earthquakes, the passage of cyclones and also waves of drought linked to the El Nino phenomenon (2018).

Beyond these factors, food insecurity is driven by the poor performance of the agricultural sector combined with the strong dependence on imported food products (more than half of the food products on the market), particularly for rice (83% ). Product prices are largely influenced by logistical challenges, high production costs, precarious market structures and high inflation rates in recent years.

The latest results of the IPC (Integrated Food Security Classification Framework) presented in August 2020 report that 4.4 million people will need food assistance in Haiti between March and June 2021 (including 1,156,915 people in IPC 4 – Emergencies).

These worrying results are largely linked to the political crisis in the country since July 2018 and which led it into an economic and social crisis, then an agro-climatic crisis with significant pockets of drought established in the country. which caused a significant decrease in agricultural production.

Thus, the World Food Program in Haiti has defined its strategy to combat hunger in the Country Strategic Plan (CSP 2024-2029) which provides, among other things, for activities linked to emergency food assistance to populations affected by a shock. , the establishment of social safety nets oriented towards nutrition, the strengthening of the capacities and livelihoods of small producers as well as their resilience in the face of climate change in particular, and the strengthening of the capacities of national and local actors to the fight against hunger.

In this context, WFP has increased operations in the country and launched several social safety net projects, including the implementation of the PSARA social protection program on behalf of the government, which has led to an additional need for human resources, in particular to ensure the proper implementation of the various WFP activities in the different departments.

The WFP then requires a social safety net officer at the Port au Prince office in order to support this effective implementation of WFP activities in the country.

Under the direct supervision of the AM (Activity Manager 2), the Social Safety Net Officer will support the implementation of all WFP activities linked to the PSARA program and other nutrition-oriented social safety net activities.

RESPONSIBILITIES/OBLIGATIONS:

1. Plan, allocate activities, expected results and deadlines for the implementation of cash transfer activities for social safety nets in coordination with the MA, including targeting, recording, distribution and monitoring
2. Maintain monthly reporting of cash transfer data from social safety net projects and produce actionable findings, trends and recommendations to effectively inform internal learning and operational decision-making. This includes, but is not limited to, regular analysis of payee lists and databases and transaction records to identify possible duplicate records or other problems or anomalies.
3. Propose planning and coordination tools with the different units related to cash transfers such as the CBT program, finance, sub-offices to enable effective and efficient implementation of cash transfers.
4. Support for the formalization of the Field Agreement (FLA) with WFP implementing partners for social safety net project operations and their management throughout implementation, ensuring that standards quality in the operation are respected.
5. Support the analysis of partner proposals on the basis of objective criteria to facilitate decision-making during Partner Proposal Review Committees and thus guarantee consistency in final partnership decisions.
6. Support the MA in ensuring operational monitoring of agreements with implementation partners for the smooth running of operations in the field by identifying implementation risks and proposing relevant solutions for their mitigation, in coordination with assistants (es) to the Program.
7. Carry out relevant field visits in order to analyze the effective implementation of activities, identify opportunities for improvement and subsequently propose relevant measures to ensure better implementation of activities and compliance with standards of quality.
8. Contribute to the preparation of accurate and timely reports on social safety net projects that enable informed decision-making and consistency of information presented to Management and various donors.
9. Facilitate technical support from WFP experts on cross-cutting themes (Gender and Inclusion, SBCC, Nutrition, Institutionalization) in the implementation of activities.
10. Liaise with internal counterparts to ensure effective collaboration and monitor ongoing projects.
11. Contribute to ensuring the institutionalization of the program at the central and departmental levels by strengthening the capacity of the UGP/MAST (PSARA program) to implement monetary transfers within the framework of social safety nets by providing training/coaching on the design, implementation and evaluation of cash transfer programs.
12. Ensure coordination between stakeholders in social safety net projects at central and departmental level, also through frequent missions to sub-offices.
13. Perform other related tasks as needed

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

• Staff contribute to the provision of cash assistance to vulnerable households as part of social safety net activities by promoting the quality and value standards of the World Food Program.
• Staff are successfully contributing to the institutionalization of the PSARA program.
• Staff successfully coordinate and cooperate with colleagues involved in the implementation of the social safety net project.
• Staff successfully develop, implement and execute field agreements under their responsibility.
• Staff organize coordination meetings with other units necessary to implement activities such as monitoring and evaluation, security, finance, etc.
• Staff support and participate in the drafting of reports intended for donors or as part of reporting to local authorities.
• Staff implement planning tools that facilitate monitoring of activities and improve internal and external coordination mechanisms.
• REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:
• Training:
• Advanced university degree in statistics, computer science, economics, information management, social sciences or other related fields, or first university degree with additional years of professional experience and/or training.
• Experience :
• Holder of an advanced university degree: At least one year of post-graduate professional experience in the field of social safety net projects, monetary transfers or emergency financial assistance.
• Holder of a first university degree (License): At least three years of relevant professional experience in the field of social safety net projects, monetary transfers or emergency financial assistance.
• Knowledge and skills :
• Experience in cash transfer operations, including coordination with internal and external stakeholders.
• Data storage and retrieval skills.
• Mastery of the main computer software required, in particular a good command of Excel.
• Availability for frequent travel within the country, due to the nature of the work.
• Customer focus and problem solving – ability to grasp needs and translate them into solutions and ideas.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, including substantive analysis and report writing.
• LANGUAGES :
• Very good command of French and Creole (written, spoken, read)
• Knowledge of English is an asset.
• NB: The contact details of the people/institution cited in the CV must contain an email address and valid telephone number.
• Candidates must be of Haitian nationality
• Deadline for application submission: February 14, 2024