Programme Policy Officer (Food Security Monitoring System Development for the Provincial Government in Karnali)

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

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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).

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

About WFP:

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) 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 the most vulnerable, particularly women and children can access the nutritious food they need.

Organizational Context:

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has been working in Nepal since 1963, supporting the Government to achieve greater food security among vulnerable communities and build resilience to disasters. WFP is strengthening government capacity and providing support to food security, nutrition, as well as emergency preparedness and response, in support of the country’s goals to achieve Zero Hunger and to graduate from the least developed country to a lower middle-income status by 2026. WFP’s work in Nepal primarily targets the most food insecure, those in the hard-to-reach areas. Since 2024, WFP started implementation of its five-year Country Strategic Plan (CSP) for 2024-2028 to support the Government of Nepal to address food insecurity, reduce malnutrition and build the resilience of vulnerable populations.

With the launch of the new CSP (2024-2028), WFP aims to intensify its shift towards the prioritization of development-oriented activities, with a strong focus on resilience building as well as country capacity-strengthening measures through technical assistance and strengthening of national capacity, systems, and programmes to address food security and nutrition needs, improve livelihoods, and build resilience in the face of shocks and climate change. As such, WFP seeks to continue increasing its engagement with government Ministries and development partners including International Financial Institutions (IFIs).  WFP plans to accelerate the transition of its work from direct implementation to the provision of technical assistance to the Government aimed at strengthening programmes and systems to address food insecurity, malnutrition, and vulnerability to climate change. The CSP has outcomes designed to complement one another and putting strong emphasis on strengthening the capacity of government institutions to achieve SDGs 2 and 17 and contributing to SDGs 1, 4 and 13.

WFP’s Country Capacity Strengthening support:

WFP works in more than 120 countries around the world saving lives and changing lives. WFP’s focus on strengthening country capacities is based on the recognition that national systems are a critical vehicle for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) on ending hunger and supporting governments and stakeholders across the whole of society leading to tremendous opportunities for scale, impact, and sustainability of results.  

For WFP, Country Capacity Strengthening (CCS)  is defined as "activities structured around engagement with national and subnational stakeholder institutions and organizations with the intention of improving the sustainable functioning of systems and programmes that support populations with regard to their food security, nutrition and associated essential needs".  It has defined five pathways – policy and legislation, institutional effectiveness and accountability, strategic planning and financing, programme design and delivery and engagement of non-governmental actors. 

WFP Nepal conducts national-level household surveys two times a year to generate evidence and update key food security and livelihood indicators, together with market monitoring and thematic studies to better understand the food security and livelihood situation, as well the impact of potential shocks and crises on food security. WFP has a long history of collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development at the central level and the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives at the provincial level to enhance the national food security monitoring system since the initiation of the Nepal Food Security Monitoring System (Nepal Khadhya Surakshya Anugaman Pranali (NeKSAP) in 2002. This system was handed over to the Government of Nepal in 2016, however, WFP continued to engage with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development for technical assistance on food security, market and crop monitoring. WFP Nepal plans to continue this collaboration with the ministries for evidence generation, food security monitoring system enhancement, and capacity development based on these five CCS pathways.

Job Purpose:

Upon the provincial government’s request for WFP’s technical assistance, the incumbent of this position is expected to develop, and food security monitoring system digital platform integrated within the Government’s system and equip the Provincial Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoLMAC) in Karnali Province with a comprehensive and customized range of food security monitoring indicators, integrated into the existing MoLMAC official portal/website. The incumbent, working closely with the WFP Programme and VAM teams, MoLMAC officials and WFP seconded staff at MoLMAC, will primarily be responsible for developing the Provincial Government’s web-based digital food security monitoring platform, data visualization and produce quality summary products, for which the Local Governments and Provincial Ministries and their various offices will be the primary data sources. The staff member will work with relevant stakeholders and conduct several consultative workshops while developing digital platform and integrate the information related to food security, nutrition, livelihoods, climate change and crop monitoring.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Position Title: Programme Policy Officer (Food Security Monitoring System Development for the Provincial Government in Karnali)

Contract Type: Special Service Agreement (SSA)

Level: SSA-10

Contract Duration: 6 months (max. 90 workdays)

Duty Station: Kathmandu

Number of positions: 1

Date of Publication: 18 Feb 2025

Deadline of Application: 03 March 2025

WFP offers a competitive benefits package including salary plus a medical insurance (www.cignahealthbenefits.com)

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under the overall supervision of the Head of RAM and technical coordination with the Programme Policy Officer (VAM); the incumbent will be responsible for the following duties:

1. Review food security monitoring indicators, food security information digital platform and assess the suitability of the digital platform for food security information in Karnali Province.

2. Conduct a needs assessment in coordination with the Karnali provincial government to identify the specific requirements for the web-based dashboard, including the type of data, indicators, and visualizations that will be required. 3. Consult and interact with relevant stakeholders to develop an integrated web-based food security monitoring system for the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperative (MoLMAC), Karnali Province.

4. Develop a workplan to address high priority features required for research, testing, validation and deployment of the technology for wider application in food security monitoring in consultation with the RAM/VAM team.

5. Provide technical advice in the development of web-based digital platform for regular monitoring of food security and nutrition security situation, food prices, livelihoods and crop monitoring, implementation of right to food, production, import and export, SDG 2 indicators/targets and integration of other relevant information on food security and livelihoods, with the data/input to be provided by Local Governments and to be consolidated by MoLMAC.

6. Contribute to pilot the digital platform in one or two Municipalities to check whether the system is user friendly and manageable by the government. 7. Facilitate to present digital platform among WFP and government officials as well as wider stakeholders to get feedback and incorporate feedback and input wherever feasible.

8. Contribute to finalize food security monitoring digital system/platform, prepare the operational manual and provide training to government officials to operate, include information and disseminate results.

9. Assist to integrate the system into existing MoLMAC portal for wider accessibility after testing of indicators with ground validation of products.

10. Make a hand over plan digital platform to Provincial Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Karnali Province.in consultation with programme and RAM team.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:    Advance university degree (master’s degree) in relevant field of study (e.g. information technology, computer science, geometric science) or other relevant disciplinary.

Experience

At least five years of post-graduate professional experience in web-based digital platform, system development, data visualization and dissemination with programming language applications

Knowledge & Skills

Strong analytical and technical skills, with experience in data collection, analysis, and visualization with Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, HTML, PHP and Java will be an additional advantage. Preferably full stack developer is sought.

Languages: Fluency in both oral and written communication in English and Nepali languages.

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REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact:  global.inclusion@wfp.org

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