Consultant Partnership & Reporting

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian agency, fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to end global hunger as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need. In emergencies, WFP gets food to where it is needed, saving the lives of victims of war, civil conflict, and natural disasters.

Within this framework, WFP Benin’s Country Strategic Plan covers a broad range of interventions, with a special attention of home-grown school feeding (HGSF). The Government indeed considers school feeding as a platform for a long-term investment and an accelerated instrument to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.The Government's strong political commitment is reflected in the very high level of funding for school feeding, which is a national priority clearly stated in national strategic documents. The focus of Benin’s Country Strategic Plan on the National School Feeding Programme aims to support the government in implementing its vision and contribute to addressing the root causes of malnutrition and hunger; ensuring the sustainability of food security and nutrition actions and provide a platform for inclusive development of human capital and induces social progress. WFP Benin uses an integrated intervention approach through the homegrown school feeding (HGSF). HGSF is an entry point to local development, reinforcing the links with health and nutrition, education, agriculture, social protection - and capacity strengthening.

The stakes of the Benin CSP are very high as it is the first time that a government has funded such a large-scale nationwide school meals program and trusted WFP for its implementation. WFP currently covers 75% of all public primary schools in Benin, which corresponds to almost 5,500 schools and 1,000,000 beneficiary students. Beyond support the delivery of the national Programme, an important pillar of WFP’s Strategic Plan for Benin focuses on capacity strengthening with a view to shifting WFP-led programmes to government and community ownership. At the core of this strategic approach is the sustainability of the national school meals programme.

Furthermore, the country strategic plan constitutes an opportunity to better support smallholder farmers (SAMS), particularly women, in a holistic way and to diversify food consumption by introducing policies and practices to reduce post-harvest losses, reinforce food diversification and promote sustainable access to markets. By applying the SAMS methodology and working on strengthened local procurement, WFP aims to lay the foundations for a more robust economy that is less reliant on imports, offers better livelihood options for vulnerable populations and fosters resilient and sustainable national food systems.

Finally, considering the evolving regional dynamics at the borders with the Sahel and given the increasing range and scale of shocks, more proactive engagement on resilience building, including emergency preparedness, will be important.

Federating all partners to support the successful implementation and scale up of the CSP and mobilizing the necessary funding to do so will be central.

The Country Office (CO) is seeking an experienced international Consultant to manage the Partnership-related activities, including Reporting, i.e. support the expansion of WFP’s donor base and the positioning of WFP in Benin. This will entail a strong technical knowledge and experience, to analyze data and identify solutions for partnership activities.

The Consultant will support process improvements and partnership opportunities with a host of public, private sector, and external entities; these can include governments, UN agencies, intergovernmental institutions, international financial institutions, individuals, corporations, foundations, and NGOs.

The Consultant will also be required to develop funding proposals and various reports (external and internal).

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under the supervision of the Country Director, the Partnerships consultant will:

• Support the implementation of a work plan for an assigned area to enable WFP to identify, develop and strengthen quality partnerships in support of WFP strategic objectives.
• Engage with other functional units on WFP’s thematic, regional and country-specific offerings, developing content and language that speak to individual audiences and align with on-going policy dialogue in national and global fora.
• Support alignment of partner engagement across the organization. Proactively support a wide range of aspects of a partnerships portfolio, including partner profiling, data/trends analysis and outreach plan, to maximize resources and leverage policy and technical support for WFP’s work; Ensure partner visibility and that partner conditions are met;
• Support the facilitation of corporate dialogue with partners through preparation of quality briefing materials; highlight strategic opportunities and issues that help propose options for the best course of action to nurture trust and interest in the work of WFP; Support the preparation of joint events (e.g. UN pledging conferences) that can advance WFP interests and objectives.
• Gather and share partner intelligence (including forecasting), using key information systems (e.g. WINGS, Salesforce, WFPGo), and assessing results. Support functional units on partnership strategies (including the development of Partnership Action Plans);
• Extend support on partnership/contribution management, in line with corporate norms, processes and legal agreements, on quality proposal and report writing by engaging with other WFP entities and external stakeholders. Support partnership growth by exploring opportunities to expand existing partnerships and scope of new partners, guided by assessments, analysis, and due diligence.
• Contribute to the preparation of partnership proposals, strategic agreements, joint strategies and/or MOU, considering corporate norms, processes and external regulations; Ensure quality control of content by engaging with relevant functional units, RB and HQ.
• Use socio-political insights to support WFP’s effective positioning vis-vis national government with the aim to influence the policy agenda. In the context of the UN system and multilateral fora, provide support for the development of partnerships with member states, civil society and intergovernmental organizations to advocate for the SDGs and Zero Hunger on the global agenda, and advance WFP priorities and policies, based on a good understanding of member states’ dynamics and interests.
• Solicit inputs from other WFP entities that contribute to inter-governmental/inter-agency work to ensure that WFP positions are properly explained and considered in decision making.
• Take responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives in all areas of work to ensure equal participation of women and men.
• Contribute to preparedness actions, technical recommendations, and guidance.
• Contribute to the monitoring of defined risks and recommendations on how to manage these effectively.
• Other as required

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Advanced University degree in Political Science, International Development, Development Economics, Marketing Communications or other relevant field, or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or training/courses.

Experience:

- 6 – 10 years’ experience in United Nations agencies, other International Organizations / the private sector.

- Good understanding of government and corporate strategies and priorities and experience in developing multi-stakeholder partnerships.

- Significant experience in exploring new opportunities and providing inputs to design and develop solutions with prospective partners. Experience with Development Banks and funding from host governments constitutes an asset.

- Experience in managing all resource mobilization processes and resource strategies, negotiating contract terms and providing resourcing advice to senior management.

- Understanding of partner’s focus areas and knowledge of internal capabilities to create a Unique Value Proposition for the partners.

- Experience in using technology and digital tools for data collection, analysis and shared data-based insights to add value to all partnerships.

- Experience providing input into training and support strategy for technical systems users and advanced technical support

Knowledge & Skills:

Proven expertise in writing in development and humanitarian work for vari audiences; Proven high-level editorial skills to any required style; In-de knowledge of development and humanitarian issues; Excellent writtenand oral communicating skills; Exemplary professional standard

 Excellent and proven project management and organizational ability