Consultant_ Senior Protection and Accountability Advisor

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

JOB TITLE: Consultant_ Senior Protection and Accountability Advisor

TYPE & LEVEL OF CONTRACT: International Consultant Level II

UNIT/DIVISION: Programme and Policy/ RBB Myanmar Country Office

DUTY STATION (City, Country): Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar

REPORT TO: Head of Programme

DURATION: 6 months with possible extension up to 11 months

OPENING DATE OF APPLICATION: 26 July 2022

CLOSING DATE OF APPLICATION: 9 August 2022

BACKGROUND:

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 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 people affected by disasters, conflict, epidemics/pandemics and more. After an emergency, WFP uses food to help communities rebuild their shattered lives. In 2022, WFP is working to reach over 150 million people in over 120 countries with food assistance. The organization has the global footprint, deep field presence and local knowledge and relationships necessary to provide access to nutritious food and contribute to the lasting solutions, especially in many of the world’s most remote and fragile areas.

WFP has been working in Myanmar since 1992, and the present focus is on the escalating humanitarian needs from ongoing conflict and since the pandemic and military takeover. In 2021, WFP Myanmar assisted 2.9 million food insecure people, almost three times more than the previous year. In 2022, the Country Office plans to reach 4 million people with food and nutrition assistance, focusing on both life-saving assistance and contributing to community and household resilience through livelihood and school feeding support. WFP continues to advocate for safe and unimpeded access to all populations in need consistent with the international humanitarian principles.

WFP is committed to ensuring that assistance provided is informed by, accountable to, and accessible to all affected persons including women, girls, men, and boys of diverse and multidimensional needs. WFP is guided by the Gender Policy (2022), Protection and Accountability Policy (2020), Disability Inclusion Roadmap (2021 – 2022), Community Engagement Strategy for Accountability to Affected Populations (2021 – 2026), Secretary General’s Bulletin on Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, and other cross-cutting standards that guide inclusion, equity, and rights-based approaches.

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WFP is seeking a Senior Protection and Accountability Advisor to ensure that protection risks are understood and appropriately mitigated (immediately and sustainably through necessary institutional adjustments), and that ongoing operational presence and activities are driven by protection outcomes at household level. The Protection and Accountability Advisor will also lead WFP with ensuring protection capacity is enhanced across all staff and partnering agencies. Adapting operations and programming to reflect conflict sensitivity is also a priority for this Country Office and will require technical support from the Senior Protection and Accountability Advisor.

The Senior Protection and Accountability Advisor will be proficient in capacity strengthening and required to travel throughout Myanmar to support field offices and engage with communities in diverse settings. The Protection and Accountability Advisor will overall be required to be self-driven and able to meet demands in a fast paced, high volume, protection, and food insecurity environment. The candidate will also be proficient at translating complex protection challenges into operationally tangible approaches.

PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

Under the supervision of the Head of Programme, the Senior Protection and Accountability Advisor will be responsible for leading the Country Office’s Protection, Gender and Accountability to Affected People (PGAAP) unit. The Advisor will lead on protection and inclusion risk analysis and mitigation; implementation of the humanitarian principles, disability inclusion, accountability to affected populations (consultation, community feedback mechanisms, information and knowledge management), gender equality and women’s empowerment including in emergency settings, beneficiary privacy and personal data protection, conflict sensitivity, protection from sexual exploitation and abuse, interagency cooperation (especially PGAAP related clusters and working groups), protection assessments, monitoring, and targeted protection programming for food and nutrition security to leave no one behind.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

1. Strategic and policy leadership: Support the Country Office to contextualise and meaningfully implement the WFP Protection and Accountability Policy (2020) and key complementary policies and strategies including (but not exclusively): Gender Policy (2022), Disability Inclusion Roadmap (2021-22), Community Engagement for Accountability to Affected Populations Strategy (2021 – 2026), and core documents for Humanitarian Principles, Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA), Conflict and Contributions to Peace, Beneficiary Privacy and Personal Data Protection. Includes integration in country strategic planning processes, and supporting the Country Director and senior management on WFP’s responsibilities under the centrality of protection, including through participation in interagency fora formed under the UN Country Team.

2. Humanitarian protection analysis and outcomes for WFP: Undertake protection assessments using mixed methodologies to document protection risks relevant to food and nutrition security. This will include advice on appropriate mitigating actions including immediate as well as institutional adjustments required for sustainable risk mitigation. Identify opportunities and programming adjustments / designs that contribute more intentionally and measurably to protection outcomes to contribute to food and nutrition security, as well as minimizing harm in general. This includes outcomes across all identities and diversities aiming for equitable outcomes, which may require targeted protection programming in order to leave no one behind.

3. Disability inclusion: Ensure inclusion of people with disabilities across the programming cycle with appropriate adjustments to ensure equity in asset creation and livelihoods, school feeding, social protection programming, and mainstreaming disability in food and nutrition assistance activities and operations.

4. Accountability to Affected People (AAP): strengthen the Country Office approach to community consultation, community feedback mechanisms, and information and knowledge management. This includes supporting integration of AAP into all activities, operations and field offices, particularly through the Community Engagement Mechanism (CEM).

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5. Access and conflict sensitivity: Support WFP to integrate conflict sensitivity into programmes and operations; identify access impediments faced by individuals, households, and communities and identify possible solutions.

6. Capacity strengthening: Support WFP staff and partner capacity to apply protection, AAP, disability inclusion and other relevant cross-cutting approaches. This includes, but is not limited to, mentoring and training the national protection and accountability staff, network of focal points for gender and Protection, CEM, PSEA and data protection, and strengthening the capacity of staff and partners to implement protection and AAP-related responses.

7. Partnerships: Represent WFP in Protection and Accountability interagency fora; maintain community and key stakeholder relationships and partnerships to enhance AAP – including with civil society, I/NGO, community groups, community representatives and individuals working to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment, disability inclusion, minority rights, and other demographics and marginalized groups. Lead on joint programming efforts with UN agencies including UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women and UNHCR. Support integration of PGAAP in Food Security Cluster Cash Working Group, and AAP/Community Engagement Working Group.

8. General: Maintain the Country Office PGAAP Strategy and Action Plan; oversee implementation of recommendations arising from Privacy Impact Assessments, as required; provide inputs to proposals, reports, tools, standard operating procedures and the like; respond to requests from counterparts in Regional Bureau Bangkok and Headquarters; contribute on PGAAP emergency preparedness and response exercises and plans.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education & Experience:

• Specialised education with post-graduate university degree in one of the following disciplines: law, international relations, political science, human rights, or other relevant fields.
• At least 6 years of continuously progressive work experience in development projects or humanitarian assistance, of which at least four years international field experience. This should include experience working in fragile states, post-crisis, or crisis contexts.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Knowledge of interagency and WFP architecture, systems, and programmes.
• Demonstrated knowledge of humanitarian programming in protection and AAP
• Proven ability to produce outputs independently, while at the same time seeking innovative ways to integrate areas covered by this TOR in the work of other units and functions within the Country Office
• Demonstrated capacity to rapidly review available documentation on contexts in which WFP operates, and be ready for substantive engagement and advisory work
• Capacity to engage in strategic conversations at senior levels
• Demonstrate strong analytical and writing skills, including the ability to write in an engaging, persuasive and informative manner, and conceptualise and clearly synthesise information.

Essential:

• Demonstrated field and policy-oriented experience working on protection, AAP and/or human rights programming is required
• Experience designing and establishing accountability mechanisms and disability considerations within programmes
• Experience in delivering training and conducting capacity strengthening for field operations and supporting senior managers in implementing new concepts
• Previous deployment in a corporate wide (formerly L2 or L3) emergency response
• Ability to work on short timelines, under pressure, and managing multiple priorities simultaneously with minimum supervision
• Initiative, enthusiasm, creativity, and flexibility with excellent interpersonal skills and team spirit
• Flexibility to travel frequently and on short notice, when necessary

Desirable:

• Knowledge and/or experience in intersectionality, particularly gender in emergencies programming, data protection, conflict sensitivity, peacebuilding, humanitarian access and broader inclusion (social, economic, other identities) consideration in humanitarian and development programming are desirable
• Understanding of food security programming with previous experience within WFP or any of its cooperating partners is highly desirable
• Knowledge of subsidiary and other cross-cutting issues including disability, access, gender, conflict sensitive programming, PSEA, and the humanitarian, development and peace nexus is highly desirable
• Experience working in Myanmar and/or in contexts with Myanmar refugees is highly desirable.

Languages

Required fluency (level C) in written and spoken English.

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All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service