Programme Associate: Resilience and Climate Change
The Office of the United Nations World Food Programme in Palestine is currently seeking a qualified candidate for the following post
Post Title Programme Assistant for resilience project
Duty Station Gaza Office
Contract Type Service Contract
Grade/Level SC6
This vacancy is open for internal and external applicants. Female candidates in particular are encouraged to apply.
Background
Since July 2019, WFP Country Office in Palestine has been implementing a resilience activity called “Enhancing the resilience of vulnerable smallholders through climate smart agricultural livelihood” by providing some of the poorest and severely food insecure households across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with a range of climate resilient agricultural assets in an effort to improve their immediate food security and nutritional needs. The assets range from hydroponic vegetable and green fodder production units, wicking beds, home gardens, floating beds, greenhouses to provision of livestock. Training and coaching are provided to the beneficiaries to boost their technical skills to effectively use these assets to produce, harvest and in turn consume fresh vegetable and produce fodder and sell any surplus to generate income to improve their livelihoods, increasing their resilience and boosting local food and fodder production.
The project is run in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Ministry of Social Development (MoSD) and Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and implemented in partnerships with the Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ) in the West Bank and Oxfam and MAAN in Gaza. WFP and its partners successfully completed the first round of the experiments from July 2019 to March 2020 and started the second round in July 2020.
Through this activity and other on-going consultations, WFP seeks to further strengthen the capacity and resilience of the beneficiaries to produce safe and nutritious food and generate results as evidence to access additional funding e.g. Green Climate Fund and International Climate Initiative (IKI) to scale up the proven climate smart technologies.
Responsibilities:
The Programme Assistant will be responsible for facilitating the implementation of the resilience activity in the Gaza Strip and will function as a liaison between the WFP Jerusalem office and Gaza office. The Programme Assistant will administer the day-to-day operations and follow-up on implementation in close cooperation with the project team in Jerusalem office, with the implementing partner and the relevant government ministries. The incumbent’s responsibilities include:
Implementation and Follow-up on the Resilience Activity
- Provide technical support and assist in the development and implementation of a project referred to as the “resilience project”;
- Assist in preparing and updating of work plans for activities in the Gaza Strip, and follow up on the implementation;
- Liaise with Gaza-based implementing partners and beneficiaries to ensure that all activities in the Gaza Strip are implemented and coordinated on timely and efficient manners.
Expansion of the Activity with the Private Sector and with Climate Finance Proposals
- Engage the cooperating partners and private sector in exploring opportunities and identifying potential marketing channels for beneficiaries’ surplus;
- Conduct extensive local research, develop new concept ideas and continuously share findings with the resilience project team;
- Search for and contribute to applications for climate finance.
Coordination with the Government and the Partners
- Coordinate with technical staff at relevant ministries (Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Social Development in particular) and other institutions to ensure that field activities are consistent with and complementary to other on-going agricultural projects;
- Support alignment with wider programme policies and guidelines;
- Coordinate with relevant government institutions (especially with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment Quality Authority), academia and research centers for implementation support, potential cooperation, expansion and technical support;
- Explore the work of existing actors in the field of water-efficient practices and define potential collaboration.
- Do you have experience in climate resilient /innovative agriculture (hydroponics, aquaponics, regenerative agriculture) and livelihoods and climate change adaptation?
If yes to the above question, list your relative work experience by mentioning the organization name, your title, number of years (mandatory)
how many relevant years of experience you have in the resilience and climate change (relative business stream as identified in the job profile)?
Explain your experience in conducting extensive local research
Do you have experience in preparing Cost-Benefit-Analyses (CBA)? If yes explain when and for whom you did it?
Monitoring, Data Gathering and Reporting
- Monitor the project to make sure all activities and outputs are delivered on time and within the budget according to the Monitoring and Evaluation plan as detailed in the project document;
- Contribute to data collection and information gathering;
- Prepare and follow-up on Cost-Benefit-Analyses (CBA);
- Draft progress reports and other documents in a timely manner;
- Contribute to feasibility assessments, studies, reviews etc. as required;
- Prepare a range of reports on regular basis and data analysis (e.g. programme status and performance and cost benefit analysis) to enable decision making process in terms of project expansion and development;
- Act as a focal point of reference for any query about resilience project in Gaza Strip;
- Record down lessons learned and seeks to convert these into knowledge and communication products and services;
- Perform other related duties as required.
Minimum qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in the area of agroeconomics, agriculture, economics, business, innovation, environment or climate change studies, engineering, or related studies. A Master’s degree in one of these fields is an asset;
- Expertise and experience in climate resilient /innovative agriculture (hydroponics, aquaponics, regenerative agriculture) and livelihoods and climate change adaptation;
- Expertise and experience in Cost-Benefit-Analyses (CBA);
- At least three years of experience in implementing and coordinating development and humanitarian projects, community and beneficiary mobilization, and liaising with project stakeholders;
- Demonstrated experience in establishing and maintaining partnerships with government institutions, UN Agencies, NGOs and stakeholders;
- Experience with carrying out field work in vulnerable communities with people from different backgrounds, economic situations and in food insecure communities; gender and age sensitivity;
- Experience in working for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Institutions and / or with international agencies is an asset;
- Strong time management skills with an ability to plan ahead, anticipate requirements, problems and obstacles, and an ability to juggle competing priorities successfully, and to work to tight deadlines;
- Ability to gather and process data and conduct cost-benefit analysis would be an asset;
- Very good communication skills in both Arabic and English (written and oral);
- Ability and capability to conduct field visits and travel through the Gaza Strip.
Time Frame and Contract
The duration of the assignment is for one year extendable depending on the funding situation. The expected start date for the position is early February 2021.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates can apply online through Apply Now