Anticipatory Action Advisor REG INT CST-II

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

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.

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme is the worlds 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 WFPs values (Integrity Collaboration Commitment Humanity and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

To learn more about WFP visit our website: follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube LinkedIn Instagram Facebook Twitter TikTok.

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).

JOB TITLE: Anticipatory Action Advisor
TYPE OF CONTRACT: REG CST-II
UNIT/DIVISION: APARO Programme Unit Climate Change and Resilience.
DUTY STATION (City Country): Bangkok Thailand

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:
The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetime. 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. The Climate and Disaster Risk Reduction Programmes (PRO-C) unit in WFP Headquarters and outposted teams at the Regional Office for Asia and Pacific in Bangkok provide guidance and support to WFP Country Offices (COs) and governments on activities related to climate risk management climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
One of WFPs flagship programmes for climate risk management is Anticipatory Action (AA) an innovative approach that enables the implementation of actions to prevent and mitigate to the extent possible the impact of extreme weather events on the food security and nutrition of the most vulnerable populations. Piloted in 2015 together with the German Red Cross WFPs AA portfolio now includes over 21 countries in the regions of Asia Africa and the Caribbean where together with national and local government partners WFP is implementing projects to link early warning systems with AA embedded in national disaster risk management for critical natural hazards such as droughts floods and the Asia Pacific WFPs AA approach has largely focused on droughts floods and cyclones which can benefit agriculture livelihoods and food security in the short medium and long term. Gradually the Bureau seeks to embed AA throughout the disaster risk management cycle from preparedness to response and strengthening solutions to scale up like the linkages with the national shock-responsive social protection programmes.
WFP is seeking an expert with specialized skills in climate-risk information and experience in early warning systems AA and disaster preparedness to coordinate and technically support WFP RBBs expanding AA portfolio currently encompassing eight countries across the Asia Pacific region. Based in WFPs Regional Bureau in Bangkok the expert will provide technical support to WFP COs implementing AA and those in the design stage of AA frameworks.
In each of the project target countries (Bangladesh Nepal Philippines Indonesia Kyrgyzstan Laos Cambodia Pakistan Sri Lanka Tajikistan) the Regional AA Advisor shall provide support on the following activities: co-development together with government and other partners appropriate actions to mitigate disaster losses and damages ahead of a drought cyclone and/or flood impact; development and implementation of a rigorous monitoring and evaluation framework for programme learning and the generation of evidence with respect to the impact of AA for droughts cyclones and floods; regional oversight and coordination of implementation of AAs in the case of a hazard trigger activation; generation of synergies with complimentary WFP programmes and the in-country AA projects implemented by WFPs key partners such as the Red Cross FAO UN OCHA and AA Advisor shall also support with the design review and submission of project proposals for COs and APARO with an interest and capacity to engage in AA to be able to access climate finance sources such as through the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Adaptation Fund (AF). The Advisor will also coordinate the expansion of APAROs current AA portfolio providing strategic and technical support to COs.
Next to wider strategic advocacy and technical guidance provided to APARO and implementing COs the AA Advisor will ensure the mainstreaming of resilience gender nutrition disability and inclusion into the design of the AA process; and ensure congruence with social protection systems.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Working under the supervision of the Regional Climate and DRR Advisor and with technical guidance from the HQ the consultant will carry out the following main tasks:

1. Provide technical guidance and support to COs in the design preparation and implementation of AA work also including WFP technical assistance to governments in the region.

2. Coordinate AA activities in the region with COs HQ and Regional teams. Collaborate with APARO Emergency Preparedness/Response Social Protection and Research Analysis and Mapping teams in several areas:

• identify appropriate anticipatory actions that can be implemented before a specific climate shock;
• identify regional and national climate hazards- including but not limited to seasonal drought/dry spell/crop/cyclone/flood forecasting tools that can be used to trigger anticipatory actions;
• oversee the development and simulation of Anticipatory Action Plans (AAPs) with forecast thresholds and triggers for hazard-specific anticipatory actions;
• support COs in setting up and implementing a monitoring and evaluation framework to measure process improvements results and impact of anticipatory actions and body of evidence on AA;
• assess CO capacity gaps to implement AA and help identify solutions to address gaps through appropriate capacity building and temporary surge support;
• support assessment testing and uptake of AA mechanisms in relevant government processes and systems for disaster management social protection and meteorological and climate services.

3. Ensure effective project and grant management and coordination at the regional level by supporting target COs with the development and implementation of annual country-specific workplans and budgets for the submission to HQ.

4. Support project oversight and implementation of anticipatory action projects funded by the Green Climate and Adaptation Fund in Laos and Cambodia and others as needed.

5. Provide strategic guidance to COs in their formulation of Country Strategic Plans and the potential integration of AA activities with an integrated climate risk management approach.

with the M&E team to ensure the effective inclusion of AA results in AA project log frames and corporate reporting processes including through the provision of inputs to the design of FbF-related indicators in WFPs Corporate Results Framework (CRF) support to the AA COs to include AA CRF indicators in CSP log frames and report on them according to the corporate guidance available review and validate the figures reported by COs and providing support as needed during the ACR and APR reporting processes.

7. Coordinate with government focal points as well as relevant national and international organizations and stakeholders to support integration of AA into national systems.

effective coordination and collaboration with WFP partners working on AA such as through the development of national technical working groups for AA where WFP is a leading actor and the co- development of regional conferences (e.g. Asia Pacific Dialogue Platforms) on anticipatory action together with the German Red Cross FAO OCHA IFRC CREWS CERF and WFP COs/HQ as needed.

9. Document and disseminate best practices and lessons learned from the AA projects in the region by generating guidance and advocacy material and organizing regional knowledge-exchange opportunities including other COs and partners engaged in AA or complimentary projects.

10. Support proposal development for the further scale-up of AA in existing and new countries supported by APARO working closely with APARO Partnerships and HQ teams.

11. Other complimentary tasks as required.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:
Education
University degree in environmental science development studies social science or other science related field.
Experience
Minimum of 6 years post-graduate experience in anticipatory action forecast-based financing early warnings early action.
Experience in managing anticipatory action projects in the Asia Pacific region. Sound understanding of main stakeholders (including donors national entities universities) in the development sector working in the anticipatory action.
Experience in project implementation and coordination of multi-stakeholder platforms.

Knowledge and Skills
Knowledge of anticipatory action; in-depth understanding of climate regimes in the Asia Pacific region.

Working knowledge of utilising forecast products Forecast-based Financing knowledge about Asia Pacific climate regimes.
General knowledge of UN system policies rules regulations and procedures is considered a plus.
Ability to establish effective working relationships with multi-disciplinary teams.
Excellent written and oral communications skills.
Ability to work with minimal supervision and set priorities ability to plan and organize work programmes.
Excellent mentoring and coordination skills with staff and partners.
Excellent cognitive/analytical skills with ability to analyze complex problems and proactively implement workable solutions.
Strong ability to respond quickly to emergencies with a solution or decision.
Strong ability to actively seek information and opinions of client to understand their requests and identify needs and expectations.
Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to work harmoniously with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Languages
Fluent in English including strong writing.

WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK

WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission.

Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework

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:

NO FEE DISCLAIMER

The United Nations does not charge any application processing training interviewing testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee please disregard it. Furthermore please note that emblems logos names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate complete and includes your employment records academic qualifications language skills and UN Grade (if applicable).

• Once your profile is completed please apply and submit your application.

• Please make sure you upload your professional CV in the English language

• Kindly note the only documents you will need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter

• Additional documents such as passport recommendation letters academic certificates etc. may potentially be requested at a future time

• Please contact us at in case you face any challenges with submitting your application

• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified

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.