Programme Policy Officer

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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.

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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).

JOB TITLE: Programme Policy Officer - Knowledge management and
Insurance advisor
TYPE OF CONTRACT: Regular Consultant level I
UNIT/DIVISION: PPGR
DUTY STATION (City, Country): Rome, Italy
DURATION: 11 months

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:
Climate change multiplies existing threats to food security, hunger and malnutrition. It will make
climate-related disasters more frequent and intense, land and water scarce and difficult to access and
increases in agricultural productivity even harder to achieve. It will disproportionally impact the most
vulnerable people, the majority of whom live in fragile areas prone to climate hazards, ultimately putting
hundreds of millions of people at risk. It is estimated that by 2050, the risk of hunger could increase by 20
percent, and child malnutrition is anticipated to be 20 percent higher than it would have been without a
climate change scenario.
In response to this, WFP has been promoting Oimate Risk Insurance (CRI) and Disaster Risk Financing
(DRF) as part of a broader package of risk financing instruments. Work has developed around two major
areas: inclusive insurance as part of an integrated climate risk management approach embodied by the
global R4 Rural Resilience Initiative concept (R4); and macro insurance, mostly in support to the Africa
Risk Capacity (ARC) through the ARC-Replica initiative, now also engaging with the other risk pools
and directly with market players.
The IRF team aims to develop long-term resilience to the growing challenges of food insecurity and
climate change as well by integrating with WFP core programs and national social protection systems.
WFP implements financinal inclusion activities in more than 25 countries in Africa, LAC and Asia Pacific
and has initiated expansion to new countries. In 2024, R4 contributed to insuring close to 600,000
households beneficiaries) and managed a significant scale up over the past years, as well as an
expansion to new regions and introducing new types of products. In addition, WFP is providing technical
assistance to governments and local insurers in developing, improving and scaling up their insurance
programmes.
Moreover, WFP is implementing macroinsurance, and in particular the ARC Replica programme in 11
countries in Africa and other macro insurance schemes in LAC, Asia, MENA and Pacific regions. More
than 2.8 M people are protected in 2025 under this mechanism. In the area of sovereign insurance, WFP
supports governments in index customization, choice of risk transfer parameters, the design of more
rapid and effective mechanisms to deliver public action, but also integration with shock responsive social
protection mechanisms. In addition, WFP contributes to designing and implementing more robust
climate & disaster risk financing (CDRFI) systems. This requires action in terms of capacity building of
National stakeholders and WFP country offices staffs.
Climate and Resilience Service (PPGR) is a service in WFP HQ Oocated under WFP's Programme - and
Policy Division) that provides guidance and support to a range of activities from household-level micro
and meso insurance programmes to carrying out climate analyses to better understand the impact of
climate risks on food security and nutrition, helping governments implement adaptation projects on the
ground, as well as developing innovative climate risk management tools - programmatic and financing
mechanisms.

ACCOUNT ABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

1.    The consultant will increase his / her programmatic support to country offices. More specifically, this will include providing and coordinating programmatic, operational and strategic assistance, while mobilising technical expertise to country teams implementing insurance in climate risk management approaches for current project design and implementation, scale-up, and transition strategies. i) Liaise with relevant regional programme hubs focal points to ensure coordinated, timely and quality implementation support of climate risk management to selected countries. ii) In collaboration with relevant regional programme hubs, support COs in project design and activities, coordinate MEL support, and provide strategic and operational advice to help COs articulate their overall strategy and design comprehensive transition/exit strategies and other essential pieces to ensure scale and sustainability of integrated programs. iii) In collaboration with relevant regional programme hubs, facilitate cross-fertilization by supporting the coordination and organisation of exchange missions/meetings or learning events, or by supporting the development of case studies. iv) In collaboration with relevant regional programme hubs, ensure that COs have the proper skills and resources according to their needs and the work plan, and if necessary, provide support to make these skills and resources available to the COs. v) In close relation with the officer in charge of reporting, ensure the correct information from COs and regional programme hubs is collected and communicated to the donor. vi) Ensure a good communication between the COs, relevant regional programme hubs, and the global team for upholding and delivering upon commitments and provide assurance to donors and partners.
2.    The consultant will be the M&E focal point for the team, working in close collaboration with the M&E specialist at service level, to provide guidance and support to COs and regional progamme hubs. In particular, the consultant will ensure that all evidence on the insurance programmes is well collected, and used to strengthen the insurance narrative for humanitarian purposes. The consultant will develop an M&E plan and will support with the possible impact evaluations, research/ assessments, and review processes. The consultant will engage closely with the WFP's Impact Evaluation team. The objective is to produce a strong narrative for the DRF team under the 2 main strategic outcomes where DRF is implemented.
3.    The consultant will act as the Knowledge Management (KM) focal point. Activities will include conducting KM assessments, developing a KM strategy, framework and action plan. The consultant will coordinate the development of a community of practice and the development of an online KM platform (sharepoint) for micro, meso and macroinsurance programmes, functioning as an online repository of Risk Transfer Resources, enabling cross-learning between Country Offices (CO), dissemination of evidence, lessons learned and best practices. The consultant will also be responsible for maitaining the Teams KM platform functioning and for developing guidance material, lessons learnt, and other knowledge management material to guide Country Offices with the design and implementation of risk transfer solutions. In addition, the consultant will support with the planning and execution of a series of webinars on climate risk insurance.
4.    With support from global and regional insurance and risk financing experts, the consultatnt will develop training packages & capacity building material on insurance. Specifically, for inclusive insurance, this could include guidance/training material on distribution channels, pricing, market research, enrollment and registration, and financial education, as well as the finalization of the inclusive insurance starter kit. Development of e-learning material and educational videos on Risk Financing could be envisaged in coordination with the Unit's We Learn focal point.
5.    Contributing to climate risk insurance communication products, which include stories from the field, factsheets and social media material. Updating the IRF and Macro insurance webpage and any other information on the programme on WFP's external and internal website; helping with the production of concept notes, briefs and talking points on IRF, Macro insurance and more broadly DRF when required.
6.    Coordinate the preparation of climate risk financing annual reports. Activities will include the collection of information, data and pictures from COs, the creation of thematic pieces and the consolidation (including editing and proofreading). This will include liaising with the Communication focal point in the teamfor the layout and publication, and subsequently coordinate the dissemination of the reports through the WFP website and other avenues.
7.    Engage with Insurance Platforms and participate in Working Groups as relevant.

8.    Assisting the unit with relevant COs' CSPs support for inclusion of climate adaptation, resilience, social protection and climate risk management
9.    Contributing to development of funding proposals, including for the GCF or AF.
10.    The consultant will act as the focal point for Procurement-related activities and will lead the tender process for the establishment of new Long Term Agreements.

DEllVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

-    Climate Risk Insurance knowledge management online platform (sharepoint) and Community of Practice (CoP) are active and updated;
-    Corporate KM and guidance platforms on Disaster Risk Financing developed and updates (WFPgo, PGM);
-    Knowledge Management assesment, strategy, and action plan;
-    Risk Transfer SOPs, guidance material, starter kits, best practices and lessons learnt;
-    Training package and capacity building material;
-    Climate Risk Insurance annual reports;
-    M&E plan, impact evaluations ()Es) and IE donor pitches, outcome monitoring and/or research/assessments, reviews are produced. Specifically, a summary of the results for IRF and macro insurance are published every year;
-    Act as procurement focal point for the team, with guidance and support provided to COs and regional hubs.
-    Blog posts, case studies and other knowledge management products;
-    Content for IRF and Macro insurance communication material including factsheet, concept notes talking points and briefs, as well as material for WFP's social media and online platforms;
-    Support in funding proposals and CSPs engagement for at least one country.

QUAUFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education : BA Degree in International Development/Relations, Political Science, and MA Degree in Public Policy/International Relations; 

Experience :

- The consultant should have knowledge of WFP's core values and vision, and of innovative climate risk management initiatives. He/she should be familiar with the work around WFP communication products and relations with media. The consultant should have experience in development of programme guidelines as well as knowledge of climate adaptation and resilience processes; 

- Experience working with social media and developing web content required; Working knowledge of climate change adapatation and disaster risk reduction, as well as micro insurance required.

Knowledge and Skills :
- Working knowledge of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, as well as micro insurance required; Interest in or knowledge of innovations in climate risk management for zero hunger; Experience in programmatic support in climate risk financing.

- Ability to work independently and pro-actively as well as within a team; 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; Excellent communication, analytical and writing skills;

Languages : Written and spoken fluency in English required; intermediate knowledge for any other official UN language (Arabic, Russian, Chinese and Spanish) is desirable. Ability to speak and write in Portuguese will be a plus.

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REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

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REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

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• 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.

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