UN World Food Programme Program Policy Officer - Climate Insurance and Financial Inclusion Jobs in Kenya

UN World Food Programme Program Policy Officer - Climate Insurance and Financial Inclusion Jobs in Kenya

About WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. 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 WFP Regional Bureau for Eastern Africa (RBN) is based in Nairobi and provides strategic direction, technical guidance, resource mobilization, and management support to WFP operations and activities in ten countries: Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda.

Background and Purpose of the Assignment

Vulnerability to climate-related shocks is a constant threat to food security and well-being, to millions of smallholder farmers and pastoralists living in the Eastern Africa Region.

As the frequency and intensity of climate shocks increases, the challenges faced by smallholder farmers and pastoralists continue to rise. Providing them with strategies to reduce and mitigate such risks is essential for overcoming hunger, improving resilience and achieving food security.

Working within a Food Systems framework, and along national policies and programmes, WFP delivers integrated climate risk management approaches aimed at predicting, protecting, responding and restoring livelihoods of smallholder farmers and pastoralists in the Eastern Africa region.

This approach includes rigorous analysis on the impact of climatic shocks on farming and livestock production, planning and implementation of effective resilience building interventions, such as insurance, savings, financial literacy, access to credit and markets among others.

WFP’s Regional Bureau in Nairobi (RBN) provides guidance and support to WFP Country Offices in the region, the Private sector (mainly insurance companies) and governments on a range of activities related to mainstreaming climate insurance and integration of financial tools and livelihood support for management of climate shocks.

Some of the programmes WFP is implementing in the region include; Micro insurance for smallholder farmers (R4-Rural Resilience Initiative), Satellite Based Index Insurance for Pastoralists in Ethiopia (SIIPE) and ARC Replica.

WFP envisages the integration of insurance and other financial instruments as key tools to protect smallholder farmers and pastoralists against climate shocks, enhance their resilience and subsequent graduation from subsidies.

Further to this, WFP is cognizant of the need to integrate insurance with other interventions, including early warning and Anticipatory Action, Social Protection as well as Market linkages.

Under this position the RBN Food Systems unit seeks to recruit a Program Policy Officer – Climate Insurance and Financial Inclusion to support country offices in operations, technical expertise, partnerships, capacity strengthening, communication and evidence generation in the areas of micro, meso and macro insurance as well as financial inclusion.

Specific support is expected in streamlining insurance distribution channels for crop and livestock insurance, supporting grassroots entry points e.g. VSLAs, SACCOs, Associations, Cooperatives e.t.c, liaising with public and private sector partners, supporting in country program operations among others.

The Program Policy Officer will be supervised by the Regional Insurance Advisor.

Key Accountabilities (not all-inclusive)

Operational Support

Support COs in the roll-out/scale-up crop and livestock insurance programmes. This shall include contributing towards technical proposals and programming activities, supporting feasibility studies or inception assessments, supporting pilot projects among others.

Support improvement/diversification of livelihoods as part of integrated approach.

Support the implementation of saving (risk retention) and credit

strategies, through strengthening of Village Saving & Loans methodology (or similar).

Provide administrative support to country offices including preparation of Terms of Reference (TORs) for service providers, review legal documents (in liaison with legal unit) in particular for insurance companies, ensure Country Offices are following guidance & recommendations in terms of procurements and reporting as well as budget monitoring.

Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagements

Support Country Offices (COs) and their implementing partners (Insurance companies, NGOs & government partners) in index design, and operationalizing commercially sustainable distribution channels for the delivery of index insurance products and financial inclusion services.

Support internal and external integration of climate risk management with other interventions including; Anticipatory Action, Social protection e.t.c

Assist in coordination of partnerships that add both programmatic and strategic value to the climate risk and agenda, and help achieve program objectives.

Technical Support

Provide support to WFP Country Offices (COs) and public/private stakeholders in analysis, review, validation, customization, and improvement of index insurance products.

Liaise between technical service providers, WFP partners and WFP country offices to deliver required technical assistance.

Knowledge Management

Produce knowledge management material.

Contribute to the annual report on climate risk insurance.

Contribute to regional and Headquarters (HQ) annual insurance reporting.

Capacity Strengthening

Support internal (WFP) capacity strengthening as well as external (public and private sector partners) working with WFP.

Support country offices and partners in coordinating and delivering of capacity development programs as needed.

Promote mainstreaming of climate risk transfer and other financial solutions into RBN country office - Country Strategic Plans (CSPs).

Monitoring & Evaluation and Learning

Keep track and periodically update the climate risk financing indicators (CRF) data base as per WFP HQ guidelines.

Support effective planning, organization of and participation in insurance and financial inclusion Learning forums; including webinars, trainings, workshops, and conferences and provide high quality reports and communication materials.

Support country offices in producing monitoring and evaluation documents, including post distribution monitoring, outcome monitoring.

Standard Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Advanced University degree in Business Administration, Agriculture, Economics International relations, Development studies, Climate Studies, Social sciences, Environmental science, or related field, or First University degree with additional years of work experience.

Experience:

A Minimum of (1) year of relevant postgraduate professional experience.

Five (5) years of work experience on climate and resilience focused programs with close linkage to public private partnerships.

Five (5) years of related advocacy and communications work experience and/or training/courses.

Knowledge & Skills:

Ability to work independently in a timely and organized manner.

Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Ability to work in a team and establish effective working relationships with persons of different national and cultural backgrounds and multi-task as needed.

Language:

Fluency in English (writing and speaking) is required. Intermediate knowledge of French is an added advantage.

How to Apply

For more information and job application details, see; UN World Food Programme Program Policy Officer - Climate Insurance and Financial Inclusion Jobs in Kenya

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