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Esaro (gender, Protection, & Inclusion Specialist, Noc) at World Food Programme (WFP)
Position Title: Esaro (gender, Protection, & Inclusion Specialist, Noc)
Employer: World Food Programme (WFP)
Employment: Full-Time | Contract
Place of Work: Nairobi - Ethiopia
Posted date: 2 hours ago
Deadline: March, 02/2026 (14 days left)
BACKGROUND OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The World Food Program (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian agency, working towards zero hunger in over 80 countries. WFP envisions a world without hunger where everyone has the same opportunities, the same access to resources, and an equal voice in decisions that affect their lives and livelihoods. WFP is committed to ensuring that assistance is informed by, accountable to, and accessible to all affected persons, including women, girls, men, and boys of diverse and multidimensional priorities. WFP is guided by its Gender Policy (2022), Protection and Accountability Policy (2020), Disability Inclusion Roadmap (2021-2023), Community Engagement Strategy for Accountability to Affected People (2021-2026), Conflict Sensitivity Mainstreaming Strategy (2023); the Executive Director's circular OED2023/011 on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA), and other crosscutting standards guiding inclusion, equity, and rights-based approaches.
WFP has endorsed the ICRC/IASC definition of protection, understood as aiming to prevent, reduce, mitigate, and respond to the risks and consequences of violence, coercion, deprivation, and abuse for persons, groups, and communities. Accountability to Affected People (AAP) is an active commitment to give account to, take account of, and be held to account by people in conditions of vulnerability to food or nutrition insecurity.
WFP is known for delivering food assistance rapidly to people in need and for building resilience to communities vulnerable to shocks. To respond effectively in the challenging contexts where WFP operates, staff need to know the fundamentals of food assistance programming, as well as intersectional skills in corporate crosscutting themes. These include protection, accountability to affected populations, localization, conflict sensitivity, and informed engagement when working with Indigenous Peoples and minority groups and people with disabilities.
The integration of protection, AAP, and humanitarian principles improves the quality, effectiveness, and sustainability of WFP’s work, while protecting and promoting people’s rights. These themes are relevant in all contexts where WFP works, across the humanitarian, development, peace nexus.
The East Africa and Southern Africa region includes 21 country offices, where WFP plays implementing, enabling, and convening roles. Issues related to gender, protection and accountability to affected populations, social and disability inclusion are varied, and WFP needs to respond to and advise on responding to the diverse needs of diverse people, including displaced people, refugees, Indigenous people, people with disability, rural people and smallholder women and men farmers, et al., all with approaches that are sensitive to gender, protection, and inclusion (GPI). The region faces multiple intersecting humanitarian challenges influenced by economic instability, conflict and climate shocks (cyclones, droughts), and humanitarian needs in the region are rising with over 116 million people facing acute food insecurity.
The WFP Global GPI team requires a GPI specialist based in Nairobi to support country offices in ensuring that Gender, Protection and Inclusion are mainstreamed across programmes, operations, communications, and advocacy. At the regional level, the specialist will work under the supervision of the Regional GPI advisor, and in close collaboration with GPI HQ, programme leads, and research and monitoring specialists in support of Country Offices in the region.
RESPONSIBILITIES
The specialist will lead the implementation of policies, strategies, and normative guidance in GPI thematic areas (gender equality, protection and accountability to affected populations, Indigenous Peoples, disability inclusion, gender-based violence) for the region; coordinate with Global HQ to ensure timely and appropriate support is given to Country Offices; engage with programme services and operations teams at regional level to ensure strategic positioning; lead engagement with COs for timely country strategic planning. The specialist will ensure alignment with other key domains such as social risk, conflict sensitivity and PSEA. This will be achieved in coordination with Country Offices, regional services and Global Headquarter counterparts:
- Support the implementation of GPI policies (Gender, Cash, Protection, Localization) and commitments (UNDIS, UNSWAP) for the geographic area, engaging with programme, supply chain and operations, enterprise risk management teams at regional level;
- Advance regional advocacy and engagement to ensure GPI integration in Programme strategies and policies (resilience, school meals, Emergency Preparedness and Response, social protection, nutrition);
- Ensure appropriate GPI anchoring in CSP at strategic level, coordinating with GPI and POCQ teams at Global HQ and regional levels, and leading the engagement with Country Offices for timely planning;
- Engage with CO management in the region to identify needs for technical support and ensure coverage, managing available capacities and resources - in coordination with the global GPI team as needed, including through the management of surge mechanisms.
- Represent WFP in GPI networks at regional level;
Specifically, the specialist will lead and support a combination of tasks among the following, to be agreed in the individual annual work plan:
Advocating to regional management, including risk and compliance teams, and across programmes and operations teams for GPI strategic anchorage, in line with GPI global policies. Provide GPI technical inputs to regional documents, policies, trainings materials, partnerships, and ongoing technical support to Country Offices on GPI priorities. Provide responsive advisory and technical support to Country Offices and liaise with Global HQ on specialized support needs to support GPI mainstreaming needs. Liaise with PSEA and conflict sensitivity experts at HQ level as needed. Deliver capacity building support to regional teams, and Country Offices when requested, to streamline minimum GPI knowledge across services and teams as needed. Coordinate with GPI Global HQ team to ensure a consistent implementation of GPI policies in the region, advising on regional specifics as relevant. Liaise with Country Office management, in coordination with Global HQ and POCQ teams to ensure timely engagement of GPI in strategic planning, particularly for the Framework on Accountability for Results (FAR) rollout. Review CSPs to ensure appropriate level of GPI strategic anchorage and technical expertise feeds the documents. Ensuring corporate processes and standards on GPI are followed and delivered within timelines. Contribute to and lead evidence generation efforts on GPI at regional and in support of Country Offices, as requested. Support regional learning and peer engagement efforts across Country Offices in ESARO on GPI issues and topics. Engage with Country Office management and Global HQ to ensure capacity gaps are addressed through TDY, surge deployments, stand by partners or other HR mechanisms as relevant. Actively engage with GPI coordination forum at regional level, and develop strategic partnerships to enhance WFP’s influence, knowledge and capacities on GPI and related topics. Perform other duties as required.
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
Education:
- Master’s degree in sociology, gender studies, social work, social sciences, development studies, or related fields and/or a first university degree with an additional 7 years of related work experience and/or professional development.
Experience:
- At least 7 years of post-graduate and progressively responsible professional experience in development projects or humanitarian assistance, of which at least 2 years is international field experience.
- Demonstrated experience integrating GPI concerns in nutrition and food security programming across the nexus.
- Demonstrated experience in engaging at strategic level with cross-functional teams to advance policies and advocacy.
- Understanding of the social, cultural, political landscapes of East Africa and/or Southern Africa.
Desirable:
- Experience in emergency settings.
- Experience facilitating workshops, delivering training, and conducting capacity-building for field operations on relevant topics is required.
- Technical guidance with diverse audiences, including country office staff and regional technical units.
Skills and knowledge:
- Strong knowledge of several of the following areas; gender equality and women’s empowerment, protection, inclusion, accountability to affected people, disability inclusion, Indigenous Peoples, conflict sensitivity, and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse.
- Ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams and maintain collaborative relationships with colleagues, partners, and stakeholders at all levels.
- Proven ability to work collaboratively and independently, contributing to team environments and providing contextual, demand driven support across units and functions.
- Ability to interact respectfully and productively with individuals from diverse national, cultural, and professional backgrounds, including those with varying levels of experience and seniority.
- Strong organizational and planning skills, with the ability to set priorities, coordinate tasks, and adapt to evolving assignments and unforeseen challenges.
- Effective communication and negotiation skills.
- Understanding of the United Nations system and the roles of its various agencies in advancing GPI and related themes.
- Strong analytical and writing skills in English, fluency in French or Portuguese are desirable.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook); knowledge of tools such as Canva or SPSS would be an asset.
- Flexibility to travel frequently and on short notice, as required by the assignment.
Languages:
- Fluent (level C) verbal and written English is required.
- Working knowledge of French or Portuguese (level B or above) would be advantageous.
