Environmental and Social Sustainability Officer

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance JOB TITLE: Environmental and Social Sustainability  Consultant TYPE OF CONTRACT: CST II / CST III UNIT/DIVISION: Climate and Disaster Risk Reduction Programmes (PRO-C) / Programme – Humanitarian and Development Division (PRO) DUTY STATION (City, Country): WFP Headquarters, Rome / Italy DURATION: 11 months BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT: The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. We are currently seeking an international consultant to fill the position of an Environmental and Social Sustainability Officer with the PRO-C unit at WFP headquarters in Rome, Italy. WFP strives to be a leader in environmental sustainability within the UN system. In pursuit of this goal, WFP adopted an Environmental Policy in February 2017, which commits the organization to avoiding unintended harm to the environment, its beneficiaries, or any other affected populations as a result of our operations and programmes, and to maximize environmental benefits. The WFP Environmental and Social Sustainability Framework (ESSF) has been developed to fulfil the commitment made in the 2017 Environmental Policy to establish and maintain: a set of core environmental standards; a process for screening and categorizing environmental risk; and an environmental management system (EMS). In line with UN-wide practice, the scope of the standards and tools envisaged by the 2017 Environmental Policy has been expanded to cover also social sustainability. ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES: Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Chief of PRO-C, the consultant will have the following responsibilities:

1. mainstream environmental and social sustainability in corporate processes and activities of WFP country strategic plans (planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring, evaluations, audit, risk management, and oversight);
2. coordinate the integration of responsibilities and processes for environmental and

social sustainability in the programme cycle;

3. provide guidance and technical support to the regional bureaux and country offices on environmental and social risk screening, impact assessments (ESIA), management plans (ESMP), management measures and community feedback mechanisms;
4. develop specific guidance on safeguards in collaboration with other programme areas and integrate these into existing programmatic guidance;
5. ensure the inclusion of environmental and social safeguards in agreements with partners (donors, governments, cooperating partners, contractors) and secure awareness of and compliance with donor requirements and national regulations;
6. coordinate the development of capacity development initiatives and learning resources on environmental and social sustainability and train regional ESSF advisors;
7. coordinate reporting on environment in corporate processes and related to UN-wide indicators/targets (e.g. Sustainability Strategy 2020-2030); Report on the implementation of the 2017 Environmental Policy to the Executive Board; and
8. maintain relations with donors and other UN agencies on environmental and social sustainability of programmes; mobilize resources to increase the environmental and social sustainability of WFP activities.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT

• The ESSF is well embedded into all corporate and country office processes and responsibilities;
• regional bureaux are enabled to autonomously provide guidance and techncial support on ESSF to countries in their region; and
• donor and partner agreements properly reference WFP ESSF in addition to donor requrirements and national regulations; country offices are aware of the implications and have taken adequate action to incorporate safeguards into their planning, budgeting, activity implementation, monitoring and reporting.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: Education:

• Advanced university degree with experience in environmental sciences: Environmental

Studies, Engineering, Environmental Management, Natural Resources Management or other related fields; and

• additional experience and training in one or more of the following disciplines: social

sciences, human rights, agriculture, security" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #007bff !important;">security" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #007bff !important;">food security, gender, and economics. Experience:

• Experience with guidance development and field level implementation of humanitarian and development projects is essential.
• At least six (6) years of postgraduate (post-Masters) experience in public sector management, development cooperation, or the policy or operational aspects of national, bilateral or multilateral food aid.

• Experience in the design and/or application of environmental and social sustainability safeguards and screening, in conducting Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) or Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA)

Knowledge & Skills:

• In-depth understanding of environmental sustainability and how it links with food

security;

• Excellent ability to coordinate across multiple units and organizations;
• General knowledge of UN system policies, rules, regulations and procedures;
• Knowledge of WFP institutional structure and processes;
• Excellent written and spoken English, with the ability to facilitate workshops and write publishable reports.

Languages: -Working knowledge of English (proficiency/level C) and intermediate knowledge (intermediate/level B) of another UN language, preferably French

Deadline: 31 July 2021