WFP recruits an Atlas and Web Mapping Developer – Johannesburg / South Africa

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 lifetimes.  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.

Context/Background :

Food insecurity and livelihood vulnerability remain prominent features of the poverty that is afflicting a large portion of the population in the SADC region. SADC vulnerability assessment and analysis data shows that over the last 5 years, an average of 9 percent, or roughly 25 million people annually do not have enough to eat or lack access to a regular and nutritious food supply. Food insecurity and vulnerability in the region results from a wide range of conditions including weather induced crop production failure (drought or flooding), crop and livestock diseases; reduced employment and negative changes in crop and other commodity prices; economic downturn in Member States hampering people’s access to cash income; the continuing devastation inflicted by the HIV/AIDS pandemic; the emerging impacts of climate change: increased frequency of drought and floods; civil unrest and reduction in access to conflicts in some areas between humans, and humans and wildlife populations. Approximately, one in four children under the age of 5 is stunted The overall adult HIV prevalence between the 15-49 age group is estimated at 12.6 percent, disproportionately affecting women in terms of higher HIV prevalence and the burden of care both for the sick and the orphans. SADC and its Member States remain committed to tackling these problems and recognize the need to develop the necessary strategies based on accurate data and analysis of short-term and chronic conditions

SADC and Regional Vulnerability Assessment & Analysis Work (RVAA) :

SADC, its Member States and its International Co-operating Partners (ICPs) have been working for some years to address food insecurity in its broader context of poverty and livelihood vulnerability since 1999. SADC established the Regional Vulnerability Assessment Committee (RVAC) in early 2000s and tasked it with ‘keeping abreast and encouraging coordinated development in the field of vulnerability assessment in the southern African region’. The RVAC and National VACs are multi-sectoral institutions, in many cases standing committees, with a broad set of representatives from several Government ministries, central statistics offices (CSOs), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and international cooperating partners (WFP, FAO, Oxfam, FEWS NET and others). NVACs are often housed in Disaster Risk Reduction Departments or Department of Agriculture. The RVAA Programme has the mandate to strengthen capacity of Member States to undertake and utilize vulnerability assessments and analysis for the purposes of food security planning in both emergency and non-emergency situations as well as to inform policy formulation.

Progress made by the RVAA Programme 2005-2016 :

The RVAA Programme has made significant progress and evolved over the years. During the first phase of the Programme (2005 – 2011), the focus was on a shift from food aid as a ‘one size fits all’ response to hunger and vulnerability. The Programme sought to inform broader approaches to tackling food insecurity including safety nets and social protection. During this period, great progress was made in terms of establishing more VACs in Member States where they did not exist, and VAA tools at regional and national levels. However, less progress was made in the VAA analysis influencing policies and programmes and in institutionalizing the VAA system.

To consolidate the gains of the first phase of the RVAA Programme and address its shortfalls, a second phase was implemented from 2012 to 2016. During this phase, progress was made on expanding the scope of VAA to urban areas and chronic poverty issues (including gender, HIV/AIDS and climate change), and on influencing policies and programmes. The programme was also effective in creating institutions and providing information for decision makers to address acute food insecurity at the national level. A total of 14 Vulnerability Assessment Committees were established and could develop policies options for humanitarian responses. Guidelines for integrating urban vulnerability; nutrition, gender and HIV; and markets in VAA were developed and piloted in a few countries. Member State governments and their development partners have also responded adequately to the needs of the most affected households and managed to avert disasters due to timely vulnerability assessments. However, institutionalization of vulnerability assessments in SADC and national government structures was not achieved for all Member States. There is more work needed to improve the ability of VACs to influence wider poverty reduction and other sectoral policies.

To sustain both the quality of acute vulnerability assessment and broadening the remit of NVACs to look at the causes of chronic vulnerability and address the challenges of institutionalization and capacity development of NVACs, the RVAA Programme in now in its third phase (2017-2021). This phase will focus on assessing and responding to chronic vulnerability and contributing to climate resilient livelihoods and institutionalization of the VAA process. The three key focus areas under this strategic plan as detailed by SADC, include: (i) Institutionalization and capacity development; (ii) strengthening approaches and tools; and (iii) advocacy and leadership development

Several data sets are available at most of the Member States’ NVACs. The access to these data and the efforts to translate the analysis into knowledge has been a challenge for a while now. The consultant will envisage a process developing an Atlas that will share and show case the available data.  The main functionality of the atlas will include (not exhaustive list)

• Mapping of the 5 thematic areas  ;
• The system should allow for data analysis ;
  • correlation between various key parameters, e.g.: malnutrition vs food insecurity, crop production vs food insecurity ;
  • Trend analysis: are the indicators improving or worsening (c.f. to average, or c.f. to specific year) ;
  • Frequency of occurrence of hazards/shocks: number of shocks .

The spatial data from other systems will be linked and made functional on the Online Atlas.

Specifically the Consultant will :

1. Inception report to outline deliverables and timelines for the project ;
2. Develop the Functional Requirements Document (FRD) ;
3. Develop and maintain a repository of spatial data ;
4. Develop a user-friendly tool for uploading the datasets into the system ;
5. Develop the online Atlas using datasets for the 5 thematic Areas ;
6. Extra production of offline runtime atlas on flask disk ;
7. Upload all the available datasets ;
8. Provide and coordinate testing of the atlas within Member States ;
9. Support and guide NVACS with technology that supports online Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping and related approaches.

 Expected Results :

• A concise consultant report that will detail the process of developing the online Atlas, including the limitation of the atlas ;
• An online repository for the spatial data ;
• The maintenance of the system after the deployment for 6 months ;
• Develop a user Manual and training of MS and technical staff .

Reports :

A concise consultant report that will detail the process of developing the online Atlas, including the limitation of the atlas.

The consultant will have at least a Degree in Computer Science, or Information Technology or Geographic Information Science or any IT related field with strong demonstrated web mapping and analytical skills.

Professional Experience :

• At least 7-years relevant professional experience ;
• Experience in managing and coordinating short-term consultancy assignments ;

• Practical and in-depth knowledge of Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis and Food Security Information Systems in an African context ;
• Understanding and experience of QGIS SERVER ;
• Experience is setting up similar systems and provision of examples done previously ;
• Experience in java or python or other scripting language compatible to QGIS ;
• An understanding of the southern African region ; and
• Knowledge of SADC Secretariat and RVAA project.

Skills and Personal Qualities :

• Highly developed analytical skills ;
• Ability to deal with complex issues in a clear and easy manner ; and

• Excellent written communication skills in English; ability to write clear and concise reports, proposals and to present in public ;
• Experience in assessing relevant institutional contexts and determine knowledge management responsibilities in institutions ;
• Knowledge of vulnerability assessment and analysis, and food and nutrition security is an added advantage.

Purpose :

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives : Coaches team in the most effective ways to communicate WFP’s Strategic Objectives to WFP team and partners in the field.
•  Be a force for positive change: Implements new methods or tools to improve team’s work processes and productivity.
•  Make the mission inspiring to our team : Maps team’s activities and tasks to specific successes in beneficiary communities to showcase positive impact.
•  Make our mission visible in everyday actions : Explains to teammates how each unit contributes to the overall WFP mission.

People :

• Look for ways to strengthen people’s skills : Identifies skill development opportunities such as training modules or on-the-job experiences for self, colleagues and direct reports.
•  Create an inclusive culture: Facilitates team building activities to build rapport in own unit.
•  Be a coach & provide constructive feedback : Facilitates the pairing of junior colleagues with coaches within own team.
•  Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit : Proactively anticipates potential challenges and develops mitigation plans to ensure that team meets goals and targets.

Performance :

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions : Identifies opportunities to be creative in own work and to help team be more innovative and accurate in their respective tasks and areas of work.
•  Focus on getting results: Monitors team’s deliverables and provides feedback to ensure outcomes are delivered consistently and accurately.
•  Make commitments and make good on commitments : Provides accurate guidance to team on expected responsibilities and tasks, whilst also upholding own commitment to the team.
•  Be Decisive : Sets an example and provides guidance to junior team members on when to escalate issues when faced with challenging issues in the workplace or in the field.

Partnership :

• Connect and share across WFP units : Facilitates partnerships with other WFP units to accomplish missions in the field.
•  Build strong external partnerships : Sets an example and provides guidance to team on how to build relationships with external partners.
•  Be politically agile & adaptable : Articulates to colleagues or direct reports the value of contributing to other WFP teams and agency partnerships in fulfilling WFP’s goals and objectives.
•  Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships : Organizes, monitors, and prioritizes own and team’s efforts to ensure that they will fulfill the needs of internal and external partners.