Senior Social Protection Specialist
Job #: req7041 Organization: World Bank Sector: Social Protection Grade: GG Term Duration: 4 years 0 months Recruitment Type: International Recruitment Location: Addis Ababa,Ethiopia Required Language(s): English Preferred Language(s): Closing Date: 5/13/2020 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Description

Established in 1944, the WBG is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for development solutions. In fiscal year 2018, the WBG committed $67 billion in loans, grants, equity investments and guarantees to its members and private businesses, of which $24 billion was concessional finance to its poorest members. It is governed by 188-member countries and delivers services out of 120 offices with nearly 15,000 staff located globally. The WBG consists of five specialized institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The World Bank is organized into six client-facing Regional Vice-Presidencies, several corporate functions and thirteen Global Practices to bring best-in-class knowledge and solutions to regional and country clients.

Human Development Practice Group

The WBG is the largest provider of development finance and solutions for human development working with high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries to develop country-tailored solutions for human development (HD) under the themes of education, health, and social protection and jobs. The HD team works with the World Bank’s Gender Group in its operations, knowledge, and strategy to reduce gender gaps in endowments, remove barriers to productive employment and ownership of assets, and enable women’s empowerment and agency.

The WBG Social Protection and Jobs (SPJ) Global Practice seeks to strengthen social protection systems to reach the goal of universal social protection by 2030 and to promote better earnings opportunities for the poorest households. These challenges are intimately related. The WDR 2019 on The Changing Nature of Work focuses on the challenges linked to the shifting patterns of technology, including the need to reform and strengthen social protection systems to facilitate universal coverage.

” It Has Five Major Outputs

In 2005, the Government of Ethiopia together with the support of Development Partners, designed and commenced implementation of a Food Security Programme, which included a Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) as well as complementary programming to strengthen local livelihoods. The goal of PSNP-4 (fourth and current phase of the program) is “Resilience to shocks and livelihoods enhanced and food security and nutrition improved for rural households vulnerable to food insecurity.

Prioritized instruments and tools in place to support an effective system for Social Protection and Disaster Risk Management :

• Targeting (programme entry and exit)
• Management information systems (MIS)/single registry
• Disaster risk management system
• Planning, coordination and governance
• Social accountability
• Capacity development

Appropriate, timely and accessible transfers received by male and female clients

• Provision of transfers (food and cash) for public works clients (six months of support), temporary direct support (six months), and permanent direct support (12 months)
• Operationalisation of risk management tools which allow safety net transfers to be scaled up in response to shocks

Sustainable community assets built up and access to social services enhanced

• Planning and construction of public works that contribute to livelihoods, nutrition and other social services, climate resilience and DRM
• Expansion of public works to include participation in Behavioural Change Communication (BCC), literacy and financial literacy
• Soft conditionalities which link temporary direct support clients to existing health and nutrition services

Clients’ livelihood opportunities facilitated through three pathways: crop and livestock, off-farm income generation, and employment

• Basic training and technical support (e.g. financial literacy and savings)
• Tailored technical support to three livelihood pathways
• Referral of households to credit service providers
• Provision of livelihoods transfer

Effective management and operational processes in place to manage the programme

• Human resource management
• Accountable programme management systems with strengthened monitoring and evaluation function
• Accountable budgeting and financial management
• Accountable food management systems
• Accountable procurement systems.
• Accountable asset management systems

Donor Arrangements

Since the commencement of the PSNP in 2005, approximately eleven donors have harmonised around the programme, and have aligned their investments behind the Government owned programme. Donors have recommitted to continue these efforts, in line with global commitments around Aid and Development Effectiveness. The Donors meet every 2 weeks (as a Donor Working Group - DWG) to discuss on-going issues in the PSNP and to ensure harmonisation of positions. The agenda for this meeting frequently covers strategic, policy and operational details. The Donor Working Group is led by a Donor Chair, which rotates every six months.
The donor working group and donor chair are supported by a Donor Coordination Team (DCT). At the outset of the PSNP programme in 2006, donors created the DCT to ensure that PSNP support would be as coordinated and harmonised as possible. The DCT has evolved significantly since its inception and is now seen as a high-performing unit important to the continued success of the donor harmonization that underpins the PSNP.

The DCT’s Function Is Fourfold

• The DCT provides the core analytical work informing donor-Government dialogue. This includes monitoring the implementation of the programme’s main principles, key commitments, as well as collaborating with relevant sector technical experts/groups to ensure a tight link between financing and results. This would include coordinating the external assessment which is being contracted out by the DCT.
• The DCT provides advice, training, and hands-on technical assistance to the Government on a range of operational matters, including financial reporting, auditing, procurement, and monitoring and evaluation.
• The DCT takes primary responsibility for collaborating with the Government in planning all of the regular joint Donor – Government activities in the programme, including 6-monthly joint supervision missions.
• The DCT plays a key role in coordinating among the members of the DWG and works to harmonise donors’ policy and practice positions viz-a-vis their interface with the Government of Ethiopia.

The functions, roles, and responsibilities of the DCT have, and will continue to evolve commensurate with the design and requirements of the fifth phase of the programme. The Government of Ethiopia (GOE) and Development Partners (DPs) are working together to finalize the design for a fifth phase of PSNP.

Objectives of the Senior Social Protection (SP) Specialist/Donor Coordinator

• The objectives of the post are:
  i. To provide support to the Donor Working Group and enabling continued donor harmonization to the Government;
  ii.To provide implementation support to the GOE as well as oversight and quality control of all outputs contracted by the DCT on behalf of the DWG, as well as all products produced by the DCT.
  iii.To provide technical advice on all aspects of the PSNP to the DWG.
• Scope of Work
  The scope of work that the Senior SP Specialist will be required to undertake includes:
  To coordinate the engagement of the DWG with the Technical Committees and taskforces of the PSNP and provide technical advice to the DWG on all issues affecting the effectiveness of the programmes;
  To support the government to identify bottlenecks and constraints in the effectiveness of the programme, including capacity constraints, and make proposals to the Coordination and Management Technical Committee and the Joint Strategic Oversight Committee concerning ways to address these constraints;
  Monitor the progress made in the Joint Review & Implementation Supervision action plans;
  Follow up on and provide timely and detailed implementation status reports and other relevant deliverables to the DWG such that donors can strategically engage in dialogue with government on the PSNP;
  Liaise with relevant government stakeholders on the process to enhance management capacity; and
  Provide support to government in implementing the PSNP program management guidelines;
  Work with the DCT and DWG to facilitate unified responses to programme challenges and opportunities;
  In all meetings it is expected that the Donor Coordinator would represent the best interests of the PSNP program and present the agreed view of the DWG not just one particular donor view.
• Responsibilities and reporting
  The post-holder will be responsible for the following tasks (this list is not exhaustive):
  • To contribute to ongoing coordination and harmonisation among the members of the PSNP Donor Group;
  • To facilitate the working relationships between the Donor Working Group and the Government,;
  • To facilitate clarification of donor positions and priorities on specific issues within the implementation process;
  • To establish and maintain contact with relevant government institutions - especially the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the Food Security Coordination Directorate (FSCD), Natural Resources Management Directorate (NRMD), The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MOLSA), Ministry of Health (MOH) - to ensure regular information sharing and coordination;
  • To arrange and facilitate meetings between relevant stakeholders (Government, NGOs, Donors, etc) on key technical issues;
  • To review, discuss and comment on quarterly reports and year-end reports;
  • To prepare Terms of References for the continuing research elements of the PSNP;
  • To manage consultants/consultancy firms to complete various pieces of work as contracted through the PSNP Multi-Donor Trust Fund;
  • To produce regular documentation of the PSNP implementation process - identifying outstanding issues and lessons learnt to inform the PSNP DWG;
  • To participate in regular meetings (such as the Donor Working Group meetings, the Joint Strategic Oversight Committee, etc) and to report to these meetings on PSNP-related activities to Donor Chair and DWG;
  • Draft memos, minutes, letters and reports as and when required;
  • Any other responsibilities/duties decided by the the Donor Chair of the DWG. In general such responsibilities would relate to the planning and management of projects and activities of PSNP.

  The Senior Social Protection Specialist will be based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He or she will be part of the Donor Coordination team. H/she will report to the Social Protection and Labor Global Practice Manager for East Africa, based in HQ, and will work on a day-to-day with the Donor Coordination Team.

  Selection Criteria

  Experience
  

  • Education: Minimum of an MSC degree in Development, Economics, Social Sciences, or any relevant discipline;
  • Experience: At least 10 years of relevant work experience
  • Experience with large scale, multi-sectoral programming and multiple partners preferred.
  • Demonstrated international experience, including within low capacity environments

  Technical Ability

  • Understands relevant cross-sectoral areas and how they are interrelated; ability to undertake issues and assist in building systems and institutional linkages to promote effective delivery
  • Ability to leads in the sharing of best practices, trends, knowledge and lessons learned
  • Strong expertise in pastoral livelihoods, food security or social protection related areas.
  • Understanding on key themes such as governance, social accountability.

  Client Orientation

  • Ability to maintain client relationships in the face of conflicting demands or directions and provides evidence-based advice and solutions based on sound diagnosis and knowledge.
  • Ability to advise, influence and promote consensus among different stakeholders.
  • Experience working in a multi-donor environment. Experience in managing diverse and sometimes competing interests and perspectives to arrive at consensus

  Team Leadership, Collaboration, and Inclusion

  • Shows leadership in ensuring the team stays organised and focused, and actively seeks and considers diverse ideas and approaches.
  • Proven ability to identify and develop new and creative partnerships with a wide variety of agencies and organisations.
  • Proven ability to work in teams and as a team member, showing sensitivity in diverse cultural settings.
  • Proven track record of multi-tasking, managing competing demands and effectively time-manage tasks.
  • Willingness to travel

  Communication

  • Evidence of strong interpersonal skills, judgement.
  • Evidence of sharing and conveying complex technical issues, in accessible format: written, spoken.
  • Native or near-native proficiency in written English

  Poverty has no borders, neither does excellence. We succeed because of our differences and we continuously search for qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds from around the globe.