United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) 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. In emergencies, WFP gets food to where it is needed, saving the lives of victims of war, civil conflict and natural disasters. After an emergency, WFP uses food to help communities rebuild their lives. On average, WFP reaches more than 80 million people with food assistance in 80 countries each year. The organization has the global footprint, deep field presence and local knowledge and relationships necessary to provide access to food and contribute to lasting solutions, especially in many of the world’s most remote and fragile areas.

Brief Description Of WFP In Uganda

WFP delivers food assistance in emergencies and work with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. WFP provides life-saving food assistance and livelihood opportunities to refugees in Uganda. In addition, WFP assists the most vulnerable people in Karamoja with food and nutrition assistance. Finally, WFP works with smallholder farmers and links them to markets.

As Uganda strives to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030 and become a middle-income country by 2040, WFP is also assessing its relevance and repositioning its role in Uganda.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The UN World Food Programme (WFP), 2020 Noble Peace Prize winner, is the United Nations frontline agency in the fight against hunger. It is the largest and longest serving humanitarian agency in Uganda.

Karamoja sub-region where WFP has presence since 1964 is the poorest region in Uganda with over 80% population living under the poverty line. The region is prone to frequent and severe natural disasters, especially droughts, pests and diseases (humans, crops, and livestock) in part because of climate change.

WFP interventions in Karamoja involve working closely with the nine District Local Governments (DLGs) in joint design and programming, evidence gathering, knowledge sharing, strengthening sub-national capacities as well as well establishing partnerships with other development partners to achieve food and nutrition security in the sub-region.

WFP programmes in Karamoja apply a food systems lens and focus on the following areas: Nutrition activities to treat and prevent malnutrition and reduce stunting through nutrition specific and nutrition-sensitive programmes. Building resilience to shocks and climate change in anticipation of increased food insecurity and limited livelihood opportunities. Ensuring school children receive nutritious meals to meet their basic food and nutrition needs and including increasing enrolment, attendance, retention and completion. Working with the DLGs and other development partners to reduce crop losses, improve household food security and increase a marketable surplus. Deploying targeted relief assistance to crises-affected populations or households as informed by food security and nutrition assessments. Strengthening government’s shock-responsive systems to improve food security and nutrition in Karamoja

WFP programmes in Karamoja use food to build assets, spread knowledge and nurture stronger, more dynamic communities that are food secure. From 2022 going forward, WFP in Karamoja would like to be intentional and bold in adopting innovative approaches in programme design and delivery. And therefore, r e c ognising that Uganda’s innovation ecosystem has been developing at a rapid pace over the past few years, and there is great potential for WFP in Karamoja to innovate its internal business processes and programmes in order to ensure the best outcomes possible for the people that we serve by leveraging the burgeoning innovative and enteprenual spirit amongst the youth in Uganda.

On average, WFP brings food assistance to more than 1 million people in Karamoja sub region.

JOB PURPOSE

The Innovation Intern will support the Head of Area Office to facilitate and foster innovation in the context of WFP activities in Karamoja, help innovation projects to scale, develop and establish local innovation ecosystems in Karamoja sub-region to help achieve sustainable food and nutrition security in Karamoja.

The Innovation Intern will support the development and growth of impactful and sustainable innovations by leveraging WFP brand, public and private partners, deep field access, and expertise to develop, nurture and scale sustainable innovations to increase food and nutrition security in Karamoja sub-region. The Intern will participate and support the identification of problem statements or (market) opportunities, sourcing of innovations, management of innovation programme implementation and events with the support of the country office, and support the scale-up of innovations through partnerships management and close coordination with relevant WFP and external stakeholders.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not All-inclusive)

Drive New Opportunities

• Support development and execution of high-impact Area Office innovation strategy and roadmap aligned to the Country Strategic Plan, programme priorities and business goals.
• Support the management of the portfolio of disruptive initiatives focused on programme and internal business process innovation.
• Work closely with the programme and functional area business teams to create new programming approaches and internal business models to deliver innovative and impactful food assistance programmes.
• Support promotion of the Area Office innovation agenda; influence and obtain support from programme and functional area teams for successful execution of the agenda.

Build And Grow Innovation Capabilities

• Develop and maintain strong ties with all the teams in WFP Karamoja; educate and train teams on new solutions and innovations; drive innovation, presentations and innovation sessions.
• Act as the Innovation champion for the WFP in Karamoja. Encourage colleagues in WFP Karamoja to innovate and support the shift towards a thriving innovation culture that nurtures and promotes ideas from across the organisation.
• Organise education and support for new innovators amongst staff in WFP Karamoja including cooperating partners, the people that we serve etc.
• Track and report on innovation metrics, programme and business impact on a regular basis.

Champion Innovation

• Support the establishment of WFP as a recognised innovation leader in Karamoja sub-region to further enhance our brand, attract and retain talent.
• Support the identification of external assets and partners that may accelerate innovation and through partnerships.

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Understands WFP’s Strategic Objectives and the link to own work objectives.
• Be a force for positive change: Flexibly adapts individual contributions to accommodate changes in direction from supervisors and internal/external changes (such as evolving needs of beneficiaries, new requirements of partners).
• Make the mission inspiring to our team: Recognizes and shares with team members the ways in which individual contributions relate to WFP’s mission.
• Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Sets own goals in alignment with WFP’s overall operations, and is able to communicate this link to others.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people’s skills: Assesses own strengths and weaknesses to increase self-awareness, and includes these in conversations on own developmental needs.
• Create an inclusive culture: Participates in open dialogue, and values the diverse opinion of others, regardless of background, culture, experience, or country assignment.
• Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Proactively seeks feedback and coaching to build confidence, and develop and improve individual skills.
• Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Participates in accomplishing team activities and goals in the face of challenging circumstances.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Shows willingness to explore and experiment with new ideas and approaches in own work.
• Focus on getting results: Consistently delivers results within individual scope of work on time, on budget and without errors.
• Make commitments and make good on commitments: Commits to upholding individual accountabilities and responsibilities in the face of ever-changing country or functional priorities.
• Be Decisive: Makes rational decisions about individual activities when faced with uncertain circumstances, including in times of ambiguity regarding information or manager direction.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Seeks to understand and adapt to internal or cross-unit teams’ priorities and preferred working styles.
• Build strong external partnerships: Demonstrates ability to understand and appropriately respond to and/or escalate needs of external partners.
• Be politically agile & adaptable: Portrays an informed and professional demeanor toward internal and external partners and stakeholders.
• Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Provides operational support on analyses and assessments that quantifies and demonstrates WFP’s unique value as a partner.

Functional Capabilities

Governance and Strategy: Share knowledge of governance process with teams and analyse current designs for improvements and enhancements and specify any required changes.

Change Implementation, Project Management, Planning and Optimization: Utilise working knowledge of project and change management approaches to collect and analyse relevant data from multiple stakeholders to develop evidence-based business case for change.

Requirement Definition & Management: Exhibit thorough understanding of business areas and processes to define, prioritize and customize solutions to requirements.

Strategic Account Management: Facilitate open communication and discussion with the colleagues and the different teams to assess and promote understanding of need for future changes in programme design and delivery, services, products and systems, resulting in overall client satisfaction.

Business Analysis: Demonstrate in-depth understanding of operational requirements, business issues and opportunities to conduct stakeholder and benefit analysis of options to identify effective and optimal solutions that meet business needs.

Education

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Recent graduate with second-class honours bachelors degree qualification from a recognised university ( certified by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – UNESCO) in Uganda in one of the following fields: business, innovation, design, technology, international development or another relevant technical field. Post graduate level training or certficiation in monitoring and evaluation, project planning and management will be an added advantage. Graduation must be within the last 3 years (i.e. 2019 to 2021) at the time of applying for the internship.

Experience

Demonstrated minimum experience in the following areas will be an added advantage: R eal life application of design thinking and ability to help others to develop a strong understanding of design thinking too, so they can play their part in helping drive organisational change and innovation. Ability to demonstrate resilience in the face of resistance. Have a high level of emotional intelligence demonstrated through communication and engagement with empathy. Ability to put forward truly creative ideas however crazy they might sound. Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and Karimojong languages and inter-cultural communication. High ethical standards and understanding of sensitivities pertaining to food assistance issues. Ability to work c ollaboratively with others, build and maintain partnerships, innovate and embraces change, think and act strategically, drive to achieve impactful results, manages ambiguity and complexity.

LANGUAGE

Fluency in written and oral English and Karimojong languages.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply.

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.