DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
27 February 2026-23:59-GMT+01:00 Central European Time (Rome)
WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.
ABOUT WFP
The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.
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WHY JOIN WFP?
- WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
- WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.
- WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.
- A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.
- We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).
Community Infrastructure, Livelihoods and Regenerative Practices Team
Climate and Resilience Service
Programme, Policy and Guidance Division
WFP HQ Rome, Italy
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. We are currently seeking to fill a volunteer position to support the Skills for Livelihood Opportunities (SLO) programme in the Climate and Resilience Service, within the Programme Policy and Guidance Division, based in Rome, Italy.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PROGRAMME:
WFP has increasingly been adapting its programming to rapid urbanization, protracted and growing displacement, and a notable increase in the youth population in developing countries. Food insecure and vulnerable people in these contexts often do not have access to productive assets, such as arable land and natural resources, and need to focus their food security strategies away from agriculture.
WFP’s Skills for Livelihood Opportunities (SLO) programme -aka Food Assistance for Training (FFT)- enhances human capital for self-reliance and ultimately for resilience strengthening and food security. The programme aims to improve individuals’ access to labor market-driven livelihood opportunities. Working with Governments and partners, SLO enhances people’s skills and enables them to secure better jobs or set up their own business.
The programme targets specifically people who are unable to access a productive land, often displaced communities, women, youth, and people living in urban and peri-urban settings.
SLO addresses immediate food needs through conditional cash, voucher or food transfers, while at the same time provides vulnerable people with technical vocational trainings (TVTs), and context-relevant income generation opportunities. To concretely access income opportunities, people are also supported through active labor market measures such as market linkages creation, training on the job, financial inclusion activities, entrepreneurship promotion, etc… In parallel, the initiative works at system level, improving the capacities of livelihood-tasked national authorities and local private sector.
In 2024, WFP delivered $22 million in cash assistance and 1,900 metric tons of food, strengthening the food security of 800,000 SLO beneficiaries across 32 countries. The programme also upskilled over 340,000 individuals through technical skills development and on average, 52% are able to generate new income after WFP assistance.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
✓Communications: Support team members and the communication staff, providing relevant material and wording for specific communication material. This will be designed in collaboration with the Country Offices, and will have the form of good practices, lessons learnt and success stories from the field.
✓Knowledge creation and management: Support team members in developing content on SLO by researching, collecting, elaborating, and developing relevant technical information.
✓Support team members expanding and maintaining the digital version of the SLO manual, internal and external websites and related tools.
✓Liaising with WFP offices and partners: support team members in setting up regular and occasional meetings with WFP’s RBx, COs and other partners and writing notes for the records for such meetings.
UNIVERSITY QUALIFICATIONS
•Currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate programme preferably in Economics, Public Management, Business Management, International Relations, or similar.
KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS:
•Previous experience with research/study development, communications, and knowledge management.
•Proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point, Publisher, Outlook).
•Good communication skills (written and oral).
•Good analytical skills.
WORKING LANGUAGES
Excellent written and spoken English is required (proficiency/level C).
Proficiency in Arabic, French and Spanish are desirable but not required.
SUPERVISION (Level/Methods of Supervision) Under the direct supervision of the Skill for Livelihoods Opportunities Programme Policy Officer in the Community Infrastructure, Livelihoods and Regenerative Practices Unit, the incumbent will be provided with close mentoring, guidance, and technical supervision. Performance planning and reviews as well as learning and development discussions will be an elemental part of the supervision.
S/he will work closely with the other team members of the specific Team, as well as interact with other members within the Climate and Resilience service. Frequent interactions with other units within the Programme Division in Global Headquarters, Regional Offices (ROs) and Country Offices (COs) are expected.
TRAINING COMPONENTS
Throughout their assignment WFP Sponsored Interns have access to an industry leading learning platform, weLearn. Depending on opportunities and availability of funds, he/she may participate in WFP workshops or seminars, as appropriate.
LEARNING ELEMENTS
At the end of the assignment, the Sponsored Intern should:
•Have a good understanding of WFP’s livelihood skills development programmes, its rationale and outcomes.
•Be fully acquainted with the principles of human capital development for self-reliance strengthening, and main active labor market measures and being able to communicate them clearly.
•Have a general understanding of what resilience building means within WFP and what are the key priorities for the humanitarian and development sector to address recurrent crises.
•Have a broad understanding of the work of an action-oriented UN organization such as WFP, its key corporate processes and main longer term development
•Have experienced working as part of a multi-cultural team including field-based colleagues.
•Be acquainted to the challenges and opportunities of interacting and working with multiple country offices and regional offices.
WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK
WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission.
Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION
WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact: global.inclusion@wfp.org
NO FEE DISCLAIMER
The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.
REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION
- All applications must be submitted exclusively through our online recruitment system. We do not accept CVs or spontaneous applications by email.
- If you experience challenges while submitting your online application, please contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org for technical support only.
- Please note that applications sent to this email address cannot be considered.
- We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete, and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, language skills and UN Grade (if applicable).
- Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.
- Kindly note the only documents you will need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter
- Additional documents such as passport, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc. may potentially be requested at a future time
- Only shortlisted candidates will be notified
All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
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.