La Banque Mondiale recherche un spécialiste de la protection sociale/économiste, Kinshasa, RDC
| Job #: | req17905 |
| Organization: | World Bank |
| Sector: | Social Protection |
| Grade: | GF |
| Term Duration: | 4 years 0 months |
| Recruitment Type: | Local Recruitment |
| Location: | Kinshasa,Congo Democratic Republic |
| Required Language(s): | French, English |
| Preferred Language(s): | |
| Closing Date: | 6/17/2022 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC |
Description :
Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. Visit www.worldbank.org.
Eastern and Southern Africa (AFE) :
Home to about half a billion of Africa’s people, Eastern and Southern Africa is a geographically, culturally and economically diverse region of 26 countries stretching from the Red Sea in the North to the Cape of Good Hope in the South. Children under 18 make up almost half of the total population. The subregion boasts of some of the world’s richest human and natural resources and, apart from South Africa, the countries are predominantly raw material exporters.
The subregion harbors some of Africa’s protracted conflicts, rendering many of its countries fragile, while significant gaps in education, health, and skills development continues to keep people from reaching their full potential. This creates a huge development challenge, impacts heavily on the lives and livelihoods of people, and hinders regional integration and trade. But it also creates an opportunity to work closely with country leaders, civil society, development partners, and young people to chart a brighter course for the future.
The World Bank’s Eastern and Southern Africa Region, comprised of approximately 1,207 staff, mostly based in 26 country offices, has been helping countries realize their considerable development potential by focusing on the following priorities :
- Creating Jobs and Transforming Economies: We are working with countries across Africa to stimulate job creation and economic transformation by leveraging all sources of finance, expertise, and solutions to promote investment ;
- Building up the Digital Economy: We are supporting Africa’s vision to ensure that every African individual, business, and government is connected by 2030 – a vision that, if realized, can boost growth by up to 2 percentage points per year, and reduce poverty by 1 percentage point per year in Sub-Saharan Africa alone ;
- Institutions more Efficient and Accountable: Our support is helping governments strengthen public policy processes, manage resources effectively, and reinforce fair and reliable delivery of public services ;
- Investing in People: We are at the forefront of helping African countries accelerate human capital gains and empower women by improving their access to education and skills acquisition, sexual and reproductive health services, and employment opportunities. With the influx COVID-19, we are mobilizing financial support and timely analysis and advice to countries across the subregion deal with the pandemic ;
- Supporting Climate Change Mitigation and Adaption: In the face of increasing climate-related risks, we are working with African countries to advance efforts to adopt renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, and green infrastructure. Several East African countries are currently facing a debilitating Desert Locust infestation, threatening the already precarious food security situation. The Bank has put together a program to help affected countries deal with the scourge ;
- Addressing the Drivers of Fragility, Conflict, and Violence: Given the cross-border nature of conflicts in Africa, we are employing an approach that simultaneously focuses on the drivers of fragility while also supporting well-targeted regional initiatives to create opportunities for peace and shared prosperity ;
- Building Partnerships and Working across the African Continent: We are scaling up our work on regional integration, taking a holistic view of the continent that covers both North and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The World Bank is a dedicated partner for Eastern and Southern African countries, helping them deliver strong development outcomes for their people. A brighter future for Africa is a better future for the world.
Social Protection & Jobs Global Practice :
As part of comprehensive approach to supporting human capital investment, the Social Protection & Jobs Global Practice delivers operational approaches and evidence-based solutions to help individuals and families manage risk, cope with chronic/transitional poverty, and access better livelihoods and jobs. These include:
- Strategy, analysis, financing and design of programs delivering social safety nets/social assistance in the form of cash transfers, public works programs, and fee waivers ;
- Advisory and analytical services on design and delivery of contributory transfers (including old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, disability and survivor benefits), and their fiscal sustainability (including budget support for transitions) ;
- Analysis, design and delivery of labor market and youth employment programs (with a focus on supply side interventions and intermediation policies), as well as policy advice on labor market regulations and interventions ;
- Strategy, analysis, financing and design of integrated social protection delivery systems (e.g., payments, identification, registries, systems assessments) as underpinnings of effective social programs that can help cope with climatic shocks or underpin fiscal reforms.
Context :
DRC, the largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) at 234 million hectares with a population estimated at 89.6 million people, is a deeply fragile country. DRC has the third largest population of poor globally and poverty remains pervasive. While the poverty rate declined from 94.3 to 77.2 percent between 2005 and 2012 (international poverty rate at US$1.90), the latest World Bank projections put poverty at 73.3 percent (2020), an increase of 0.7 percentage points compared to 2019.
With high population growth and subdued economic growth, the number of poor is increasing. There are significant spatial disparities in poverty and the areas with the highest poverty rates do not have the highest number of poor
Weak social protection systems and services do not reach the vulnerable and have not targeted the poor. Social protection structures in place following the war did not target poor/ vulnerable populations, but rather were used as a tool to support civil service reform and State Own Enterprises’ restructuring (financing retirement and retrenchment efforts) and compensate ex-combatants. Protection coverage is estimated at 10 percent (2020), against a SSA average of 30 percent. While 73 percent of the working age population is living on less than US$1.90/day, a mere 1.9 percent of the poor is covered by a Social Safety Net Program.
Furthermore, over the last two decades and more, the DRC has been characterized by chronic conflict and internal strife in several provinces, involving also mass displacement of populations. Our SP program is active in several of these FCV provinces (Kasai. Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, etc.). As a result, this position would require frequent travel for field missions in challenging operational environments.
Ongoing Social Protection & Jobs Global Practice Support and Engagement Strategy in DRC
Investment projects: Current IPF portfolio comprises :
- STEP: Implementation stage: amount: US$445 million (incl. $220mi from RSW and $100mi from CRW). Brief Description: Drawing on lessons learned from the parent project (US$129.1 million, which closed in December 2020), STEP includes: (i) a revised geographic targeting strategy to concentrate activities in priority areas; and (ii) support to social protection policies and systems – in close partnership with the Ministry of Social Affairs (MINAS), the National Commission for Refugees (CNR), UNHCR and MONUSCO. In FY21 the WB processed an additional financing of US$250 million (incl. $135million from WHR), bringing the total commitment to over USD 850 million. The purpose of this AF is to further scale up social safety nets in areas hosting refugees. Specifically, this integrated HD operation puts an emphasis on Human Capital (HC) outcomes to be strengthened through civil work programs focused on renovating and scaling up education and health infrastructure ;
- CERC COVID: STEP-KIN: amount: US$50 million (from STEP 2 budget, ongoing). Brief Description: To respond to the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, this large-scale digital cash transfer targets 300,000 beneficiaries in Kinshasa (est. impact: 1,2 million poor). In the absence of a social registry, it builds on an innovative partnership with telecom operators to identify, register, and pay beneficiaries. Recently, the activation of a new CERC (US$50 million) initiated to finance the scale up of STEP-KIN and reach an additional 300,000 beneficiaries ;
- Technical assistance and analytical work: Analytical work has been undertaken to: (i) reform the Fonds Social de la République (FSRDC), from a single-project agency to one that oversees a multi-donor portfolio of interventions; (ii) develop core operational instruments for the Government to manage, monitor, and promote social safety nets programs; (iii) structure a development response to the refugee crisis; (iv) promote human rights and conflict sensitivity in social protection operations; (v) design productive economic activities for income diversification; and (vi) support the use of technologies for remote M&E systems ;
- Institutional reforms and policy dialogue: SPJ continues to closely collaborate with UNHCR, UNICEF, and MONUSCO and actively engage with the humanitarian community, including the Cash Working Group, to promote converging approaches to shock-response, early recovery, and resilience. Special attention is being placed on reinforcing coordination and harmonization with partners around SP systems (registry, targeting, and payment).
Duties and Accountabilities :
The successful candidate will be a key member of the DRC SPJ team and support the World Bank’s engagement in the design and implementation of the SPJ program in the DRC. The selected candidate will be based in Kinshasa, DRC.
Major responsibilities include :
- Participate in SPJ missions and support Task Team Leaders /Co-Task Team Leaders in the implementation and preparation of operations. Including activities supported by trust funds ;
- Participate in country level-studies and other analytical activities addressing social protection and jobs issues ;
- Participate in stakeholders’ meetings, including with Social Protection development partners and other partner activities in DRC ;
- Support the Bank’s internal operation and processing, including preparation of mission-related documents and reporting on implementation progress ;
- Contribute to the drafting of trust fund proposals ;
- Follow-up closely and provide hands-on, daily technical support as needed to the Government counterparts, especially FSRDC, in the implementation of the STEP program, including oversight of risk management issues in collaborations with relevant World Bank experts (e.g. financial management, procurement, safeguards) ;
- Carry out responsibilities for a variety of operational tasks, e.g. technical analyses, design of technical assistance interventions, monitoring and evaluation, etc. ;
- Organize regular field missions to project sites to support implementation and carry due diligence supervision ;
- Support the Government counterparts and FSRDC with policy advice around SP issues.
This position requires frequent travel for field missions in challenging operational environments.
Selection Criteria :
- Graduate degree and minimum of Masters’ level qualification in economics, human development (social protection, education, health), social policy or related sector ;
- Minimum of five years of relevant experience in analytical and/or operational work, social protection and jobs, community-driven development, and/or safety nets ;
- Experience working with clients to build capacity and engage in dialogue on social protection and service delivery. Previous experience working with social funds is a plus ;
- Experience in World Bank operations as demonstrated through being team member for lending operations ;
- Prior operational experience in FCV settings is a requirement ;
- Fluency in English and French (speak and write) ;
- Prior experience working in DRC, in particular in Eastern DRC, is a plus.
Competencies :
- SPJ Sectoral Knowledge and Experience – Analytical and operational expertise in SPJ. Priority will be given to candidates with demonstrated experience in Social Safety Nets and adaptive social protection ;
- World Bank procedures, work-flow and internal division of labor – understands and follows World Bank Policies and Procedures, including those for Knowledge Management products and Trust Fund management ;
- Client Orientation – Record of developing strong internal and external client relationships. Capacity to interact effectively with a range of stakeholders within and outside the Bank. Good interpersonal communication and diplomacy skills ;
- Drive for Results – Takes ownership and accountability to meet deadlines and achieve agreed-upon results and has the personal organization to do so ;
- Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion – Collaborates with other team members and contributes productively to the team’s work and output, demonstrating respect for different points of view. Proven ability to work in teams and intercultural environment, with minimal supervision ;
- Knowledge, Learning and Communication – Actively seeks knowledge needed to complete assignments and shares knowledge with others, communicating and presenting information in a clear and organized manner. Excellent oral and written communication skills in English required ;
- Data Collection, Processing and Analysis – Demonstrates ability to contribute to the analysis, possess knowledge of the sector strategy, programs and portfolio issues. Capable of: i) gathering and compiling data from various non-digitized and digitized sources, ii) organizing and analyzing them using computerized spreadsheets (e.g. MS-Excel), and iii) preparing succinct narratives based on the analysis ;
- Ability to convey analysis in easily communicable and compelling fashion, and on often short turnaround times. Demonstrated ability to capture knowledge and communicate main messages in knowledge briefs and policy notes, as well as power point presentations for high-level audiences ;
- Ability to multi-task, manage competing demands and effectively time-manage tasks.
World Bank Group Core Competencies
The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.
Learn more about working at the World Bank and IFC, including our values and inspiring stories.