Yemen: Head of Department, Food Security and Livelihoods

Oct 8, 2017 | Action Contre la Faim
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Action Against Hunger is a global humanitarian organization which originated in France and is committed to ending world hunger. The organization helps malnourished children whilst providing communities with access to safe water and sustainable solutions to hunger.

Action Against Hunger was founded in 1979 by a group of French intellectuals in response to the emergency in Afghanistan. While the fight against hunger had previously been an element of more general humanitarian action (the fight against poverty, promoting better health, etc.) they founded an organisation that was exclusively dedicated to ending hunger. Action against Hunger is now recognised as one of the leading organisations in the fight against hunger worldwide.

General description of the position

Under the supervision of the Deputy Country Director, you will have to guarantee the quality, relevance and scaling of FSL strategy and interventions at the mission, in conformity with ACF and international standards and national policies.

Main responsabilities

To contribute to defining the country strategy as well as the strategy and positioning of the FSL technical department
To coordinate the identification of needs and the formulation of project proposals
To oversee the implementation of programs/projects and ensure that reports are submitted
To guarantee the quality and cost-effectiveness of projects
To ensure the active participation of ACF in national sectorial coordination and technical forums and develop sectorial partnerships
To manage the FSL teams
To Promote capitalization, technical development and research within the FSL Department

Do you fit the requested profile ?

You hold a Master’s degree in Agronomy, agriculture, international development or other fields relevant to urban or rural livelihoods, with at least three years of field experience with NGOs in food security activities.
You have a proven experience in proposal writing and in emergency response management.
You are known for your ability to work independently, take initiative and live insometimes solitary environment with significant restrictions on personal movement.
You have demonstrated experience managing complex operations in challenging contexts and excellent communication andinter-personal skills.
Your English (both written and oral) is professional. Arabic is a plus.

Specific conditions / Salary

Gross monthly salary ranging from €1805 to €2305 depending on relevant experience

Food and hygiene expenses, per diem, transportation costs, collective or individual accommodation, medical insurance

25 days of annual paid leaves and 20 days of rest and recuperation (R&R) per year

The climate in Sana’a is a cold semi-arid climate. Due to its high elevation (2.250 m) temperatures are much more moderate than many other cities on the Arabian Peninsula. Average temperatures remain relatively constant throughout the year in Sana’a (16,5 °C) with its coldest month being January and its warmest month in July. In Sana’a, the expatriates live in a shared guest house (located next to the office), with electricity and internet. The amount of perdiem & living allowances is enough to live well in Sana’a, and the security restrictions don’t give much opportunity to spend it there. Indeed, despite the current calm atmosphere in Sana’a, the security situation remains very volatile and the expatriates are not allowed to go to restaurants/coffee. Once a week the expatriates are allowed to go to the supermarket, and they are allowed to go in the others NGO’s guesthouses. The curfew in Sana’a is established at 6:30PM for the entire city, and at 9:30PM for the diplomatic area (where are located the INGOs). To balance with those movements/leisure restrictions, expatriates have a pool table and a ping-pong table at their disposition in the basement of the guesthouse. In bonus: if you’re a food lover, Sana’a and its 5 stars-Cook Chef, Ahmad, are waiting for you.

Work context

Context:

Since the conflict between Al Houthi and the Saudi-led coalition that started in March 2015, Yemen has become one of the three emergency in the world and is thus facing one of the worst humanitarian crisis, with 80 % of the population who is now in need of humanitarian aid. The context is highly challenging in regards to access to the communities despite significant needs in the country. Airstrike, embargo, high prices, etc have caused a profound deterioration of the nutitritional situation and hundreds of thousands lives are at risk.

Presentation of the mission:

Since 2012, ACF has been present in Yemen and has been scaling up its emergency intervention substantially throughout 2016. The mission is now amongst one of the largest International NGOs in the country and is recognized as one of the key emergency actors in the country. ACF in Yemen is responding to the current crisis using a multisector emergency approach (Nutrition & Health, Food Security, WASH and Mental Health programming), and to a multiple large-scale and interconnected emergencies: conflict, food security and cholera epidemic. Along with UNICEF, ACF designed and is piloting the country’s first Rapid Response Mechanism, and is representative of the INGO community on the HCT, ICCM, Access Working Group, the HPF Advisory Board, and on the Steering Committee that manages evacuation for the humanitarian community.

Our Food Security & Livelihoods activities in Yemen:

Working in Yemen since 2012, ACF had to adapt its FSL interventions since the crisis, going from livelihoods activities to life saving activities.

Currently the FSL teams are implementing 2 types of activities in Hodeida, Lahj and Abyan (Hajjah being inaccessible because of security reasons):

Unconditional Cash Transfer: ACF is targeting the most vulnerable households of those governorates in order to help them to secure their access to food, to increase their purchasing power and to inahance the local economy through market functionality. After 1stdistribution round, ACF does a post distribution monitoring to monitor the use of this cash (food, health, education).
Livestock distribution: In the rural lands (with grazing and agricultural areas), ACF distributes livestock (mother goat/sheep) to the most vulnerable households. For every livestock distributed, ACF distributed concentrated feeds, medicines, mineral block, and cortex. In addition to ACF delivers training on animal husbandry management to provide beneficiaries with the means and resources to maintain their herds nutritious, healthy and reduce animal morbidity/mortality.

In 2016, 12,316 individuals benefited from unconditional cash distribution and 3,019 individuals benefited from livestock distribution.

Security, working and living conditions:

ACF is operationally working in 2 bases: Hodeida (to target the northern governorates) and Aden (to target the southern ones), with its coordination team located in Sana’a. In total, the Yemen mission counts 215 national staff and 17 international staff.

Sanaa has a very nice temperate climate. Due to its high elevation, the temperatures are much more moderate than many other cities on the Arabian Peninsula. Despite the current calm atmosphere in Sana’a, the security situation remains very volatile and the expatriates are not allowed to go to restaurants/coffee. In Sana’a, the expatriates live in a shared guest house (located next to the office), with electricity and internet. To balance with those movements/leisure restrictions, expatriates have a pool table and a ping-pong table at their disposition in the basement of the guesthouse. In bonus, if you’re a food lover, you will find our amazing Chef Ahmad and his delicous plates.

To know more about Yemen:

The ACF’s blog where you can find further information: