DRR Programme Associate

Host entity: WFP Jordan

Volunteer type: International

Areas of expertise: Natural resources management, Emergency preparedness, crisis response, Climate change, environment

Application deadline: 05/10/2026

Mission and objectives

The United Nations World Food Programme is the winner of the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize. WFP 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.

Assignment context

Jordan faces a plethora of challenges in water availability, land productivity, and climate variability, as well as in systematically anticipating and reducing the impact of crisis. Agriculture plays a significant role in Jordan’s national economy and is critical in ensuring food security as well as generating employment. However, the sector faces critical challenges due to a complex interplay of structural, economic, and resource constraints. Jordan is one of the most water scarce countries in the world, forcing agricultural producers to rely on increasingly expensive and poor-quality water sources. The sector grapples with lack of up-to-date technical knowledge, high opportunity cost, land fragmentation, water scarcity, limited supporting services, rangeland degradation and increasing temperatures.

At the same time, while the national strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) provides a general framework for coordination of relevant sectors, in practice there are identified gaps in the operationalization of the strategy. Efforts are needed to ensure readiness and operational response coordination and well as the systematic and intersectoral use of sustainable tools and mechanisms for early warning and anticipatory action.

Under is DRR activities, WFP Jordan works in collaboration with the National Center for Security and Crisis Management (NCSCM). With WFP's support, NCSCM is seeking advancement of a Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (MHEWS) in line with the UN’s Early Warnings for All Initiative. For this purpose, WFP Jordan has made substantial investments with NCSCM related to drought hazards while also expanding plans for other climatic hazards. Recently, WFP Jordan and the United Nation’s Development Programme (UNDP) have joined forces in supporting the government develop MHEWS plans and possible financing arrangements.

Further, WFP Jordan works closely with line ministries and agencies that make up Jordan’s National Drought Committee (NDC). The most active ministries and agencies that make up the NDC include the Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI), Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), National Agricultural Research Institute (NARC), Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD). Additionally, the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Department of Statistics (DOS) and the University of Jordan hold membership in the NDC.

Over the past few years WFP Jordan and headquarters experts have been working to build drought monitoring capacity within the above-mentioned institutions, with NCSCM being the lead agency. WFP’s corporate tool, Platform for Real-time Impact and Situation Monitoring (PRISM) has been configured for drought monitoring in Jordan and institutionalized within several of these institutions. With drought monitoring capacity established, in 2025 WFP began institutional capacity building on seasonal forecasting. Going forward, WFP Jordan seeks to consolidate and expand the monitoring and seasonal forecasting systems strengthening and capacity building done to date. In the near term, WFP Jordan seeks to help build an anticipatory system for drought rather than the current reactive system. The anticipatory action module is intended to be institutionalized within the PRISM platform.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of Climate Resilience National Officer, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
1. Assist the climate resilience team in coordinating and implementing the existing Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) work plan including seasonal forecasting capacity building, PRISM upgrading, data blending, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) development with Government of Jordan (GOJ) entities, joint proposal for early warning system with UNDP, etc.
2. Assist in gathering and analysing climate and hazard data to support the upgrade of an existing risk visualization platform for drought monitoring and the early warning system.
3. Support WFP Jordan in its coordination with national counterparts and develop a mapping with key GOJ stakeholders and their specific roles, responsibilities, procedures in place and gaps required to be filled for a functional Anticipatory Action- drought system.
4. Contribute to preparation of progress reports, donor updates, and briefs on DRR interventions.
5. Support technical workshops and training sessions with GoJ and other relevant stakeholders on seasonal forecasting, anticipatory actions, and relevant DRR thematic needs.
6. Support the country office in monitoring, research, analysis and monitoring related to DRR workplan and interventions.
7. Support the collaboration with colleagues in the Social Protection team to ensure linkages between DRR and anticipatory action and the support to shock responsive social protection.
8. Other related tasks as assigned.


During the first month of the assignment, the UN Volunteer will work closely with his/her direct supervisor to finalize an agreed-upon work plan. The work plan should outline key objectives and activities and include regular check ins with the supervisor to review progress and receive performance feedback.

Skills and experience

Demonstrated interest and/or experience (ideally one year)
• Experience coordinating with multiple stakeholders including national government counterparts
• Experience in supporting the planning and implementation of disaster risk management interventions
• Previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volunteer work, internship) would be highly regarded;

Skills in:
• Writing and presentation skills
• Communication skills that enable establishment of working relationships with col-leagues and counterparts representatives
• Knowledge of international DRR frameworks and landscape

Competencies and values

• Accountability
• Adaptability and Flexibility
• Building Trust
• Client Orientation
• Commitment and Motivation
• Commitment to Continuous Learning
• Communication
• Creativity
• Empowering Others
• Ethics and Values
• Integrity
• Knowledge Sharing
• Leadership
• Managing Performance
• Planning and Organizing
• Professionalism
• Respect for Diversity
• Self-Management
• Technological Awareness
• Vision
• Working in Teams

Living conditions

Location: The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is located in the Middle East. Bound by Syria to the north, Iraq to the northeast, Saudi Arabia to the east and south, Red Sea to the south and the Palestinian National Authority to the west.

Weather: Jordan’s climate can be classified as semi-arid (Bsh) on the Koeppen-Geiger classification. It features a hot, dry climate characterized by long, hot, dry summers and short, cool winters. The climate is influenced by Jordan's location between the subtropical aridity of the Arabian desert areas and the subtropical humidity of the eastern Mediterranean area. January is the coldest month, with temperatures from 5°C to 10°C, and August is the hottest month at 20°C to 35°C. Daily temperatures can be quite hot, especially in the summer; on some days it can be 40°C or more, especially when a hot, dry southerly wind blows. Such winds can sometimes be very strong and can cause sandstorms.
About 70 percent of the average rainfall in the country falls between November and March; June through August are often rainless. Rainfall varies from season to season and from year to year. Precipitation is often concentrated in violent storms, causing erosion and local flooding, especially in the winter months.

Safety and Security: Jordan is a relatively stable country. The potentials for internal or external armed conflict are considered very unlikely in the current political environment. Peaceful demonstrations, and sometimes road blockages, do occur in Jordan, motivated by domestic factors such as unemployment, deprivation of resources and development or for regional issues such as solidarity with the Palestinian cause or with the Syrian crises. Most of these events are driven by civil society unions and Islamic parties. Domestic tribal civil unrest sometimes turns violent, especially outside main cities, due to tribal disputes or socio-economic reasons. In all occasions law enforcement agencies usually manage to contain the situation rapidly.
Road traffic accidents are the primary threat against UN personnel in Jordan. Poor road conditions and bad driving behaviours are the main reasons for the high rate of traffic accidents.
Amman is a category A duty station with security level 1.

Transportation and housing: Taxis as well as ride-hailing services (Uber and Careem) are abundant and affordable in Amman. Medical facilities are generally very good, particularly in Amman where there are several modern, well-equipped public and private hospitals. Public minibuses are the most common form of public transport. They normally only leave when full, so waiting times of an hour or more are inevitable, especially in rural areas. The larger air-con buses offer a speedy and reliable service, departing according to a fixed schedule. Housing is readily available with rents for one- to two-bedroom apartments ranging between 500 and 800 JD (1 JD = 0.708 USD) depending on the location.

Health Services: Medical facilities are generally very good, particularly in Amman where there are several modern, well-equipped public and private hospitals. Almost all doctors (and most pharmacists) speak English; many have studied abroad.
Language: The official language of Jordan is Arabic, but English is widely spoken – especially in the cities. Many Jordanians have travelled or have been educated abroad so French, German, Italian and Spanish are also spoken, but to a lesser extent.
Learn more about Jordan from the Ministry of Tourism’s website:
https://www.mota.gov.jo/Default/En


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Full eligibility requirements, conditions of service and application instructions are available on the official UNV platform.