Partnerships for Development and Nutrition Support Officer

In March 2025, IFAD opened its country office in Cotonou, Benin, and planned to expand its staff by recruiting United Nations Volunteers (UNV).
The UNV will be based at IFAD’s Country Office in Benin to provide technical support for the implementation of the institution’s Country Program in Benin and Togo and will report to the IFAD Country Director.
Given the importance of collaborations and partnerships with both public and private actors to increase impact of IFAD’s activities in the country, this request aims to reinforce the country team with an international volunteer specializing in national and international partnerships for development, with a focus on nutrition.

Under the direct supervision of IFAD Country Director, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

a. Partnership Repository — Creation & Management
• Design, structure and maintain an up-to-date repository of IFAD’s partners in Benin (multilateral institutions, bilateral partners, Government counterparts, NGOs, private sector);
• Document ongoing and past collaborations, partnership agreements and key contacts;
• Set up a system for tracking meetings held and interactions with partners, including agreed follow-up actions.

b. Partnership Development Support
• Attend meetings with partners (bilateral and multilateral) and ensure notetaking and follow-up on action points;
• Conduct scoping on ongoing initiatives in Benin, and identify new partnership oppor-tunities;
• Contribute to promoting joint initiatives with Rome-Based Agencies (FAO, WFP) and other development actors present in the country, that reduce post-harvest losses of perishable nutritious products (storage, processing, logistics) and help mainstream the Zero Hunger objective (SDG 2);
• Support the structuring of partnerships whose business models improve the availability, affordability and consumption of nutritious foods;
• Support the preparation of concept notes, partnership briefs and institutional communication materials targeting external partners;
• Support coordination and communication between ICO Benin and institutional partners;
• Contribute to the logistical and document management of partnership events (workshops, coordination meetings, joint missions);
• Support the production of periodic reports and analysis on the state of the partner-ship’s activities.

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 checks with the supervisor to review progress and receive performance feedback.