Gender and Social Safeguards Advisor, RoC

Reporting to : Technical Director WCS Congo

Location : Ouesso

Country program : Republic of Congo

Type of position : Full time

Expected travels**:**Regular travel in Northern Congo in WCS Congo’s areas of intervention.

Background

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is an American non-profit organization founded in 1895. Its mission is to preserve wildlife by understanding critical problems, developing scientific solutions and taking conservation action that benefits nature and humanity. With over a century of experience, long-term commitments in dozens of landscapes, a presence in more than 60 countries and experience in creating more than 150 protected areas worldwide, WCS has accumulated the biological knowledge, cultural understanding and partnerships needed to ensure that wild places and wildlife thrive alongside local communities. Working with local communities and organizations, this knowledge is applied to solve species, habitat and ecosystem management issues, which are essential to improving the quality of life of rural populations whose livelihoods depend on the direct use of natural resources.

Program overview

For the past 30 years, WCS Congo has been the government’s main conservation partner, helping the Ministry of Forest Economy (MEF) to manage wildlife and its habitat in several of the country’s national parks, reserves and protected area buffer zones. In these sites, WCS develops and implements actions for effective wildlife protection, community-based natural resource management, ecological monitoring, scientific research and environmental education. The program is the largest in WCS’s global portfolio and reports to the regional program for Central Africa and the Gulf of Guinea. WCS Congo’s current program portfolio includes management of the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park (PNNN) through a public-private partnership with the government of Congo, wildlife management in the park’s important buffer zones, co-management of the Lac Télé community reserve, a national program to support reform of marine resource conservation and management, and a major policy support program for the central government in Brazzaville.

Position summary:

The role of the Advisor will be to accompany, sensitize and train WCS agents to take into account social safeguards and human rights when deploying activities, support a rights-based approach framework in collaboration with project managers and oversee the deployment and implementation of the grievance redress mechanism at WCS intervention sites. In addition, this position will lead all gender mainstreaming activities in the Ndoki Likouala landscape.

Main responsibilities:

In collaboration with the regional social safeguards coordinator based in Kigali, the consultant will:

• Initiate and accompany the grievance mechanism revision process for WCS Congo.
• Oversee the initial pilot phase of the GRM for PNNN, adapt the GRM based on lessons learned from the pilot phase, and ensure quality control and operational oversight of field deployment throughout the main implementation phase.
• Work closely with the Regional Social Safeguards Coordinator to identify and train MRG staff in MRG procedures, and delegate MRG responsibilities appropriately.
• Ensure extensive coordination with partners internal and external to PNNN, including CIB, throughout the GRM steering and implementation phases.
• Ensure operational supervision (including work plans and quality control) of the field implementation team for the MRG.
• Record, report and disseminate lessons learned from MRG deployment.

On more general issues of social safeguards:

• Ensure the training of staff working in and around protected areas on human rights and social safeguards
• Support relevant aspects of the implementation of the social safeguard strategy among Ndoki Likouala Landscape staff and partners – with regard to indigenous peoples and local communities – in close coordination with the Community Development Officer.
• Ensure a good understanding and awareness of the Free, Informed and Prior Consent process among community development teams in Northern Congo, while ensuring full documentation of the process.
• Accompany community development teams in the design of socio-economic surveys or studies, which take into account approaches based on community rights, gender and ethnic group dimensions.
• With the regional safeguard manager, design indicators to monitor the effectiveness of social safeguard mechanisms in the Ndoki Likouala landscape.
• Provide technical advice and input into the strategic development of projects and programs aimed at empowering indigenous peoples and improving their inclusion in decision-making and small-scale rural entrepreneurship mechanisms.
• Support the national program to ensure that the best international standards are applied.

On the grievance redress mechanism: The grievance redress mechanism (GRM) for Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, Lac Télé Community Reserve and the Sustainable Wildlife Management program needs to be reviewed/developed and improved to meet international requirements and standards. The system, which will be inspired by the pilot model developed by WCS, is designed to understand, manage, monitor and mitigate community concerns and conflicts related to activities carried out by the park and its partners.

On gender aspects:

• Ensure the active participation and equal access of women and men to project benefits and decision-making processes, including FPIC and GRM.
• Integrate gender into all WCS Congo activities including the design of baseline indicators for gender-sensitive surveys.
• Work closely with the Community Development Manager to ensure that a gender perspective is incorporated into all community engagement and research activities.

Minimum requirements:

• Advanced degree in social sciences (international development studies, human rights, gender studies, human geography, conflict mitigation/resolution, natural resource management).
• Proven experience in conflict management.
• At least 5 years’ experience in program/project design, implementation and monitoring, particularly with regard to social safeguards and/or social protection of marginalized and vulnerable groups.
• Qualifications and experience in implementing gender mainstreaming strategies in developing countries.
• Proven experience of working with marginalized and vulnerable groups.
• Fluency in French with English language skills preferred.
• Willingness to visit a remote site.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, and proven ability to work as part of a team.
• Results-oriented and work ethic