Gender Specialist

CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST – VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT:

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal device

• FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background and culture.
• Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented Members and person with disabilities are encouraged to apply;
• Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct, and to uphold FAO’s values
• FAO, as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is incompatible with its status, objectives and mandate, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination
• All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
• All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through the FAO Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind. The FAO Subregional Office for the Pacific Islands (SAP) was established in 1996 in Samoa to coordinate the FAO work in 13 member countries in the Pacific subregion – Cook Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu -, and one Associate Member, Tokelau. SAP is responsible for developing, implementing and overseeing programmes and projects to address food security, nutrition, agriculture, natural resources management, and rural development priorities, in which gender, climate change adaption, and anticipatory action are important cross-cutting issues. SAP develops and maintains relations with subregion wide institutions and entities.

The objective of the Call is to attract suitable individuals to undertake consultancies in the areas of gender equality and women’s empowerment, as well as support the gender mainstreaming work in SAP projects and programme, in line with the commitments of FAO’s Policy on Gender Equality (2020-2030). Individuals meeting or exceeding the requirements of the Call will be included in the Roster of Gender experts, and be considered whenever relevant opportunities for a consultancy arise related to gender equality and women’s empowerment and gender mainstreaming.

Reporting Lines

The Specialist will be placed under the overall supervision of the FAO Sub-regional Coordinator (SRC) for the Pacific Islands and directly reports to the Natural Resource Officer. She/he will also liaise closely with SAP Multi-disciplinary Team (MDT).

Technical Focus

Address several aspects including, collecting, analysing and use of gender-statistics including sex-disaggregated data and gender-sensitive indicators in projects/programme, country gender assessments; supporting gender-responsive disaster risk reduction and resilience building; women’s land rights, gender mainstreaming across the projects/programme activities, including monitoring and reporting.

Comprehensive technical and policy expertise to support gender mainstreaming into SAP project and programmes in line with FAO’s Policy on Gender Equality (2020-20230).

Tasks and responsibilities

• Undertake policy analysis and analytical work on effective ways to address gender inequalities in agrifood systems and support rural women’s socio-economic empowerment in agriculture, food security and nutrition, rural development and poverty reduction.
• Provide technical support in the formulation and implementation of gender-responsive agriculture, rural development, food security and nutrition, climate change and resilience policies and programmes.
• Support the preparation of knowledge products, policy and capacity development materials, and organize learning events to enhance the skills of FAO staff and Members.
• Organize international meetings, workshops, learning events and policy dialogues to influence global debates on the relevance of gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Provide technical support and guidance to Multidisciplinary Team on issues related to gender equality and women’s empowerment, as well as gender mainstreaming activities.
• Assist the Gender Focal Point with multi-stakeholder partnerships, and implementing field activities and projects.
• Collecting, analysing and reviewing available data and information on the situation and trend of women, men and youth in rural and peri-urban areas, including, FAO country gender assessments and other available reports. Data will have to be disaggregated by sex and age as part of the needs assessments to support targeting and agricultural inputs distribution and further formulate gender-sensitive indicators to support the monitoring and evaluation of project activities.
• Identifying and integrating best practices, available at national, regional and global levels, to promote gender equality and social inclusion in the implementation of the project activities.
• Providing and developing quality training material for training sessions in engaging vulnerable women, men and youth (environmentally sustainable gender-sensitive, eco-friendly, climate-smart good agriculture practices and natural resource management).
• Enhancing skills and knowledge on available gender equality and social inclusion tools of government personnel at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries & Biosecurity, as well as chiefs, target women, men youth and people with disabilities within the beneficiary communities of the project.
• Providing guidance to LTO and Project Team Management in the delivery of key gender and social inclusion aspects, including the identification and addressing of existing and potential protection risks.
• Promoting key gender and social inclusion aspects within the Regional Pacific Food Security Cluster.
• Coordinating with relevant national and regional gender and social inclusion networks, on gender equality and social inclusion aspects.
• Support the mainstreaming of gender sensitive approaches in capacity development trainings and workshops, including plans and policies.
• Integrating the most vulnerable individuals (women, men and youth) and households in affected communities in the design, implementation, monitoring and funding decisions of emergency programming (inclusive and gender-responsive manner).
• Supporting FAO SAP Gender Focal Point to implementation FAO SAP Gender Workplan, including engage and support the gender mainstreaming in other FAO SAP projects and programmes; and
• Performing any other tasks as required by the Supervisor.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum requirements

The Candidates will be assessed according to the following criteria:

• Advanced degree in Development Studies, Gender, Climate Change, Agriculture, Natural Resource Management, Social Sciences, Law or relevant-to-the-project disciplines;
• At least five (5) years of field experience in working on gender-related and climate change matters at relevant levels;
• Solid working experience in conducting country gender assessments and mainstreaming gender into projects and programmes;
• Consistent experience in organizing workshops and training sessions on gender-related and climate change topics;
• Knowledge and experience in the Pacific Region within the social, economic and geopolitical context of the Pacific;
• Working knowledge of English;

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus;
• Teamwork;
• Communication;
• Building Effective Relationships; and
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement.

Technical functional skills

• Experience in supporting and/or managing gender initiatives related to food security, market-oriented productions and access, livestock and natural resources management;
• Experience in establishing and maintaining partnerships with government institutions, UN agencies, INGOs and donors; and
• Ability to travel frequently to project sites (COVID-19 travel restrictions may apply).
• Basic knowledge on FAO agenda on gender, climate change, Sustainable Development Goals, food security and nutrition.

Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency

HOW TO APPLY

• To apply, visit the recruitment website at Jobs at FAO and complete your online profile. We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, and language skills
• Candidates are requested to attach a letter of motivation to the online profile
• Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application
• Candidates may be requested to provide performance assessments and authorization to conduct verification checks of past and present work, character, education, military and police records to ascertain any and all information which may be pertinent to the employment qualifications
• Incomplete applications will not be considered
• Personal information provided on your application may be shared within FAO and with other companies acting on FAO’s behalf to provide employment support services such as pre-screening of applications, assessment tests, background checks and other related services. You will be asked to provide your consent before submitting your application. You may withdraw consent at any time, by withdrawing your application, in such case FAO will no longer be able to consider your application
• Only applications received through the FAO recruitment portal will be considered
• Your application will be screened based on the information provided in your online profile
• We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline date.

If you need help or have queries, please create a one-time registration with FAO’s client support team for further assistance: https://fao.service-now.com/csp

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