International Legal Consultant

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• 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 Legal Office of FAO ensures that FAO’s activities are carried out in accordance with its Constitution and the other Basic Texts of the Organization, consistent with its status as an intergovernmental organization of the United Nations system, and that its relations with governments, organizations and individuals are based on a sound legal basis.

The Development Law Service of the Legal Office of FAO (LEGN) provides legal advisory services to governments on food and agriculture and natural resources (including land, water, fisheries and aquaculture, plants, animals, food, forestry, wildlife, environment, climate change and biodiversity), as well as general agricultural issues (institutions, trade, economic reform).

LEGN has recently launched its Programme entitled “Governing for Sustainable Agrifood Systems: Strengthening Legislation and Building Capacity to Support Implementation, Compliance and Enforcement” (FVC/GLO/223/MUL), hereafter “ACE Programme”. This Programme aims at strengthening FAO Members’ regulatory instruments and institutional capacity to promote accountable governance for sustainable agrifood systems towards food security and nutrition through effective implementation, compliance with, and enforcement, of relevant agrifood systems legal frameworks. During its pilot-phase, the ACE Programme will be targeting specific thematic areas relevant to agrifood systems, integrating both the One Health approach and a climate change lens as cross-cutting issues. The Programme will initially focus on three countries in the Southern African region (Eswatini, Lesotho and Zimbabwe).

This call is aimed at an International Legal Consultant with a high level of experience who is required to provide substantive legal technical support to the above Programme. The incumbent would be home-based, with availability to travel to Rome, Italy, for meetings at FAO Headquarters, as well as to selected countries in Africa, including Eswatini, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, when required. The assignments will cover specific activities related to the legal aspects of areas under the mandate of FAO, in support of the ACE Programme.

Reporting Lines

The incumbent will report to the Chief, LEGN, while day-to-day supervision will be provided by the Programme’s Coordinator and/or designated LEGN Legal Officer(s), in close coordination with the relevant FAO technical divisions, and FAO Subregional Office for Southern Africa.

Technical Focus

Legal research and advisory services to Governments in relation to implementation of legislation relating to food and agriculture and the management of renewable natural resources, as well as compliance and enforcement.

LEGN seeks to identify candidates who may cover one or more of the technical areas under the Development Law Service per FAO’s mandate:
– Agricultural law, including agricultural health (food safety, phytosanitary and veterinary legislation; antimicrobial resistance), sustainable agricultural production (seeds, pesticides, organic farming and other marketing systems) and other areas of agricultural law (supply chain regulation mechanisms, contract farming, agricultural finance, cooperatives and other farmers’ organisations, agricultural insurance schemes);
– Food and nutrition security, right to adequate food, school food and nutrition;
– Climate change laws in relation to agriculture, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture and forests;
– Enabling environment for responsible investments in agriculture and food systems;
– Livestock, Fisheries and aquaculture;
– Food systems transformation
– Forests, wildlife, grazing;
– Gender mainstreaming within legal frameworks;
– Social protection in rural areas and decent rural employment;
– Sustainable land management, sustainable water management, sustainable Wildlife production;

LEGN is particularly interested in identifying qualified candidates to support its work in the ACE Programme in the areas of:
– Implementation of food and agriculture and related legislation;
– Compliance and enforcement;
– Regulatory impact assessments.

Tasks and responsibilities

The tasks and responsibilities of the incumbent will be defined in the Terms of Reference for the specific assignment under the ACE Programme. The incumbent will carry out her/his tasks within FAO’s Strategic Framework 2022-31 for the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the FAO Policy on Gender Equality.

The incumbent will work under the supervision and close guidance of the Programme Coordinator and designated Legal Officer(s), in close coordination with the relevant FAO technical divisions and the FAO Subregional Office for Southern Africa. The incumbent will also work closely with the National Working Groups, which will be composed by members of the respective Governments of Eswatini, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, and led by the designated National Project Coordinators.

It is anticipated that the incumbent will undertake the following tasks under the ACE Programme:

– Lead, or provide assistance with, the preparation, review and update of work plans, project documents, and draft regulations, Memoranda of Understanding, agreements and other legal instruments;
– Provide guidance to, and assist, if required, the legislative review to be undertaken under the ACE Programme;
– Lead or provide assistance with the preparation and provision of technical inputs to the establishment of the National Working Groups in charge of assisting the development of the key outcomes of the inception workshop;
– Liaise with the judiciary, prosecutors and inspection services, among other relevant national authorities;
– Lead, or provide assistance with the drafting of an assessment report, based on desk review of the selected countries’ national legal framework related to agrifood systems in order to identify gaps and challenges in the implementation, compliance and enforcement of the assessed legislation, with a view to propose recommendations and/or legislative options to address such gaps and challenges;
– Lead or provide assistance with the delivery of a technical workshop that will validate the assessment report;
– Lead or provide assistance with the development, review, and finalization of assessment tools, guidance material, and curricula for training courses, and eLearning courses;
– Lead or provide assistance with the development and implementation of training and capacity-building activities;
– Prepare materials, legal notes, reports and written advice, conduct legal research;
– Prepare or contribute to legal publications;
– Coordinate and jointly supervise a group of national legal consultants to deliver their tasks. Guide them to develop their national legal reports and revise and complete the reports, as necessary;
– Travel to the focus countries, meet with the national counterparts, participate in training activities and contribute to deliver the activities in the work plan;
– Attend meetings, both internal and external to FAO, and report on the results achieved, following established reporting lines, and;
– Undertake other tasks and responsibilities, as may be directed by the Chief, LEGN.

The incumbent is also expected to become familiar with the documents that will be developed by the Programme at the global level and provide inputs as necessary.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced University degree in Law (equivalent of LLM and/or PhD).
• At least ten (10) years of relevant legal work experience in development law, with additional experience in implementation, compliance and/or enforcement of law, an advantage.
• Working knowledge of English.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

Applicants must have demonstrated interest in the technical areas listed above, as well as strong analytical, legal research and writing skills.

Selection Criteria

• Degree of knowledge and experience in legal issues related to a relevant technical areas;
• Degree of experience in developing national legislative and regulatory measures to implement international agreements, codes, guidelines or other instruments;
• Experience in legal drafting and development in Africa and Asia;
• Ability to conduct legal research and analysis;
• Ability to write clear and concise reports and draft legal texts, legislative and regulatory instruments;
• Experience working with international or regional organizations or other entities in a relevant field;

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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