Organizational Setting

FAO’s Subregional Office for West Africa is responsible for developing, promoting, overseeing and implementing agreed strategies for addressing subregional agri-food systems and rural development priorities. It develops and maintains relations with subregion-wide institutions including Regional Economic Integration Organizations such as ECOWAS, CILSS, UEMOA and Mano River Union. It assists the FAO Representations (FAORs) in the subregion with addressing subregional food security, agriculture and rural development issues at country level. The Subregional Office is a subsidiary of FAO’s Regional Office for Africa.
As a pillar of FAO’s strategic framework 2022-31, which focuses on 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 objective of Better environment is to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial and marine ecosystems and combat climate change (reduce, reuse, recycle, residual management) through more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems. At the sub regional level, the Priority is the sustainable management of the environment and natural resources in order to transform climate and agri-food systems; Bioeconomy; Biodiversity and ecosystems.
The project “Institutional and technical support for REDD readiness in West Africa,” is a multi-country Green Climate Fund (GCF) project implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to support five countries (Benin, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone).

Reporting Lines

The Regional Project Coordinator will be under the overall supervision of the Sub Regional Coordinator SFW, the direct supervision of the Senior Policy Officer at SFW, and the technical supervisor of the SFW Forestry expert/officer in consultation with NFO Team.

Technical Focus 

The Regional Project Coordinator will provide a strategic vision and leadership to the project country teams for the successful implementation of activities in line with the proposed budget. He/She will also provide critical input, technical support and decisive planning for project activities, as well as all-embracing coordination of the project. As the project coordinator, he/she will be responsible of reporting and presentation of the project results to SFW Management, the donor and the any structure of the project.

Tasks and responsibilities

The consultant will coordinate the regional REDD process and provide technical guidance to the REDD National Coordination (RNC) offices for all participating countries to unsure the achievement of:
•    Outcome 1.1: Country National Designated Authority (NDAs) or focal points and the network/ systems that enable them to fulfil their roles, responsibilities and policy requirements are operational and effective.
•    Outcome 1.3: Relevant country stakeholders (which may include executing entities, civil society organizations and private sector) have established adequate capacity, systems and networks to support the planning, programming and implementation of GCF-funded activities.
•    Outcome 2.2: GCF recipient countries have developed or enhanced strategic frameworks to address policy gaps, improve sectoral expertise, and enhance enabling environments for GCF programming in low-emission investment.
He/She will also support and monitor the implementation of all activities for all participating countries in collaboration with REDD national coordinator and National technical coordinator.
Specifically, the Regional Coordinator will work on the three following aspects:

Project management:
•    Provide advice to plan the activities of the project and monitor progress in achieving results at the output, outcome and impact level.
•    Support the budget holders (subregional and national levels) with needed up to date information for decision on the budget implementation
•    Develop an effective monitoring and evaluation system for regular reporting for national teams, stakeholders and development partners.
•    Provide advice and direction on strategic and policy issues and ensure gender sensitive activities are integrated in the implementation strategy.
•    Continuously review the project status and provide strategic and policy advice to the Project Task Force on required follow up and/or corrective actions.
•    Assist and advise the country teams on the implementation of the project, and ensure the daily coordination tasks of the project
•    Consolidate inputs from national consultants to develop annual progress reports’’ under tasks and responsibilities

Technical guidance for the overall management and administration of the project:
•    Provide technical advice in developing baseline indicators for project monitoring and evaluation.
•    Ensure proportional approach, cohesion and coordination between different components of the project and between countries.
•    Address obstacles and challenges identified in the project implementation.
•    Ensure the integration of cross-cutting issues, such as gender, communication and human rights, monitoring and evaluation.
•    Ensure good coordination and collaboration with governments, beneficiaries, suppliers and other key stakeholders.

Policy advice and knowledge management:
•    Provide strategic policy advice to government counterparts, donors and other partners on issues related to REDD .
•    Ensure knowledge management to build the capacity and knowledge of national counterparts.
•    Create a culture of knowledge sharing and learning by promoting the identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned from the project implementation for organizational sharing and learning as well as external information.
•    Assist in the recruitment of relevant expertise needed for the efficient and effective delivery of project objectives and expected results.
•    Support knowledge and capacity building of national counterparts through on-the-job training, knowledge sharing workshops, publications and organization of study tours and the like.

Representation and communication:
•    As required, represent the project in national/international for a/discussions on REDD and climate adaptation/mitigation.
•    Ensure the communication of the results of the project during meetings and in front of the donor and any structure of the project.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Forestry, Natural resources management, Environmental sciences, or related field that is relevant for the assignment.
•    Minimum of 07 years of experience in development and project/program management.
•    Working knowledge of English and French.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills 

•    In depth understanding of concepts and actions on REDD and climate change.
•    Ability to lead and coordinate the project teams in the different countries for an effective delivery of projects objectives and expected results, within the limits of the budget and timeline of the project.
•    Strong analytical skills and ability to synthesize large amount of data into analytical and practical knowledge/ information.
•    Extensive professional experience in coordination of multicountry projects/programmes.
•    Extensive experience in leading (physically and/or remotely) field teams and provide technical expertise and strategical backstopping during the implementation of the proposal
•    Previous work experience in one or several of the countries covered by the project would be an advantage.

Selection Criteria

•    Experience in international founded projects related to forestry, environmental management and climate change.
•    Experience in working with Government.