Social Protection Specialist

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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 key mission of the FAO Representation in Somalia, which is led by FAO Representative (FAOR), is to assist and support the national government to develop policies, strategies and programme aimed at accelerating the Implementation and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in FAO’s global mandate and Strategic Objectives. More specifically, FAO’s response aims to address national needs and priorities in achieving food security, reducing hunger and malnutrition, developing agricultural, fishery and forestry sectors, and ensuring the sustainable use of environmental and natural resources and respond to recurrent emergencies. The current portfolio of activities of the FAO Representation in Somalia includes a wide scope of technical support interventions ranging from policy support through livestock and crop production, social protection, to natural resource management, Nutrition, value chain, food security analysis and water and land information management. FAO is also implementing several emergency, resilience-building, and development interventions, with the support of its five field offices and close to 400 staff in partnership with the Federal and State line ministries.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative for Somalia, and the direct supervision of the Deputy Head of Programmes in Mogadishu.

Technical Focus

The incumbent will be responsible for Policy, operational, and analytical support to one or more of the following thematic areas expansions of social protection coverage to rural areas, nutrition sensitive social protection and food crises; shock responsive social protection and resilience; linkage between social protection, climate action, and economic inclusion through productive social safety-net and youth and disability inclusion

Tasks and responsibilities

• Provide policy guidance and context-specific strategic advice to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and other stakeholders on the implementation of the SP policy and linkage with Agri-food systems.
• Support the design of productive social safety nets and other relevant programmes for rural populations in Somalia.
• Strengthen partnership between FAO and relevant stakeholders on social protection
• Undertake simulations of feasible models/best approaches for designing productive safety nets.
• Support the strengthening of social protection delivery system
• Identify and understand cost-efficient and cost-effective approaches/options of designing productive safety nets for socio-economic development, for instance through the roll-out of a government-owned productive safety net pilot in selected areas of the country
• Support the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs – and other relevant Ministries contributing to social protection outcomes in identifying potential entry points and linkages to social protection to enhance complementarities.
• Support the identification of Graduation pathways for the existing Baxnaano programme beneficiaries.
• Support MOLSA and other relevant development partners in their advocacy strategy on linking social protection to productivity and economic development.
• Advance the technical design of a productive social safety net prototype, in collaboration with MoLSA and other relevant stakeholders.
• Coordinate at strategic and operational levels FAO initiatives on social protection in the country by reviewing and overseeing activities and identifying synergies/entry points for better cohesion
• Provide technical support aimed at forging stronger links and promoting greater policy coherence and synergies between social protection policy, food and nutrition security, fisheries development, natural resource management, resilient rural livelihoods, poverty reduction and resilience to shocks
• Support the development, dissemination and uptake of social protection knowledge products, technical documents, capacity development materials and advocacy and information materials on expansion of social protection coverage, economic inclusion, coherence between social protection in fisheries, resilience and shocks-responsive social protection.
• Facilitate the design and roll-out of a productive safety net model in a selected number of areas of the country and duly document relevant experiences for further fine-tuning of the program.
• Actively support FAO Somalia in attracting new funding for productive safety net programming in Somalia.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING



Minimum Requirements

• Advanced degree in economics, finance, sustainable development, political or social sciences, or another related field.
• At least five years of professional experience in policy assistance and program development and/or program formulation, operational support in the field of social policy and social protection.
• Working knowledge (level C) of English. A limited knowledge of another language would be an asset.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Experience in advocacy and capacity development related to social policies and social protection;
• Experience in policy support, technical assistance and program formulation.
• Experience in working in multidisciplinary and multi-cultural teams;
• Experience in coordination of UNSDCF result group
• Excellent communication, writing, and reporting skills.
• Should be able to follow up with contractors, implementing partners, and other units in the office.
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and PowerPoint and IT skills.
• Ability to work effectively with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

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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