Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Specialist

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, Better environment is a key Protect strategic pillar with the objective 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. The consultant shall be hired under the project “Institutional and technical support for REDD readiness in West Africa,” a multi-country project funded by The and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The project will support five countries (Benin, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone).

The project objective is to overcome the challenges and address the barriers to enable conditions for the implementation of policy approaches for REDD activities through the strengthening of the institutional and technical capacities of participating countries in order to develop the four pillars of the REDD Warsaw framework. The project expected results include: • The national coordination structure for REDD and the monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) unit will be established and strengthened. A national approach to safeguards will be developed. • Relevant national stakeholders will be identified and involved in the REDD National committee to be established and strengthened. To permit non -state stakeholders to access on decision-making process, Networks of civil society organization (CSOs) and indigenous people/Local communities’ (IP/LCs) and domestic private sector organizations will be structured and strengthened, • A REDD Roadmap, a REDD national strategy and a Forest Reference Emission Level will be developed, • A regional Concept Note will be developed to address remaining gaps identified by this Readiness proposal, • Best practices related to the national REDD process will be shared among participating countries.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAOR and direct supervision of the AFAOR-P, The Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Technical Assistant gives technical support to the Communications team on all the activities relating to Stakeholder Engagement and communication.

Technical Focus

The candidate must have expertise in communication, knowledge management, stakeholder engagement and all other related activities.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Identify Relevant stakeholders and reached to ensure their full participation on the REDD process. • Structure Non-state networks (CSOs including women’s organizations, IP/LCs, private sector) and strengthened to engage in REDD process. • REDD stakeholder consultation and engagement Plan • Produce Consultation report which specify stakeholders consulted in all levels • Awareness -raising workshop reports, including gender disaggregated list of participants and results of the pre-post survey to assess the workshops effectiveness. • Validation workshop reports, including gender disaggregated list of participants and results of the pre-post survey to assess the workshops effectiveness • Any other duties as requested by the FAOR.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in social sciences, rural development, gender, or any related field • Minimum of 5 years of experience in communication, stakeholder engagement and gender mainstreaming in the formulation of policies and programmes, particularly in the context of utilization and management of land, natural resources, and climate change. • Working knowledge (Level C) in English and limited knowledge (Level B) of French.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skill

• Experience in developing a consultation plan, stakeholder engagement and communication. • Knowledge on REDD and climate change • In depth understanding of the Organization and ability to work under tight deadlines. • Ability to prioritize tasks. • Ability to work harmoniously and efficiently in a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary team. • Experience in working for the United Nations will be an advantage. • Ability to work under pressure. • Good understanding of Microsoft (word, excel PowerPoint and outlook)