Gender and Community Engagement Specialist

Organizational Setting

The main aim of the FAO Syria Country Office is to assist government to develop policies, programmes and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to develop the agricultural fisheries and forestry sectors, and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner.

The FAO Representation in Syria is organized around three main units: Programme, Operations and Administration. The current portfolio of projects in Syria includes activities related to Crop production & protection, Animal Health & Livestock production, Water for production, Environment & Climate Change, Gender & Social Inclusion, and is implemented with humanitarian, transitional and development funding.

Reporting Lines

The Gender and Community Engagement Specialist (GCEO) will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Syria, with guidance from the Gender Expert in Damascus, and under the direct supervision of the Building Livelihoods and Resilience in Syria (BLRS) project manager.

Technical Focus

Contribute to the overall guidance to the Building Local Resilience in Syria (BLRS) project and ensure robust integration of the core BLRS project activities with the VAWGs pilot activities, in relevant locations.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Follow up with the project team to implement the Gender component and work plan under the BLRS project, at field level. In particular, the Officer will support the implementation of the activities planned under the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) pilot and facilitate the adoption of the curricula and approaches selected for promoting gender equality and Gender Based Violence (GBV) reduction.
• Provide mentoring and monitoring during the implementation of planned GBV and gender related activities, in close collaboration with the Gender Expert in Damascus office.
• Work closely with FAO Resilience Officers (ROs) and Agriculture Based Livelihood Officers (ABLOs) during local coordination with relevant authorities at local level,
• Coordinate with UNFPA mobile GBV teams to ensure their smooth contribution to the VAWG pilot intervention,
• Closely collaborate with structures established through the BLRS project, to effectively implement the GBV and gender activities planned under the VAWGs pilot. Such structures will include Farmer Field Schools (FFS), Farmer Business Schools, Water User Associations (WUAs), agro-processing groups etc, to ensure that they are implemented in a gender-responsive way and contribute meaningfully to promoting gender equality and reducing GBV tolerance.
• Participate in the trainings of the master trainers and facilitators of these structures (FFS, FBS, WUAs), to ensure that the gender component foreseen by the VAGW pilot is effectively integrated and delivered.
• Contribute to the design and implementation of the baseline assessment, including reviewing available background data and continuous tracking of gender and GBV indicators during the project lifecycle.
• Support in the gender analysis guided by the Gender Expert in the area and region of intervention
• Assess and identify eventual capacity gaps of project staff and implementing partners in relation to GBV and gender-responsive approaches to support them with training and technical backstopping tailored to their needs. Report any gender-based constraints and key lessons learnt to the Gender Expert.
• Draft a monitoring action plan, co-developed with project staff, outlining the different roles and responsibilities of staff with respect to the action plan and indicators, to measure the success of actions.
• Provide regular progress reports to the Gender Expert with regards to all planned and achieved VAWGs activities in the field, including overall gender mainstreaming and integration in the project. Document success stories and good practices, including by consolidating the materials used by project staff and implementing partners in the field.
• Perform any other duties requested.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• The candidate must have at least a University degree in Gender, Social Work, Economics or a related field.
• 3 years of minimum relevant experience in the field for gender and GBV mainstreaming and community engagement including field work and in primary data collection.
• Excellent oral and written command of English and Arabic.
• National of Syria.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Good communication, analytical, presentation and reporting skills and an excellent team player;
• Communication skills and ability to operate under pressure;
• Competency in the use of MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint computer packages, as well as with statistical software;
• Proven experience with UN regulations and procedures will be an added advantage;
• Proven experience in the field of Gender / Community Engagement, including stakeholder engagement in humanitarian, rural livelihoods and development activities preferably with the UN or other international agencies;
• Familiarity with the agriculture sector in Syria is an asset;
• Good interpersonal skills.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing)
• Incomplete applications will not be considered. If you need help please contact: [email protected]
• Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted
• Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/
• For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/
• Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances.