Gender Specialist

Assist in mainstreaming gender into FAO’s projects and programs.

FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

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Application deadline in 13 days: Friday 31 Jul 2026 at 21:59 UTC

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Overview

Assist in mainstreaming gender into FAO’s projects and programs.

You have:

  • Advanced university degree from an institution recognized by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/UNESCO in Gender Studies, Social Sciences, development studies, Human Rights, or related field; Consultants with a bachelor's degree need two additional years of relevant professional experience.
  • At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in gender equality, and women's empowerment programming, and inclusion including in fragile context.
  • Working Knowledge (Level C) of English.

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, 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 in Somalia, the general guidance and direct supervision of the Head of Programme, and in collaboration with Heads of Sectors.

Technical Focus

The incumbent will be responsible for operationalizing the gender stocktaking exercise action plan that assessed the extent to mainstreaming gender to FAO’s work and to effectively mainstream gender into the design and formulation and implementation of the projects.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Review FAO Policy on Gender Equality 2030, FAO standard operating procedure for gender mainstreaming as well as the FAO country gender assessment, to inform gender priority in FAOSO Country Programming Framework (CPF) and overall programming. • Coordinate operationalization of the gender stocktaking exercise action plan that assessed the extent to which FAOSO is mainstreaming gender in its programming against FAO’s Gender Policy. The Action Plan defines and sets the priorities, targets, addresses the identified gaps and outline opportunities to be take forward in line with the Gender Policy (GP) and the Country Programme Framework (CPF), making sure key gender outcomes are closely monitored and reported as per the CPF log frame. • Undertake an assessment to identify FAOSO staff capacity needs on gender and mainstreaming and provide refresh trainings to the staff based identified needs including orientation sessions on the new Gender Policy. • Contribute to the Country Programme Framework M&E reporting and Annual country reports on related gender outcome indicators. • Assess and advice on donors that support GEWE work and/or have gender and WEE as priorities in their strategies for Somalia to inform future resource mobilization for gender related activities • Lead context-specific gender analysis to inform the development of gender action plans for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries sectors/ projects, with a clear integration of cross-cutting themes such as Climate Change. • Develop, monitor, and review implementation of gender action plans for respective projects with key gender indicators and targets integrating gender across activities and report on at the outcome level. • Assess and identify areas for mainstreaming and integrating gender-responsive and gender transformative approaches in on-going and new projects. • Review and analyze monitoring methodologies, tools and technical reports to ensure inclusion of sex-disaggregated data for both qualitative and quantitative assessments and to guide the use of thematic analysis in data analysis and presentation. • Contribute to building the capacity of FAO programme personnel, government, implementing partners to mainstream gender and provide practical application of FAO’s Gender Policy ongoing projects. • Document lessons learned and good practices which will feed into the guidance materials as practical field experiences and best practices for scale-up. • Prepare project-related technical briefs, reports, and case studies to showcase programme results in mainstreaming and integrating gender-responsive and gender transformative approaches in projects. • Contribute to preparation of project reports (quarterly & annual) and prepare sections of the reports on gender mainstreaming to support gender-sensitive reporting. • Represent sectors in gender-related work, meetings, and in doing so seek to learn and disseminate new knowledge and evidence- based practices to respective teams. • Perform other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree from an institution recognized by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/UNESCO in Gender Studies, Social Sciences, development studies, Human Rights, or related field; Consultants with a bachelor's degree need two additional years of relevant professional experience. • At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in gender equality, and women's empowerment programming, and inclusion including in fragile context. • Working Knowledge (Level C) of English.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Experience in conducting gender assessments and integrate gender-responsive approaches into programmes and projects. • Ability to develop gender action plans, identify capacity gaps, and deliver gender mainstream training to Personnel and partners. • Excellent communication, writing, and reporting skills. • Familiar with Project Cycle Management. • Strong organizational and planning skills. • Strong teamwork and interpersonal skills.

Potential interview questions

Describe a situation where you had to implement a gender action plan. Evaluates your practical experience in developing and executing gender strategies. Provide specific examples of the actions taken, the outcomes, and any challenges faced.
How do you assess the effectiveness of gender mainstreaming in a project? To understand your approach in evaluating gender-inclusive practices. Pro members can see the explanation.
Can you share an experience of training staff on gender-related topics? Pro members can see the explanation. Pro members can see the explanation.
What strategies would you suggest to increase women's participation in agriculture projects? Pro members can see the explanation. Pro members can see the explanation.
Tell me about a successful gender analysis you conducted. Pro members can see the explanation. Pro members can see the explanation.
How do you handle resistance to gender mainstreaming in a team? Pro members can see the explanation. Pro members can see the explanation.
What is your experience with monitoring and evaluation related to gender outcomes? Pro members can see the explanation. Pro members can see the explanation.
Describe how you keep updated on current gender issues and policies. Pro members can see the explanation. Pro members can see the explanation.
Added 8 hours ago - Updated 8 hours ago - Source: fao.org