National Consultant – Food Security Summit

Organizational Setting

The FAO Representation, Bangladesh is responsible for leading FAO's response to regional priorities for food security, agriculture and rural development through the identification, planning, and implementation of FAO's priority activities in the country. It ensures a multidisciplinary approach to programmes, identifies priority areas of action for the Organization in Bangladesh and, in collaboration with Regional Office Asia and Pacific and the departments and divisions at Headquarters, develops, promotes and oversees FAO's strategic response to the country priorities. The representation also supports the regional office in the incorporation of regional priorities into the Organization's Programme of Work and Budget and implements approved programmes and projects in the country, monitors the level of programme implementation and draws attention to problems and deficiencies. The office also develops and maintains relations with Government of Bangladesh, UN agencies, the resource partners and other development institution at the country level.

The FAO of the United Nations in Bangladesh has been providing Technical Assistance (TA) to the Government of Bangladesh through several projects, Food Systems Summit is one of them. The UN Food Systems Summit (FSS) is scheduled for the last quarter of 2021 to take part in a Summit that will help to establish the future direction for food systems and accelerate collective action to that end. FAO Bangladesh will recruit a National Consultant – FSS for the Food Systems Summit (FSS) project.

Reporting Lines

The National Consultant – FSS will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Bangladesh, and Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) of the Dhaka Food System project and in close collaboration & liaison with the Assistant FAO Representative (programme).

Technical Focus

The National Consultant – FSS will contribute to timely and effective support for preparations for the FSS. In particular, the incumbent will carry out the following roles and responsibility:

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Work as a Secretary to prepare for the FSS, tasks include keeping records of events, preparation for meetings and consultations, organization and facilitation of national and regional consultations, follow up developments at all levels, taking appropriate actions and initiatives, updating FAO Representative, CTA and AFAOR (Programme) and other related experts on progress, attending meetings, serving as liaison with government ministries, departments and development partners, taking notes of events, and collect-share-maintain all relevant documents, while communicating relevant documents with stakeholders.
• Regular follow up on the FSS summit website, share necessary information with FSS officials to upload country information as and when needed.
• Review existing national policies, plan of actions and investment plan and provide critical inputs for drafting the overall assessment report of the country level dialogues of the Food System Summit 2021 and support programmes which intended to organize the dialogues.
• Conduct a series of thematic consultations as well as a national consultation on the FSS objectives to disseminate the ideas of the summit and invite discussion and inputs from different groups. The consultant shoulThe and update the proposed initiatives and time bound action agenda related to systemic solutions to accelerate hunger reduction, make nutritious foods more available and affordable, and make food safer.
• Prepare for a series of multi-stakeholder dialogues by creating facilitator guidelines for each dialogue that include a set of leading questions, that support guiding plenary and working group discussions on key food system issues. Preparation also includes consultation with technical experts to understand complex and relevant issues, and the training of a team of facilitators.
• Conduct outreach for, organize, and facilitate a series of multi-stakeholder dialogues, with a range of different stakeholder groups that include – women, youth, farmer groups, agro-processors, urban poor communities, the private sector, and others.
• Review and consolidate the notes from all the different discussion group sessions, from the different multi-stakeholder dialogue sessions, into a single well-organized document. This document (in English) should clearly document the different perspectives of stakeholders, providing key ideas, findings, and take-aways, it will serve as inputs for a report on the dialogue process.
• Co-ordinate relevant administrative and communication work of the working group of the FSS, including those of relevant stakeholders, especially the officers in the Ministry of Food, Core Ministries, Inter-Ministerial National Committee, representatives of civil society and private sector, to achieve FSS objectives, dialogue preparation, implementation and documentation.
• Support the NC and the working group in developing their national pathways towards sustainable food systems and provide key support to the dialogue convenors, dialogue curators, and facilitators for identifying emerging issues on which there is consensus as well as those where major disagreements exist.
• Contribute to the preparation of the necessary reports for the national technical committee formed by the Ministry of Food, and maintain close communication on preparations for the FSS.
• Perform other related duties as required assigned by the FAO Rep/ CTA/AFAOR(P)

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in any branch of agriculture/ social science.
• 5 years work experiences with Government/semi-government/UN organizations preferably in the food security/food systems sector
• National of Bangladesh.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of food security/food systems sector in Bangladesh or in the countries of the region and excellent facilitation skills and experience in managing and leading participatory workshops with a large number of participants
• Proven experience in evidence based national policies, plan of actions and investment plan development
• Have leadership capacity and sharing opinions with peers and strong organizational skills and capacity to represent FAO in different high level meetings/forums
• Excellent communication skills including strong writing skills, proven ability to convey complex ideas through clear communication, and concise reports, and effective oral presentations
• Knowledge for preparation of a series of multi-stakeholder dialogues by creating facilitator guidelines for each dialogue that include a set of leading questions, that support guiding plenary and working group discussions on key food system issues;
• Competent user of computer and ICT tools having skilled writing, typing and communication ability
• Demonstrated innovative thinking and practical execution;
• Ability to solve problems, use initiative, and manage work under limited supervision;
• Applicant have a working knowledge of English and Bangla (written and Spoken).

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
• Only language proficiency certificates from UN accredited external providers and/or FAO language official examinations (LPE, ILE, LRT) will be accepted as proof of the level of knowledge of languages indicated in the online applications
• For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/