National Gender Specialist

Organizational Setting:

The main aim of the FAO Operating Unit (REU) is to assist governments to develop policies, programs and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to help develop the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been implementing development projects in Belarus for decades. Recently, FAO has engaged in a wide range of activities to support value chains in the country through the promotion of inclusive agricultural value chains that seek to increase smallholder farmers’ income. FAO is formulating interventions that contribute to a better alignment with the Government delivery mechanisms, increasingly involving the private sector and taking advantage of the digital transformation that is taking place in the country.

For all these reasons, FAO is looking for a National Specialist on Agri-Food Markets to support the Lead National Expert on Local Food Markets in the implementation of a two-year project that will explores and pilot the use digital platforms to support the development of local food markets.

Reporting Lines:

This position is under the overall supervision of the Project`s Budget Holder (BH) and the direct supervision of the Lead Technical Officer (LTO), Senior Gender and Social Protection Adviser in FAO’s Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia.

Technical Focus:

The National Specialist will support the Lead National Expert in the implementation of the Project, including support in the collection and processing of data and information for the background document, and National Strategy for Belarus. The incumbent will coordinate project activities with other ongoing national projects, and will be involved in mainstreaming gender and youth in the various stages of project implementation.

Tasks and responsibilities:

• Collaborate and support the International Consultant (IC) in producing the first gender-based analysis of agriculture, food security and rural development of Belarus following FAO methodology. For that, the National Gender Expert CGA will establish close cooperation with MoAF, to ensure national ownership and using the process of the Country Gender Assessment (CGA) preparation as an awareness-raising, capacity development and advocacy opportunity;
• Be responsible for ensuring that all data necessary for the CGA is identified and collected. This includes both quantitative and qualitative data, through literature review, national statistical sources, and all available other databases and sources. If necessary and agreed with the LTO and the IC, conduct in-depth interviews with the MoAF officials, as well as representatives of other state and non-state agencies and actors, and perform any other activities as required;
• Organize and participate in the field data collection in agreement with the LTO and the IC; for this, undertake field visits to the pilot areas in Central, Eastern and Western parts of the country as will be agreed with the national counterparts, to conduct a survey and perform any other data collecting activities (focus group discussions and interviews);
• Analyse collected data and contribute to the formulation of the key findings, conclusions and contents of the report, based on technical knowledge on the status of gender issues in the country and field work results;
• Participate in the review the CGA; provide other support as required (Activity 1.2); ensure that the draft assessment is shared with the MoAF (after getting technical clearance from REU Gender Team), in order to getting feedback, and ensuring the Gender Coordination group’ involvement and ownership in the process;
• Under technical guidance of the LTO and the IC, lead the process of organizing two capacity development workshops targeting MoAF staff and the Gender Coordination group. Develop the workshop agenda and provide inputs as a workshop facilitator/trainer. These workshops will be formal gender sensitization trainings, linked to the process of producing and validating the national gender profile in agriculture and rural development (CGA). Once the second workshop is complete, ensure that the CGA integrates the feedback received, that the text is fully finalized, proofread and ready for publishing in English and Belorussian.
• Under the guidance of the LTO, lead the process of organizing the round tables for rural women in pilot areas and elsewhere, develop the agenda, identify participants, send invites and provide inputs to the agenda as a key facilitator and presenter;
• Participate in the formulation of the Concept note for a comprehensive rural women’s economic empowerment programme, ensuring that the MoAF, rural women – potential beneficiaries and other stakeholders are involved in the process, and the needs and priorities of rural women are identified and addressed. Suggest resource mobilization strategy;
• Perform other tasks that might be requested by the BH/LTO.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• National of the Republic of Belarus or resident in the country with a regular work permit;
• Advanced University degree in social economics, sociology, or related discipline;
• At least 7 years of work experience in rural development, ;
• Working knowledge of English.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Analytical and research skills;
• Capacity to write documents and reports in a clear and concise manner;
• Technical knowledge of gender equality concept, analysis and approaches in development context, and in agriculture and food security in particular;
• Previous experience and familiarity with the UN system in similar/related assignments.