National Professional Officer (Gender)

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through the FAO Strategic Framework by supporting 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.

FAO Afghanistan is investing, across all 34 provinces, in resilience reinforcing actions that focus on protecting agriculture livelihoods and local ecosystems, boosting local production of nutritious foods and cash-incomes, and safeguarding critical agriculture sectoral development gains achieved over the past couple of decades through revitalizing rural markets and economy. In 2023, FAO will contribute to the humanitarian components of the UN Strategic Framework 2023-2025 through four priority actions: (i) Safeguarding Wheat Seed Security, (ii) Enhancing Local Production of Nutritious Food, (iii) Livestock Protection and Dairy Sector Support, and (iv) Restoring Irrigation Structures to Boost Cash Incomes. FAO will also contribute towards resilience building activities and longer-term transformational processes as part of the implementation of the UN Strategic Framework 2023-2025.

The position is located in the FAO Representation in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Reporting Lines

The National Professional Officer (Gender) works under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative (FAOR) in Afghanistan and the direct supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative (Programme) in close collaboration and coordination with the Head of Field Programme Unit of FAO Representation in Afghanistan.

Technical Focus

Programme development, coordination and operational assistance based on the knowledge of the local conditions, culture, language and institutions of the country of assignment. The incumbent will contribute to the implementation of FAO Strategic Framework and Gender Equality Policy, which aims to achieve equality between women and men in sustainable agricultural production and rural development for the elimination of hunger and poverty. The incumbent will address aspects such as gender equality and women's empowerment in both resilience and development programmes, including gender mainstreaming and integration in all pertaining projects, monitoring, and reporting. The incumbent will also provide technical support to the programme unit, and liaise with the Gender Officer of the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) and Gender Team in the Inclusive Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division (ESP) at FAO headquarters, as and when needed.

Key Results

Effective and efficient coordination and provision of the technical and operational support of the programme, project and normative activities.

Key Functions

• Assists in liaising and cooperating with government authorities and national and international institutions in the areas of FAO's activities in the country and in liaising with other UN agencies; • Provides support to promoting the image of FAO through advocacy of the Organization's mandate, programmes, national priorities and activities including development and maintenance of communication tools (e.g. website, press releases and publications) and supports the implementation of FAO's regulatory frameworks (e.g. Codex Alimentarius and Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries) in the country; • Collects, consolidates and maintains country data on food, crops, livestock, forestry and fisheries (sex and age-disaggregated whenever possible) including information on external aid in FAO's corporate systems and participate in monitoring changes in national policies affecting the agricultural sector; • Assists with the production of and integration of gender equality and inclusivity in technical, economic and policy studies and assists in the development of country level development frameworks such as the Country Programming Framework (CPF) and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF); • Assists in the identification, formulation and preparation of programme and project proposals and monitor and review the status of programme/project implementation to ensure that all operational activities are carried out in line with the work plan and the project document; when necessary, propose corrective measures to overcome operational constraints; • Briefs, trains, including on FAO Gender Equality Policy, and supervises lower grade level programme staff regarding all aspects of the job; ensures adherence to procedures and work requirements and accuracy and diligence of the work provided; • Performs other duties as required.

Specific Functions

• Supports the Country Programming and Liaison Unit in achieving gender equality and gender mainstreaming in FAO Afghanistan work; • Plans and leads the overall gender components of the FAO programmes and projects at the national, regional, and provincial levels; • Initiates, leads and coordinates assessment, data collection, analysis and reporting with regard to overall gender mainstreaming and integration in the projects in order to generate evidence on gender and other social aspects of technical areas under the FAO mandate; • Leads capacity development activities including developing training and promotional materials, knowledge sharing, documenting good practices and lessons learned for gender-related issues; • Supports the FAO programme and project teams by strengthening awareness and capacities to work in a gender-responsive manner, by providing technical and strategic guidance, training, mentoring and monitoring to support all gender-related activities implementation; • Acts as FAO Afghanistan's gender focal point and support the Country Office (CO) colleagues in gender mainstreaming; participates in the regional gender focal point meetings and liaises with the RAP Gender Officer as and when needed; • Supports efficient coordination between FAO Regional Offices and headquarters for operational and coordination matters relevant to gender equality, mainstreaming and integration; • Liaises and coordinates with the relevant stakeholders, including UN agencies, in the areas of FAO's gender-related activities in the country; • Updates Country Office (CO) gender strategy and gender stocking in coordination with projects' gender focal points; • Contributes to the Country's Annual Report, country outcomes and other communication materials related to gender aspects; • Acts as FAO focal point at gender-related meetings, dialogues and other events as required; • Acts as secretary of country office women group meetings.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• National of the country of assignment. • Advanced university degree in Gender Studies, Social Sciences, Nutrition, Agricultural, Business Administration, Human Rights, Economics or any other field related to the work of the Organization. • One year of relevant experience in in gender analysis and gender mainstreaming across a range of rural livelihoods, resilience, and development programmes including nutrition and/or agriculture, rural development with special knowledge in gender mainstreaming, gender-sensitive value chains as well as gender and development, human rights, social affairs, political affairs or humanitarian affairs. • Working knowledge (proficient – level C) of the official language used for FAO communication with the country (English). • Working knowledge (proficient – level C) of the local language (Pashto and Dari).

Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions. • Extent and relevance of experience in programme/project development and management in particular in gender-related issues. • Understanding of the purpose and functions of technical programmes, operational guidelines and programme/project management procedures, preferably those adopted by the United Nations or FAO. • Ability to effectively support a large, multi-stakeholder project with results-based management. • Ability to deal with political, technical, and people management challenges, administer budgets and work effectively with all staff and with groups involved in the project. • Experience in designing, coordinating and implementing development progammes and projects. • Experience in organizing stakeholder meetings or workshops. • Ability to identify and resolve problems expeditiously and pragmatically through tact, initiative and sound judgment. • Extent and relevance of experience in coordinating and liaising with the relevant stakeholders. • Excellent report writing skills. • Excellent interpersonal communication and coordination skills, and proven ability to work constructively with a variety of stakeholders to achieve common goals. • Previous experience with the UN is considered a strong asset.