Gender and Social Inclusion Expert

Organizational Setting

The main aim of the FAO country offices, which are headed by an FAO Representative, is to assist governments to develop policies, programmes 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 Gender and Social Inclusion Expert will provide support to the project ,,Inclusive Rural Development and Sustainable Agriculture’’ implemented by the FAO from 2023 to 2027, in partnership with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture and the Ministry of Regional Development of Georgia, with the funding from the Austrian Development Cooperation.  The overarching goal of the project is to foster increased competitiveness within the agricultural sector, enhance food production, and concurrently alleviate rural poverty, with a specific emphasis on mitigating inequality. The project provides support for the effective execution of the Agriculture and Rural Development Strategy of Georgia 2021-2027.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Georgia (FAOR), the incumbent will report to Technical Advisor (Rural Development Officer). The position will function in close collaboration with the Lead Technical Officers and Gender Experts in Budapest, project team and the staff of FAO Georgia Representation.

Technical Focus

The Gender and Social Inclusion Expert will provide guidance and support to the above and other relevant projects, that she is assigned to, with all the gender and social inclusion related activities, ensuring that gender, youth and social inclusion aspects are mainstreamed to projects and lead the implementation.

Tasks and responsibilities

•     Lead the implementation of the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Action Plan, developed under the project, to guide the project gender and social inclusion mainstreaming.
•     Lead capacity development of the project team and implementing partners on gender mainstreaming and social inclusion principles and methods framed by the FAO Policy on gender equality , the FAO environmental and social management standards , and the FAO Gender mainstreaming and human rights-based approach. Guidelines for technical officers .  
•     Assess communication and mobilization channels with communities and ensure that sufficient channels are used to reach both women and men, as well as ethnic minorities, elderly, young men and women, disabled, and other vulnerable groups, as part of the mobilization for project workshops, trainings and events.
•     Coordinate with various stakeholders including government partners, local authorities, women’s and youth’s informal and formal groups, women’s and youth’s NGOs and CSOs, hold consultation meetings with national and local government representatives, who work on gender equality issues, to promote engagement of women and youth in policy and decision-making processes in rural development and sustainable agriculture. 
•     Provide guidance to the relevant project team on the development and implementation of youth specific and gender-responsive community support and small-scale investment support schemes to ensure that a minimum of 30 percent of beneficiaries are women
•     Design and conduct capacity development workshops on gender mainstreaming and social inclusion to increase the awareness of MEPA and local authorities to design and implement gender-responsive and socially inclusive agricultural and rural development priority directions with focus on rural youth considering Georgia’s local priorities on gender equality and empowerment of youth.
•     Provide technical support for the development and implementation of Community Development Action Plans, Municipal Rural Development Strategies and the discussion paper for policy dialogue under the project to ensure that they are gender responsive and socially inclusive. 
•     Provide guidance to project Implementing Partner staff to implement the gender-responsive capacity building plan reflecting training needs of women,and identify the needs of extension services.
•     Provide support to the implementation of Farmer Field School (FFS) and in farmer-to-farmer knowledge exchange and develop special training session on gender and social inclusion, as needed.
•     Support the development of FFS for women’s economic empowerment and/or women-only farmer field schools as deemed necessary.
•     Provide guidance with the implementation of trainings in a gender-responsive way, facilitate engagement of women and youth, collaborate with the local stakeholders to increase the visibility and reach of the capacity building activities. 
•     Contribute to the popularization of agricultural education in the rural schools and other educational institutions by engaging with various stakeholders including women’s informal and formal groups, women’s NGOs and CSOs.
•     Document the experiences, lessons learned and promising practices on social inclusion, specifically on gender mainstreaming and youth inclusion and empowerment, and develop case studies to be published and disseminated to capitalize from experiences in upcoming activities of FAO, national authorities and other stakeholders.
•     Provide technical guidance to other project activities related to family farming, youth engagement and other activities from gender, youth and social inclusion perspective.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements    

•     Advanced University degree (MSc/MA or higher level) in Gender Studies, Sociology, Project Management, Public Administration, Development Studies or related field.
•     Minimum 7 years of relevant professional experience in gender equality, gender mainstreaming, women’s empowerment, capacity building, research and analysis, policy review and development in international development programs/projects.
•     National of Georgia.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

•     Knowledge of United Nations and International Organizations’ administrative policies and procedures.
•     Strong knowledge and expertise in gender equality, gender mainstreaming, and women’s empowerment issues.
•     Experience in research, analysis, and policy development.
•     Good knowledge of common administrative and financial rules and regulations.
•     Good knowledge of communication and documentation standards. 
•     Display initiative and take responsibility for achieving agreed outputs within set deadlines and closely follow-up until successful outputs are achieved. 
•     Continue to seek new, innovative and improved methods and approaches for accomplishing the work assigned.
•     Identify and recommend remedial measures to address problems in systems design or implementation

Selection Criteria

•     Good knowledge of rural areas of Georgia and working knowledge of English and Georgian. 
•     Ability to work in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams is essential;
•     Ability to travel within Georgia

[1] Available at: https://www.fao.org/3/cb1583en/cb1583en.pdf     

[1] Available at: https://www.fao.org/policy-support/tools-and-publications/resources-details/en/c/1026868/

[1] Available at: http://www.fao.org/3/a-i6808e.pdf 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION