Legal Expert

Organizational Setting

The Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) program is an initiative of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) funded by the European Union and implemented through a partnership involving the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Cooperation Center for Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD), the International Center for Agricultural Research (CIFOR) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The first phase (phase 1) of the programme ran from 2017 to July 2024 and the second phase (phase 2) began in August 2024.
The overall aim of the SWM Programme is to help conserve biodiversity while improving the living conditions of local people who depend on the use of natural ecosystems and wildlife and reducing the zoonotic risks associated with wildlife. Specifically, the SWM Programme aims to preserve wildlife and ecosystems and improve the food security and livelihoods of the Indigenous Peoples and local communities who depend on these resources. It operates in a set of key socio-ecosystems (forest, wetland and savannah), promoting scalable models for sustainable and legal wildlife management. These objectives are achieved through activities implemented within five outputs: four interconnected outputs (O1 to O4) are intended to consolidate and enrich the models and tools co-designed during the first phase of the Programme, in order to achieve the specific objectives at the scale of the pilot sites; a fifth cross-cutting output (O5) is intended to support the vertical scaling-up at national level of models, tools and approaches developed by the Programme that have proven their effectiveness, in order to increase their impact and sustainability.
In Namibia, the SWM Programme is implemented in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund through the Community Conservancy (CC) project promoting the model: “Community Conservancies as a means to ensure ecological connectivity and socio-economic sustainability”. In addition to field-based activities in 13 community conservancies, the project also works at national level to support legal and institutional frameworks relevant to sustainable wildlife management. To this end, several activities were carried out by the SWM Programme during phase 1 in Namibia to improve the legal and institutional framework for community-based wildlife management, including the compilation and analysis of relevant legal texts using the SWM Programme Legal Diagnostic Tools. The results were presented to stakeholders during a workshop in Windhoek on 22 May 2025. Following valuable feedback from stakeholders, the results were revised and sent to the Ministry of Justice for final validation and publication on the SWM Programme Legal Hub, followed by an official Legal Hub Launch Event.

Reporting Lines

General supervision of the mission will be provided by the FAO National Representative in Namibia and the SWM Programme Namibia Site Coordinator, while direct technical supervision will be provided by the FAO Legal Officer for the SWM Programme at FAO’s LEGN office (Rome).

Technical Focus

The Legal Expert will support the official publication of and official high-level launching event for the SWM Programme Legal Hub profile page for Namibia. The expert will work in close collaboration and coordination with the Regional Coordinator of the SWM Programme, the SWM Programme Government Focal Point, the Site Coordinator of the SWM Programme in Namibia, the SWM Programme Regional Legal Expert, and all other staff and experts involved as necessary.

Tasks and responsibilities

More specifically, the legal expert will carry out the following tasks (non-exhaustive list) in close coordination with the government focal point.

•     Keep the Namibia SWM Programme Legal Hub platform updated using legal diagnostic tools (LDTs). Specifically, 
o    Facilitate institutional dialogue with and across Ministries to identify key priority areas needing legal assessment based on updated Legal diagnostic Tools. 
o    Oversee and contribute to the identification, collection and compilation of existing policies and corresponding legislation/regulations relevant to the identified sectors, at national and local level. 
o    Coordinate, review and update the compilation of the above policies and legislation in the relevant diagnostic tools for their upload into the new platform for the Namibian Legal Hub. 
o    Support the development of the Legal Hub artificial intelligence (AI) tool for Namibia 
•     With the help of SWM Programme communication team, develop content for out-reach material/knowledge products and communication plan tailored to different target groups highlighting key results from the analysis contained on the Legal Hub. 
•     Based on identified priorities, conduct capacity building and awareness-raising activities on legal framework applicable to community-based natural resources management based on the Legal Hub content for various stakeholders. 
•     Support policy and legal reform initiatives as required and requested, including any legal reform initiatives relating to SWM Programme topic areas. 
•     Support and advise on the development of intersectoral working group(s) for legal reform initiatives relevant for sustainable management of wildlife. 
•     Support activities aimed at harmonisation and alignment of national policies and legislation to regional-level documents and priorities. 
•     Liaise with Namibia government officials as needed as needed and requested to maintain SWM Programme Legal Hub and associated activities. 
 

FAO Standards and guidelines:

•     Liaison with OCC will be maintained, either directly or through an agreed focal point/coordinator, to ensure compliance with OCC standards, aligned messaging, and appropriate review and clearance processes. 
•     All communication materials will follow FAO clearance processes and comply with FAO standards, including: 
FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31: https://www.fao.org/strategic-framework/en   
FAO social media policy and guidelines: https://www.fao.org/2/socialmedia   
Social Media Branding Guidelines: https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cb5044en  
FAOSTYLE https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cb8081en   
FAO terminology http://www.fao.org/faoterm   
FAO Names of Countries https://www.fao.org/nocs/en      
Story guidelines, Story template, UN map standards, FAO logo policy and related branding guidelines (available to staff). 
•     Further guidance regarding FAO communications, policies and procedures can be found through the FAO intranet, OCC section.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements
   
•     Advanced University Degree in Law, or any related field of study
•     5 years of relevant experience in conducting legal review and analysis, particularly related to environmental law and wildlife law
•     Working knowledge (level C) of English

FAO Core Competencies

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

Selection Criteria

•     Intricate knowledge of the Namibia legal system, particularly Namibian environmental legislation and customary law
•     3-5 years of experience working in or with government agencies 
•     Excellent oral presentation skills and experience with capacity building and training
•     Proficiency in Namibian languages