The Organization
The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people's lives. The Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation (https://alliancebioversityciat.org/ )
With novel partnerships, the Alliance generates evidence and mainstreams innovations to transform food systems and landscapes so that they sustain the planet, drive prosperity, and nourish people.
The Alliance is a member of the CGIAR Consortium (www.cgiar.org) a global research partnership for a food-secure future.
About the Project
Beans for Women Empowerment (Beans4Women) is a six-year project funded by the Global Affairs Canada and implemented by the Pan Africa Bean Research Alliance, PABRA under the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. Beans4Women aims at strengthening the gender equality, agency in decision-making, and resource rights of women and girls active in the bean sector in three conflict-prone provinces of Eastern DRC. The project focuses on three areas that most affect the degree of women's empowerment in the bean sector, namely the business environment around climate-smart agriculture, the participation of women in bean sector leadership and decision-making, and the rights of women to productive resources like land and nutritious food. Eastern DRC. The project will build on partnerships with INERA and development partners to benefit 2 million people, 60% of whom will be women and girls, in poor rural communities in Eastern DRC and will indirectly benefit 10 million people over the longer term.
The Position Summary
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), provide an opportunity to strengthen women's land tenure security and promote gender equality in relation to land and property rights. Goals such as Goal 1 (Eliminating Poverty), Goal 2 (Food Security), Goal 5 (Gender Equality and Empowering Women and Girls), Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities), Goal 15 (Terrestrial Ecosystems), and Goal 16 (Peace and Justice) have land indicators attached to them to measure progress. However, there are potential barriers to equal legal rights for men and women, including discriminatory or poorly drafted land laws, family laws, civil laws at the central or local level, and conflicting legal and regulatory frameworks. Customary practices and socially defined gender roles often result in male-dominated decision-making systems for collectively held land, which can weaken women's land rights. Meaningful participation of women in governance goes beyond mere presence at meetings. It requires creating safe spaces, respecting their voices equally, and ensuring they can speak freely without social or familial influence. Addressing these challenges and enforcing legal changes can significantly improve women's land tenure security.
Position Duties and responsibilities
- Conduct a socio-legal analysis consisting of a desk review and original data collection to identify the policies, legislation, and their implementation, as well as customary laws and norms that pose barriers to women's access to and control over land in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); identify tools, approaches, procedures and policies, that can be adopted to support women's access to and control over land.
- Develop a plan of action to address barriers to women's land rights in North Kivu, South Kivu and Tanganyika.
- Build consensus around priority recommendations amongst key stakeholders that enhance gender equality in land governance in targeted provinces and at the country level.
- Identify and forge partnerships with government agencies, traditional authorities, NGOs, community-based organizations, and women's associations or groups whose work focuses on land to support collective action to support gender-equal tenure.
- Customize, deploy and monitor contextually appropriate gender transformative approaches addressing identified normative barriers to women's land rights.
- Develop and implement measures for inclusive land governance (e.g., community land development committees, gender-sensitive village decision-making by-laws, behavior change communications, capacity strengthening, legal clinics).
- Develop and deploy training tools to strengthen capacities of national programs and partners and development practitioners to support women's land rights.
- Create a network of champions in key institutions to support women's land rights.
- Contribute to paper and report writing.
- Perform other tasks as determined by the project leader and closely collaborate with other project and PABRA team members.
Requirements
- Masters in land management, land economics, gender studies, sociology, public policy, population studies, law, or related fields.
- Fluency in French and English (oral and written) is mandatory.
- Formal training in gender analysis and gender planning and demonstrated expertise in mainstreaming gender in projects and programs, especially in specific areas of intervention.
- Five to seven years' experience working with government institutions and international or non-governmental organizations supporting gender and development work in the specific area of intervention.
- Familiarity with gender analysis tools and methodologies in land and gender.
- Solid professional experience writing policy papers and legal and gender analysis reports.
- Knowledge of land laws, policies, or regulations related to women's rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
- Experience in research and conducting gender analyses.
- Strong analytical skills and the ability to schedule work efficiently and meet deadlines, including as part of a virtual team.
- Excellent problem-solving skills, with the ability to envision creative solutions.
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain complex concepts in an accessible way for international public audiences.
- Masters in land management, land economics, gender studies, sociology, public policy, population studies, law, or related fields.