2301884

Social Protection Gender Specialist

Job Posting: 23/Jun/2023

Closure Date: 07/Jul/2023, 9:59:00 PM

Organizational Unit : FAPHI – FAO Representation in The Philippines

Job Type: Non-staff opportunities

Type of Requisition : PSA (Personal Services Agreement)

Grade Level : N/A

Primary Location: Home-Based

Duration : 98 days spread from 4.5 months (1 Aug-15 Dec 2023)

Post Number : N/A

FAO seeks gender, geographical and linguistic diversity in its staff and international consultants in order to best serve FAO Members in all regions.

•  FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background and culture
•  Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented Members and person with disabilities are encouraged to apply
•  Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct, and to uphold FAO’s values
•  FAO, as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is incompatible with its status, objectives and mandate, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination
•  All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
•  All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality
•  FAO staff are subject to the authority of the Director-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the Organization.

Organizational Setting

For more than four decades, FAO has been working with the Government of the Philippines, civil society, community-based organizations and the private sector to address challenges in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector. Joint efforts have included increasing sustainability in agricultural production, promoting value-adding practices, improving post-harvest management, enhancing productivity and increasing the resilience of agriculture-based livelihoods to natural disasters, climatic hazards and armed conflict.

FAO recognizes the critical role social protection plays in strengthening its work in food security, nutrition, agriculture, poverty eradication, and rural development, as well as in its efforts to enhance the resilience of livelihoods to shocks and stresses. In 2022, the Philippines ranked first in the global risk index, which measures the exposure of a country’s population to potential impact of typhoons, droughts, floods, and other natural events and the vulnerability of populations to suffer due to the likelihood of loss and damages.

In recent years, FAO in the Philippines has been working towards changing the way it responds to disasters by using early warning and early action (EWEA) interventions, more commonly known as anticipatory action (AA). Linking anticipatory action to social protection, in a humanitarian response, means making better use of existing infrastructure to reach and proactively support vulnerable populations at scale, ahead of forecasted shocks. Global research has shown, that this shift in strategy has the potential to prevent negative coping mechanisms (e.g. selling livelihood assets and pulling out children from school, etc.), build the resilience of households, protect development gains on education, health and nutrition, break the cycle of poverty and deter the growing dependence on humanitarian aid.

In general, men and women are affected by rural poverty and vulnerability in different ways due to their gender-specific roles, constraints and capacities in agriculture and rural livelihoods. Gender discrimination and inequality plays a significant role in pushing rural women into poverty and food insecurity and trapping them there. To address this, a gender-sensitive approach to emergencies requires more attention to women’s and men’s specific needs in the context of protecting and mitigating the impact on livelihoods and access to cash-based interventions that will ultimately help both men and women to overcome individual and household poverty and food insecurity. In 2018/2019, FAO responded to the threat of EL Nino in two areas in Mindanao: Datu Saudi Ampatuan in Maguindanao province and Pigcawayan in North Cotabato province. Women’s farmers’ cooperatives received a mix of ducks and goats – some 2,500 in total – to produce eggs, milk and meat, and to shore up their asset base. The animals were kept at community farms where all families worked together to rear their livestock and share the gains. The farm also served as a training hub where men and women could learn to integrate crop and livestock farming in ways that would minimize the impact of drought. There are also cash-based interventions that were implemented by FAO in response to disasters. However, there seems to be a need to deepen the analysis, as well as understanding of gender gaps, and translate this to specific recommendations and application moving forward.

FAO is implementing a regional project for “Increasing capacities and scale for Anticipatory Action including through social protection systems” in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and Local Government Units in Mindanao with the support of the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO). Milestones have been achieved in terms of influencing social protection policy frameworks, strengthening coordination mechanisms and developing a Roadmap to establish an Adaptive and Shock Responsive Social Protection (ASRSP) system. On its second year, emphasis has been in mainstreaming and building the evidence through pilot-testing flood and typhoon anticipatory action. To date, DSWD is in the process of designing its AA pilot project, by using the national poverty registry (Listahanan 3) to target 4,000 of the poorest HHs. The geographic areas of testing will be a) Municipality of Midsayap in North Cotabato province, Region XIII; b) province of Surigao Del Norte in Region XIII.

To achieve a more gender-sensitive outcome, it is recommended that the principle of gender equality be mainstreamed consistently in programme objectives and along all the stages of the programme cycle: design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. In situations where rural women are more vulnerable to poverty and deprivation, women-specific interventions should be undertaken. FAO has worked extensively on this area: a toolkit of three technical guides for gender-sensitive social protection, covering cash transfers and public works was published in 2018, and a conceptual framework on gender transformative social protection is being rolled out in 2023.

Reporting Lines

The Social Protection Gender Specialist will report to the Assistant FAOR (Programme).

Technical Focus

The incumbent will enhance FAO’s role in mainstreaming gender-responsive and gender-transformative approaches in the Anticipatory Action and Adaptive and Shock Responsive Social Protection (AA – ASRSP) work of FAO Philippines.

Tasks and responsibilities

More specifically, the consultant will:

•  Assess and identify areas for mainstreaming gender-responsive and gender transformative approaches in the on-going anticipatory action and shock-responsive social protection projects;
•  Prepare a workplan aligned with the existing workplans to integrate the application of the FAO’s gender tool kit;
•  Contribute to building the capacity of FAO programme personnel, national government and local government unit partners to mainstream gender and provide practical application of FAO’s Gender toolkit in ongoing AA ASRSP projects, including those in Mindanao;
•  Provide technical guidance and recommendations for strengthening the gender-responsiveness of national social protection systems and policies;
•  Document lessons learned which would feed into the guidance materials as practical field experiences;
•  Prepare a Report on Gender Mainstreaming in AA and ASRSP in the Philippines capturing lessons learned and key recommendations to mainstream gender in the stages of the programme cycle.
•  Contribute to knowledge sharing, including through internal learning sessions organized by the social protection team;
•  Support inclusion of social protection in the country gender assessment;
•  Maintain regular contact with potential resource partners and develop a concept note for resource mobilization, in close consultation with partners in the country.
•  Organize a workshop with key stakeholders in the country on a gender-responsive and gender transformative approach to social protection, particularly shock-responsive social protection;
•  Regularly liaise with ESP and RAP teams.
•  Perform other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•  Post graduate degree in economics, gender, social protection, DRM and climate change or in related areas of work of the Organization;
•  At least seven (7) years of experience in the UN system or development organizations;
•  Working knowledge of English and preferably another FAO official language;
•  A National of the Philippines or resident in the country with a regular work permit.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

•  Familiarity with gender and social protection for rural communities
•  General knowledge and skills in the use of standard office software, such as MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point).

Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

•  FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing).
•  Incomplete applications will not be considered. If you need help or have queries, please contact: Careers@fao.org
•  Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted.
•  Only language proficiency certificates from UN accredited external providers and/or FAO language official examinations (LPE, ILE, LRT) will be accepted as proof of the level of knowledge of languages indicated in the online applications.
•  For other issues, visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/
•  Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances.

HOW TO APPLY

•  To apply, visit the recruitment website at Jobs at FAO and complete your online profile. We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, and language skills
•  Candidates are requested to attach a letter of motivation to the online profile
•  Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application
•  Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/
•  Candidates may be requested to provide performance assessments and authorization to conduct verification checks of past and present work, character, education, military and police records to ascertain any and all information which may be pertinent to the employment qualifications
•  Incomplete applications will not be considered
•  Personal information provided on your application may be shared within FAO and with other companies acting on FAO’s behalf to provide employment support services such as pre-screening of applications, assessment tests, background checks and other related services. You will be asked to provide your consent before submitting your application. You may withdraw consent at any time, by withdrawing your application, in such case FAO will no longer be able to consider your application
•  Only applications received through the FAO recruitment portal will be considered
•  Your application will be screened based on the information provided in your online profile
•  We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline date.

If you need help, or have queries, please contact: Careers@fao.org

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