Gender Specialist

Organizational Context

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Representation in Somalia assists the national government in developing policies and strategies to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to food security, hunger reduction, agricultural development, and sustainable resource management. FAO's work in Somalia addresses national priorities, including recurrent emergencies, and encompasses a broad range of technical support in areas like policy, livestock, crop production, natural resource management, nutrition, value chains, food security analysis, and water/land information management. The organization also implements emergency, resilience-building, and development interventions through its field offices and staff, in partnership with government ministries.

Job Purpose

The Gender Specialist will be responsible for implementing the action plan derived from a gender stocktaking exercise. This exercise evaluated the extent to which gender is mainstreamed into FAO's operations in Somalia. The specialist's primary role is to ensure effective mainstreaming of gender considerations into the design, formulation, and implementation of FAO projects and programmes within the country. This involves translating assessment findings into actionable strategies to enhance gender equality and women's empowerment across all relevant activities, contributing to more inclusive and effective development outcomes.

Responsibilities

The Gender Specialist will review FAO's Gender Equality Policy and standard operating procedures to inform gender priorities within the Country Programming Framework (CPF). They will coordinate the operationalization of the gender stocktaking action plan, monitoring progress against identified gaps and opportunities. The role involves assessing staff capacity needs on gender mainstreaming, providing training, and contributing to M&E reporting on gender outcome indicators. The specialist will identify and advise on potential donors supporting gender equality and women's empowerment, and lead context-specific gender analyses to develop sector-specific gender action plans, integrating themes like climate change. Responsibilities include developing, monitoring, and reviewing project-level gender action plans with clear indicators, assessing opportunities for integrating gender-responsive and transformative approaches in ongoing and new projects, and ensuring the inclusion of sex-disaggregated data in monitoring and reporting. The specialist will also build the capacity of FAO personnel, government, and partners in gender mainstreaming, document lessons learned, prepare technical briefs and reports, and represent FAO in gender-related forums.

Work Experience

A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience is required in programming related to gender equality, women's empowerment, and inclusion, particularly within fragile contexts. This experience should align with the educational requirements.

Skills

Key skills include results focus, teamwork, communication, building effective relationships, and knowledge sharing. The candidate must have experience in conducting gender assessments and integrating gender-responsive approaches into programmes and projects. Abilities required include developing gender action plans, identifying capacity gaps, and delivering gender mainstreaming training. Excellent communication, writing, and reporting skills are essential, along with familiarity with Project Cycle Management, strong organizational and planning abilities, and robust teamwork and interpersonal skills.

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