Accountability to Affected Population (AAP)/Gender Specialist

FAO’s approach to development assistance in Mindanao focuses on supporting the rehabilitation of agriculture and fisheries-based livelihoods, accelerating agriculture-based enterprises and increasing access to sustainable energy, and resilience to risk in municipalities affected by natural disasters and conflict. FAO interventions will include, among others\:

• Introduction of various productivity enhancing technologies to improve household incomes and promote sustainable agricultural practices.

• Technical assistance to government in reviewing existing policies that promote equitable agribusiness venture arrangements between farmers and agribusiness firms and capacity building activities for farmers that are anchored on the value chain approach.

• Capacity building on enterprise development and agribusiness that will allow farmers, fisherfolk and local government units to maximize potential market opportunities.

• Restoring and increasing the productivity of agriculture and fisheries-based livelihoods of smallholder farmers and marginalized fishers, decommissioned Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants and their families
Enhancing the competitiveness of farm households, particularly women, to establish and manage microenterprises

• Facilitating the establishment of agribusiness enterprises with production-market contract agreements or similar arrangements

The Accountability to Affected Population (AAP)/Gender Specialist will be under the overall guidance of the FAO Representative in the Philippines, general supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative (Programme), the direct supervision of the Project Team Leader and in collaboration with the Mindanao and Emergency Response and Preparedness Group Leader and relevant partners. The Accountability to Affected Population (AAP)/Gender Specialist will work closely with the regional and local officials of line agencies and local government units (LGUs) directly concerned with the implementation of the project, particularly in drawing their support and coordinating the activities of the project with the on-going programmes of their respective agencies.

Technical Focus

FAO has been implementing various projects in Mindanao which are guided by the FAO Mindanao Strategic Programme for Agriculture/Agribusiness and an emergency/rehabilitation project for Marawi City and other affected municipalities.

Tasks and responsibilities

The Accountability to Affected Population (AAP)/Gender Specialist will be responsible for the following tasks\:

AAP
• Assist in the elaboration of a sound AAP strategy, framework and tools for FAO’s emergency response in Mindanao, in particular, Cotabato, based on existing projects framework;
• Ensure that AAP principles are embedded in project/programme activities and cross-sharing of best available practices/lessons learned are being employed or practiced;
• Encourage the practice of AAP among partners and government counterparts by promoting the FAO guidelines and protocols; and
• Assist in linking AAP, gender and M&E strategy to project partners and counterparts;
• Monitor the implementation of AAP within the area of work coverage.

Gender

• Develop a gender strategy for the project or refine the strategy developed during project preparation as needed;
• Ensure that project activities that involve women are carried out at times and locations convenient for them;
• Assist other Project Specialists in organizing community-level training as needed concerning participation and gender issues and specific training for women in skills needed for the project (incorporating SEAGA for emergencies. See http\://www.fao.org/docrep/008/y5702e/y5702e00.htm);
• Provide technical guidance and support to relevant BARMM agencies based on technical expertise;
• Work with other project staff, partner NGOs and the community to develop and maintain an M&E system that integrate gender concerns;
• Ensure that the project’s M&E system can provide gender-disaggregated data and indicators that can be used to measure the gender sensitivity of project activities. The system should be designed to provide staff, partner NGOs and the community with timely information that can be used to adjust and reformulate the project in the course of implementation, if needed;
• Analyse participation of men and women in the project and their access to and control over the management and resources. This includes assessing types of involvement\: decision-making, financial, participation on committees, management, maintenance, and so on;
• Organize meetings, workshops, or both to inform project staff and communities of M&E findings.

Others

• Provide regular feedback to FAO Emergency Coordination Office in Manila, Project Manager and relevant programme staff/personnel and government counterparts;
• Ensure close liaison with the communication team in FAO Representation, especially in producing informative pieces and materials for DRR, gender, M&E and communication with affected populations; and
• Carry out any other relevant duties within his/her technical competence as may be requested by FAO.

• Advanced University degree in agriculture, disaster risk reduction or management, development studies or rural development with complementary knowledge in development planning.
• The candidate must have a proven experience in development planning, process facilitation and in participative training and extension methodologies, gender issues, and a good knowledge of the agriculture production systems and rural livelihoods in Central Mindanao and Bangsamoro areas;
• Language requirement\: Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and Tagalog
• A national of Philippines

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Must be familiar with the local rural setting in Central Mindanao and Bangsamoro areas;
• Ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team is of importance as is the ability to take leadership when appropriate;
• 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.