Gender and Water Specialist

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 member nations, 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 our values. FAO has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and FAO, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination
• All selected candidates, therefore, will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
• All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality
• The incumbent may be re-assigned to different activities and/or duty stations depending on the evolving needs of the Organization

Organizational Setting

Within the “Implementing the 2030 Agenda for water efficiency/productivity and water sustainability in NENA countries – GCP/RNE/009/SWE” programme, output 2 on water productivity, country offices are supposed to undertake gender-responsive water assessments to assess the relative situation of women and men in different communities regarding water access, governance, and use in order to ensure that water resources are governed in a way that is sustainable and inclusive in the projects areas and that women and men are benefitting equitably from these resources.

Under the supervision of the programme Chief Technical Advisor, FAORNE and the Land and Water officer in SNE, with direct coordination with the Gender and Programme Specialist in FAO RNE, and in light of the regional “Methodological Note of the Gender-responsive Water Assessments” the Specialist should conduct field gender and water assessments that should work as key programmatic tools for understanding the lives and experiences of women and men, girls and boys and their circumstances, needs, roles, opportunities, barriers, and the gender and power relations in which they operate as well as identifying the factors that contribute to the inclusion or exclusion of individuals, and indicating what needs to change and how change might be brought about to ensure equitable access of water resources. The gender-responsive water assessment will serve to outline areas where future investments and programme interventions are needed to support advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment on the field levels with regards to water/agriculture programs. The gender-responsive water assessment should provide a thorough field understanding of the following areas:

• Women and men different access and control over productive water;
• Women and men different access and control over non-productive water;
• Women and men opportunities and challenges in accessing water and food related services and resources;
• Women and men decision making capacities over the household and community resources;
• Women and men paid and unpaid productive, reproductive, and community work;
• Women and men priorities and expectations with regards to water projects and interventions.

Reporting Lines

Under the general supervision of the Coordinator of the FAO Subregional Office for North Africa and the technical supervision of the Technical Officer in charge of Land and Water and the CTA of the project, and in close collaboration with the project teams in the three North African beneficiary countries of the project

Technical Focus

Gender specialist

Tasks and responsibilities

• Engage with country project team and regional project team as well as country partners and governments officials to do a desk review on water and gender in the country, more specifically on: i) current relevant SIDA project documents and reports; ii) Country gender assessment; iii) National strategies and documents on gender and water;
• In close coordination with the RNE Gender and Programme Specialist and the Chief Technical Advisor and the land and water officer FAOSNE, develop the field assessment’s ToR, the specific data collection tools, and the data collection timeline and guidelines in light of the Regional Methodological Note on gender-responsive water assessments;
• Lead the primary data collection on the field level through surveys, KII with government and partner staff, FGDs, and individual interviews with beneficiaries;
• In close coordination with the RNE Gender and Programme Specialist, analyse the secondary and primary information and data, and finalise the gender-responsive water assessment report and set of programme recommendations/action plans as applicable;
• In close coordination with the RNE Gender and Programme Specialist, conduct gender capacity building trainings to the national teams from FAO, partners, and government staff to enhance the gender capacities in the country with regards to water efficiency and sustainability;
• Perform other related duties as requested.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced degree in gender studies, development studies, social sciences or equivalent.
• Excellent knowledge of written/spoken French and Arabic. Knowledge of English is an asset.
• At least 5 year of relevant experience in social studies, assessments, agriculture, rural development; knowledge of gender equality at the field and institutional level; experience of leading the development of researches/reports/policies, particularly focusing on gender equality. Experience working with the United Nations system and experience in working on water and agriculture projects are assets.
• Excellent written and oral skills in French.
• National of Tunisia 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

• Experience in agriculture
• Experience in international development cooperation, preferably with FAO / UN organizations
• Experience with organization of conferences and events
• Excellent organizational and communication skills
• Team player, ability to work under minimum guidance
• Preferably experience with FAO rules and systems (GRMS, travel)
• Good knowledge of FAO’s PWS system
• Food knowledge of Typo3 backend system
• Excellent analytical skills and proven track record in research and gender studies;
• Excellent organisational, writing, and communication skills;
• Ability to work independently under tight deadlines;
• Ability to work effectively with people of different national and cultural background.

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