M&E and Community Mobiliser Specialist

Organizational Setting

FAO Afghanistan is investing, across all 34 provinces, in resilience reinforcing actions that focus on protecting agriculture livelihoods and local ecosystems, boosting local production of nutritious foods and cash-incomes, and safeguarding critical agriculture sectoral development gains achieved over the past couple of decades through revitalizing rural markets and economy. In 2022-2023, FAO will, under the life-saving assistance Outcome (1) of the UN Transitional Engagement Framework (TEF), focus on the following four priority actions: (i) Safeguarding Wheat Seed Security, (ii) Enhancing Local Production of Nutritious Food, (iii) Livestock Protection and Dairy Sector Support, and (iv) Restoring Irrigation Structures to Boost Cash Incomes. Additionally, FAO will contribute towards resilience building activities under Outcome 2 of the TEF.

Project Background

The Community-based Sustainable Land Forest Management in Afghanistan project is the six-year intervention of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) funded through the Global Environment Facility (GEF). This project aims to improve the sustainability of agriculture, forest, and land-use management through rehabilitating degraded forests and rangelands, enhancing and maintaining the livelihoods of Afghan rural communities in Bamyan, Badghis, Ghazni, Kunar, and Paktia provinces in Afghanistan by employing the community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) approach. The project has four major components: (i) capacity-building at the national, sub-national, and district levels for sustainable land and forest management; (ii) biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration in forest landscapes; (iii) community-based rangeland management; and (iv) knowledge management, monitoring, and evaluation.

The Participatory M&E/Gender-Youth/Indigenous Peoples Specialist will be responsible for providing in-depth country knowledge in his/her field. /he will provide technical inputs for project Outcome 1.1 and 1.2 – capacity building at national, sub-national and district levels for sustainable land and forest management (SLM/SFM) – and Outcome 4.1 – knowledge management and M&E.

The National Participatory M&E/Gender-Youth/Indigenous Peoples Specialist will contribute to inter alia: i) joint technical reports; ii) analyses; iii) capacity needs assessments; iv) the development of awareness-raising campaign materials; and v) the implementation of awareness-raising and training campaigns. A detailed work plan and deliverables will be finalized and agreed with the NPM and Project Preparation Grant (PPG) team members.

Reporting Lines

The Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation/Gender-Youth/Indigenous Peoples Community Mobiliser Specialist will be under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Afghanistan, and under the general guidance/supervision of the Project Senior Technical Advisor (STA). The position directly reports to the National Project Manager/National Professional Officer.

Technical Focus

Support the work of the GCP/AFG/084/GFF funded "Community-Based Sustainable Land and Forest Management in Afghanistan" project. The post is located in Kabul province. The project activities are implemented successfully, timely, and effectively and conform to the project's objectives. The position holder will ensure strong coordination, partnership and follow up with stakeholders as well as the beneficiaries.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Conduct training for local-level technical partners the facilitation of community-based planning and M&E for SLM/SFM as well as best practices for animal husbandry, rangeland management, forest conservation and sustainable resource use;
• Coordinate and support CBNRM planning and alternative livelihoods, mobilize participatory M&E;
• Work with the Knowledge Management (KM)/Communication/Awareness Specialist to develop and conduct a comprehensive and nationally-relevant awareness-raising campaign in local languages to raise awareness on the benefits of SLM/SFM practices and the importance of M&E systems;
• Develop training material and packages in support of developing participatory, community-based and gender-responsive SLM/SFM plans;
• Design a local level, participatory M&E system for rangeland, forest, biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration, taking into account literacy levels, gender balance and the local language context;
• Work with the Knowledge Management (KM)/Communication/Awareness Specialist to undertake participatory M&E within Badghis, Bamyan, Ghazni, Kunar and Paktya provinces with relevant partners using a learning-by-doing approach;
• Work with the Knowledge Management/Communication/Awareness Specialist to design a methodology and framework for the M&E system and the process of undertaking M&E activities;
• Work with the Knowledge Management/Communication/Awareness Specialist to consolidate and develop reports on the M&E system for rangeland, forest and biodiversity conservation as well as carbon sequestration, that will feed back into an established ‘knowledge hub’ within the ‘Centre of Excellence for Natural Resource Management’, as well as into the lessons learned;
• Contribute to the Mid-term Review (MTR) and Terminal Evaluation (TE), including the MTR and TE workshops.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree (Master) or University degree (Bachelor) in Social Science, Forestry, NRM, Watershed Management; or related area;
• For advanced university degree at least eight (8) years of relevant work experience in monitoring and evaluation, gender and youth mainstreaming, mobilizing indigenous people, agricultural/rural development sectors, including work experience in community-based natural resource management projects;
• For university degree at least ten (10) years of relevant work experience in monitoring and evaluation, gender and youth mainstreaming, mobilizing indigenous people, agricultural/rural development sectors, including work experience in community-based natural resource management projects;
• Experience working with international organizations, including INGOs, bilateral or multilateral agencies, and UN agencies is desirable;
• Working knowledge (level C) of English and local languages (Pashto and/or Dari);
• National of Afghanistan

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Ability to effectively coordinate an extensive, multi-stakeholder project with results-based management;
• Good written communication skills, including in emergency settings;
• Experience organizing stakeholder meetings or workshops at national and provincial level;
• Ability to establish and maintain good working relations with other staff/colleagues from different cultural backgrounds as well as with line departments, counterparts, and other stakeholders at the province level;
• Proficient in Microsoft Office package.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION