National Gender and Development Specialist

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through the FAO Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.

FAO is a specialized agency of the UN that leads internation efforts to defeat hunger. FAO's goal is to achieve food security for all and ensure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With 195 Members (194 countries and the European Union), FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.

The primary goal of FAO Country Offices is to aid governments in creating policies, programs, and projects that secure food security and diminish hunger and malnutrition. They also support the development of agriculture, fisheries, and forestry, ensuring the sustainable use of environmental and natural resources.

FAO Ghana is implementing two projects aiming at strengthening climate resilience and improving livelihoods of rural communities in the Upper East and Savannah regions: Strengthening Resilience of vulnerable Communities in Northern Ghana Through Climate-Resilient Livelihoods and Integrated Environmental Practices and Increasing Climate Resilient and Improving Farmers Livelihoods in the Upper East Region. The projects aim to improve food and nutrition security and sustainable livelihoods for vulnerable rural farming populations in four selected districts of the Savannah and Upper East regions of Ghana. The overall goal of the projects is to contribute to improved food and nutrition security and resilience of vulnerable households. The projects will also provide technical assistance to the Government of Ghana to promote early warning and early action systems that will empower communities to respond proactively to climatic changes. Both projects place strong emphasis on gender equality and social inclusion in line with FAO’s Policy on Gender Equality 2020–2030 and specific requirements of the donors – the Kingdom of Norway and Canada. 

Reporting Lines

The National Gender and Development Specialist will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Ghana, the technical guidance of the Lead Technical Officer (LTO), the direct supervision of the Project Manager and in close cooperation with the International Gender Expert and other technical experts.

Technical Focus

The incumbent will provide operational and technical support in implementing the projects’ joint gender workplan, to ensure effective implementation, tracking, and reporting of gender-related projects activities.

Tasks and responsibilities

•    Assist in the implementation of projects’ gender-related activities, including support to training, sensitization campaigns, and the integration of gender aspects in Farmer Field Schools (FFS), Village Savings and Loan Schemes (VSLAs), livestock and fisheries management practices.
•    Assist in the preparation and delivery of gender-sensitive training sessions on topics such as climate-smart agriculture, integrated aquaculture-livestock systems, early warning systems and financial literacy.
•    Contribute to the development and review of training materials, ensuring that gender dimensions are incorporated.
•    Provide inputs to internal coordination meetings, monitoring missions and stakeholder consultations related to gender components of the projects.
•    Provide support in organizing and documenting women-focused community activities, including those led by women’s groups, Community Based Organizations or Dimitra Clubs.
•    In close collaboration with M&E Specialist, support collecting and organizing sex- and age-disaggregated data. 
•    Support the gender-responsive design and analysis of M&E tools such as needs assessments, baseline surveys, training pre/post-tests, and beneficiary selection.
•    Support the development of indicators and templates for tracking gender-related outputs and outcomes across projects.
•    Contribute to the preparation of gender inputs for progress updates, quarterly reports, and donor-specific progress reports.
•    Liaise with the Communication Specialist to ensure visibility of women’s participation and leadership in projects activities.
•    Collect and document success stories, case studies and other gender-related visibility and communications materials.
•    Travel to projects sites to support M&E, communication and training activities. 
•    Maintain close working communication with the International Gender Expert and Project Manager.
•    Other tasks assigned by the supervisor.

FAO Standards and guidelines:

• Liaison with OCC will be maintained, either directly or through an agreed focal point/coordinator, to ensure compliance with OCC standards, aligned messaging, and appropriate review and clearance processes.
• All communication materials will follow FAO clearance processes and comply with FAO standards, including:

FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31: https://www.fao.org/strategic-framework/en 
FAO social media policy and guidelines: https://www.fao.org/2/socialmedia 
Social Media Branding Guidelines: https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cb5044en 
FAOSTYLE: https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cb8081en 
FAO terminology: http://www.fao.org/faoterm 
FAO Names Of Countries: https://www.fao.org/nocs/en 
Story guidelines, Story template, UN map standards, FAO logo policy and related branding guidelines (available to staff).
• Further guidance regarding FAO communications, policies and procedures can be found through the FAO intranet, OCC section.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    University degree in gender studies, rural development, sociology, social sciences, agriculture, or related field.
•    At least four years of relevant experience in supporting gender or community-based rural development work.
•    Working knowledge of English.
•    National of Ghana.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills  

•    Demonstrated understanding of gender issues in agriculture, resilience or rural development.
•    Field experience in northern Ghana (Upper East or Savannah regions) is a strong asset.
•    Ability to conduct fieldwork in rural settings.
•    Familiarity with FAO tools and methodologies on gender is an advantage.
•    Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
•    Experience in working with women’s groups, farmer organizations and civil society is desirable.
•    Experience in working with the fisheries communities is an asset. 
•    Knowledge of the local languages spoken in northern Ghana is an advantage. 
•    Excellent attention to detail.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION