PNUD recruits 01 Programme Officer
National Consultant- Programme Officer
Advertised on behalf of : UN WOMEN
Location : Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA
Application Deadline : 13-May-19 (Midnight New York, USA)
Additional Category : Gender Equality
Type of Contract : Individual Contract
Post Level : National Consultant
Languages Required : English
Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start) 20 May-2019
Duration of Initial Contract : 6 Months with possible extension
Expected Duration of Assignment : 6 Months with possible extension
Background
UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide. Globally, it works to make the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals a reality for women and girls and stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on four strategic priorities: Women lead, participate and benefit equally from governance systems; women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy; all women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence; and women and girls contribute to and have greater influence in building sustainable peace and resilience, and benefit equally from the prevention of natural disasters and conflicts and humanitarian action. In Ethiopia, UN Women is working on four priority areas: increasing women’s leadership and participation, ending violence against women and girls; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; and making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting.
Aligned to UN Women Ethiopia Strategic Note (2017-2020), Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) interventions focus on creating opportunities for women living in rural and urban areas by promoting women’s access and control over productive resources such as land, climate resilient agriculture and agricultural technologies, finances and know-how to ensure that they are economically empowered and increasingly benefit from economic development initiatives, programs and reforms in Ethiopia. These strategic focuses have also been translated through its Joint Program on Women Economic Empowerment (JP RWEE) and the newly designed program on Climate Smart Agriculture and Agri- Business (CSAAB).
The programs are designed in recognition of rural women’s key role in the development of Ethiopian economy by providing a considerable proportion of agricultural labor force, in food production and nutrition, and performing most of the unpaid care work, thereby supporting reproduction of the Ethiopian society. Though agriculture remains one of the most important areas of women’s work in Ethiopia, yet women farmers face key structural barriers that limit their access to land, information, finance, infrastructure, technologies, extension services and markets. Women still have less access than men to resources and climate change adaptation mechanisms. Closing the gender gap in access to resources and climate smart agricultural and agri- business technologies through informed investments that remove these barriers represents a great opportunity for rural women’s economic empowerment, overall economic development and societal resilience to climate change.
Specific to agri-businesses value chains, women/girls’ farmers in general do not benefit from the full value of their produce and are in a disadvantaged position in the most financially rewarding stages of the value chain, namely processing and marketing. Thus, promoting opportunities for women farmers to participate in, and move up value chain will require supporting women farmers to form market associations or cooperatives, and strengthening their capacity to meaningfully participate in the agricultural value chain and move from production to aggregation, processing and distribution.
Understanding the need to enhance the effectiveness of ongoing WEE programs on women economic empowerment in agricultural sector, specifically in the agribusiness value chain, UN Women Ethiopia is planning to recruit an Agricultural Economist. This ToR is therefore prepared to guide the recruitment and inform the Agricultural Economist about the ongoing WEE interventions and main responsibilities related to technical support required from the consultancy.
Duties and Responsibilities
Under the direct supervision of the WEE Program Analyst of UN Women, the Agricultural Economist will provide technical support to the WEE team and implementing partners as following:
Capacity Building
-Conduct value chain analysis of selected climate smart agricultural commodities that women can successfully engage with for enhancing sustainability and resilience of their livelihoods,
-Based the analysis findings, work with women and girl’s agri-business groups/cooperatives and support implementing partners in effective engagement with targeted women/girls in developing of successful agribusiness,
-Providing trainings to WEE team and partners on development of sustainable agribusiness value chains and marker development strategies in the context of women in climate smart agriculture sector
-Support rural women agribusinesses (milk processing, cattle /sheep and goat fattening, and grain production) on production, aggregation, processing and distribution/ marketing activities/ in the context of promoting climate smart agriculture practices.
Partnership Building
-Assist WEE team to identify potential stakeholders/partners/ who could provide women/girls with feasible climate smart agricultural technologies, raw materials(inputs) and sustainable source of finance for their agribusinesses,
-Support WEE team in working with private entities interested in providing agricultural value chain and market development services through different public-private and other value chain stakeholders collaboration arrangements,
-Participate in the appraisal and selection of project proposals to be submitted by potential CSO partners working on agribusiness value chains and climate smart agriculture activities,
-Closely work with WEE team and partners in launching and implementation of Gender Transformative Climate Smart Agriculture and Agri-Business
Program in Oromia.
Resource mobilization
-In collaboration with WEE team and UN Women management, develop concept notes for a potential women economic empowerment program in the context of the Ethiopian agriculture sector, based on the WEE programs and lessons learned,
-Work with the WEE team in developing program/project proposals in response to potential resource mobilization opportunities including calls for proposals and other emerging opportunities.
Research and Communication
-Closely work with WEE team in conducting planned researches and reviewing findings on women friendly climate smart agriculture practices and technologies; existing practices, gaps, external barriers and opportunities for women to access and benefit from undergoing climate smart agriculture practices, livestock technologies, land and innovative financial and non-financial services
-Support WEE team and researchers in analyzing research findings and developing policy briefs on agricultural mechanization and gender and advocacy/policy dialogue/ activities and on the results of the above-mentioned researches
-Support policy dialogues planned to be conducted based on the analysis findings and policy briefs
-Assist the WEE team in documentation of results and writing periodic and annual reports,
-Perform other duties as may be requested by the supervisor and deputy representative.
Competencies
-Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards
-Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN Women;
-Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
-Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
-Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.
Required Skills and Experience
Education
-Master’s degree Agricultural-Economics, Agricultural Business, and/or related fields of studies in Agriculture and Value Chain Development and Climate -Smart Agriculture;
-Strong knowledge of Ethiopian agriculture, modern agricultural technologies and related policies and development packages is desirable requirement for this assignment
Experience and skills
-A minimum of six years professional experience in agribusiness value chain development and climate smart agriculture related programs and projects; at least three years of working experiences with women farmers and their organizations/cooperatives,
-Knowledge and sensitivity to gender issues in agriculture and development policies and strategies;
-Experience with diverse stakeholders in agriculture/private, public and development organizations / including agriculture research institutions;
-Personal commitment, ability to work without constant supervision, and capacity to work effectively and harmoniously with colleagues from varied cultures and professional backgrounds;
-Research, assessment, analytical skills with excellent computer application software skills;
-Personal commitment, ability to work independently, and capacity to work effectively and harmoniously with persons from varied cultures and professional backgrounds;
-Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines;
-Ability to plan, prioritize and deliver tasks effectively as part of a team;
Language
-Excellent knowledge of written and oral communication in English,Amharic and Afan Oromo
UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks