Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the goals of the UN Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through its 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.

The Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER) is responsible for ensuring FAO’s efforts to support countries and partners in preparing for and effectively responding to food and agricultural threats and crises. It is responsible for coordinating the development and maintenance of corporate tools and standards to enable Decentralized Offices  to assist Members to prepare for and respond to emergencies. OER ensures humanitarian policy coordination and knowledge, liaison with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) as well as with humanitarian resource partners, co-leadership with World Food Programme of the global Food Security Cluster, organizational preparedness, surge capacity and response to large-scale emergencies. OER supports food and nutrition security assessment and early warning activities related to emergency and humanitarian analysis and responses. OER plays a major role in the development and leadership of the Organization’s programme to increase the resilience of livelihoods to food and agriculture threats and crises.

The Disaster and Climate Unit (DCU) within the Programme and Policy Team (PPT) of OER focuses on strengthening technical, programmatic and strategic support and capacities on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Resilience in food crises and fragile countries. FAO/OER embeds an integrated risk management approach that is multi-hazard and multi-sectoral to support the implementation of initiatives on emergencies and resilience across agrifood systems, within the context of the humanitarian, development and peace nexus. Recognizing that climate change is one of the three major drivers of acute hunger, FAO integrates DRR and climate change adaptation into humanitarian and resilience interventions through the adoption of twin-track approaches, where complementary emergencies and resilience interventions (short and long term) are implemented to safeguard agricultural livelihoods and food systems of the most vulnerable and at risk communities while also addressing the underlying vulnerability factors driving risks, disasters, and crises. FAO supports its Members on disaster risk policies and governance, including the mainstreaming of DRR within agricultural development planning, developing capacities for DRR including disaster impact monitoring, disaster risk management (DRM) and strengthening coherence between DRR and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) processes.
The DCU provides technical and programme support on disaster risk reduction with particular focus on natural hazards and climate related extreme events, as well as on scaling up climate action, climate resilience and access to climate finance in food crises and protracted crises contexts.

Reporting Lines

The Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Resilience Specialist will work under the overall supervision of the Programme and Policy Team Leader and the direct supervision of the Emergency and Rehabilitation Officer (Disaster and Climate Lead), OER.

Technical Focus 

The Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Resilience Specialist will support the implementation of FAO’s resilience agenda at global, regional, subregional and/or country level, with a prominent focus on DRR, climate change adaptation and resilience in food crisis and protracted crisis contexts.

Tasks and responsibilities

In collaboration with relevant FAO teams in OER and elsewhere, particularly the Office of Climate Change and Biodiversity, the Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Resilience Specialist will:

•    Support governments and FAO Decentralised Offices with the design, formulation and implementation of projects, programmes, strategies and policies related to DRR, DRM and climate resilience;

•    Provide technical support and strengthen capacities of FAO staff and partners on DRR, DRM and climate resilience, including through the design and implementation of normative guidance and training materials at country, regional and global level;
•    Support resource mobilization efforts on DRR, DRM and climate resilience and the scaling-up of access to climate finance in food crisis and protracted crisis contexts, through the mapping of opportunities and formulation of proposals;
•    Support governments, local partners and other key stakeholders with scaling-up DRR and climate resilience initiatives;

•    Contribute to the formulation of technical notes, papers, reports and materials on DRR, DRM and climate resilience, including through research and analytical tasks;

•    Support disaster and climate risk analysis/assessments in food crisis /protracted crisis contexts to inform emergency and resilience programming and advocacy;

•    Support the collection, analysis and dissemination of evidence on good practices in DRR, DRM and climate resilience, including through the development of impact analysis, formulation of knowledge products and the support to learning and outreach efforts;

•    Support internal and external coordination and partnership building efforts on DRR and climate resilience with key actors at local, regional and global level including through joint risk analysis, programming and advocacy;

•    Supports project management and planning of initiatives on DRR, DRM and climate resilience;

•    Support the roll-out of FAO emergency and resilience initiatives in food crisis and protracted crisis contexts, including through in-country missions, particularly for the formulation of emergency and resilience strategies and the attainment of corporate goals;

•    Support analysis and programming on climate change adaptation, mitigation and loss and damage from climate extremes in food crisis and protracted crisis contexts;

•    Support key partnerships and advocacy efforts in relation to global, regional and country level disaster and climate policy processes, including the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Rio Conventions, loss and damage and disaster risk financing among others.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    University degree in Agriculture, Climate, Disaster Risk Reduction, Food Security, Economics, Environment, International Relations, Natural Resources Management, Rural Development, Social/political Sciences, or related fields;
•    At least 2 years (Category C), 5 years (Category B) or 10 years (Category A) of relevant experience in emergency and resilience programming for the humanitarian/agricultural/food security sectors, including work experience with national and international NGO’s, UN agencies, governments, donors;
•    Working knowledge (level C) of English or French.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

•    Country level experience on DRM, DRR and Climate resilience is an asset, particularly in conflict-affected and emergency contexts.
•    Extent and relevance of experience in emergency and resilience programming for the humanitarian/agricultural/food security sectors.
•    Familiarity with climate adaptation, mitigation, loss and damage and with the international conventions, finance mechanisms and policy processes on climate is an asset.
•    Extent and relevance of experience in designing, formulating and implementing disaster and climate risk management projects, climate finance, disaster risk financing and climate advocacy efforts and partnerships.
•    Demonstrated technical knowledge of DRM, DRR and CCA and other crisis risk management solutions in food crisis/protracted settings.
•    Demonstrated knowledge and proven application of programme formulation, proposal writing and resource mobilization considered an asset.
•    Demonstrated ability to effectively use evidence and learning to inform programming.
•    Ability to plan and organize own work, deliver results, and meet deadlines, within a multi-disciplinary team.
•    Excellent research, report writing, analytical and communication skills.
•    Demonstrated ability to analyse problems, make appropriate recommendations, effective decisions, including in emergency settings.

Selection Criteria

•    Knowledge of Spanish or Arabic is an asset.
Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements