The Gender and Youth Specialist will play a critical role in ensuring that the project is implemented in a socially inclusive and environmentally responsible manner, adhering to both national regulations and GCF standards. The specialist will ensure that the project is planned, implemented, monitored, and reported in line with FAO’s gender policy, the GCF Gender Policy and Action Plan, and will develop the Project’s Gender Action Plan (GAP) along with the Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS) instruments. The specialist will work closely with the project team, county governments, and implementing partners to translate gender commitments into practical actions across all components and value chains.
Tasks and Responsibilities
- Provide technical and coordination support to integrate gender equality and social inclusion across all project components including climate-resilient value chains, ecosystem restoration, and governance.
- Lead or coordinate the implementation, periodic updating, and operationalization of the Project Gender Action Plan (GAP), ensuring alignment with FAO and GCF requirements.
- Conduct or coordinate gender analyses and gender-sensitive/context analyses at county, value chain, and community levels.
- Ensure findings are incorporated into workplans, site selection, cooperative support, CSA packages, and restoration activities.
- Support implementing partners, counties, cooperatives, and service providers to design and implement gender-responsive and youth-inclusive activities, including training, enterprise development, climate services, and access to finance and inputs.
- Provide hands-on support for gender and youth-responsive trainings and multi-stakeholder workshops, including development of training materials and facilitation.
- Work with the project team to ensure that risk mitigation measures related to gender-based violence (GBV), sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH) are integrated into field activities and partner agreements.
- Provide technical advice on national and county-level policy frameworks related to gender equality, youth, and social protection.
- Support county governments to strengthen gender-responsive policies and strategies in areas such as cooperatives and natural resource governance.
- Contribute gender inputs to annual workplans, budgets, procurement documents, ToRs, and partner agreements.
- Work with the M&E team to ensure sex- and age-disaggregated data (SADD) is systematically collected and analysed.
- Support the development of gender-sensitive indicators and qualitative measures to capture changes in participation, decision-making, and resilience.
- Provide consolidated gender and social inclusion inputs for key project reports (GCF APRs, semi-annual/annual reports).
- Ensure that Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) processes are gender-responsive and accessible.
- Maintain an updated record of gender-related achievements, challenges, and lessons.
- Develop or adapt knowledge products (briefs, case studies, training modules) on gender and youth inclusion.
- Lead capacity-building for project teams and county partners on gender equality and GBV/SEAH risk mitigation.
- Facilitate communities of practice on gender and climate-resilient agriculture within FAO and with external partners.
- Collaborate with communications staff to ensure visibility and messaging on gender and social inclusion aspects.
- Liaise with the FAO Country Office Gender Focal Point and regional officers to ensure consistency with corporate guidance.
Minimum Requirements
- Bachelor’s Degree in Gender Studies, Law, Development Studies, Sociology, Social Sciences, Rural Development, or a related field from a recognized university.
- Demonstrated specialization in gender equality and women’s empowerment.
- A minimum of five (5) years of progressive work experience in gender and social inclusion programming, ideally in the context of agriculture, climate change, natural resource management, or rural livelihoods.
- Working knowledge (level C) of English and Swahili.
- National of Kenya.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should apply via the official FAO jobs portal on jobs.fao.org.
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