Institutional Capacity Development and GCF Stakeholders Engagement Specialist

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal device

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FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender and nationality

People with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply

All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality

The incumbent may be re-assigned to different activities and/or duty stations depending on the evolving needs of the Organization

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Organizational Setting

Through its Country Offices, or FAO Representations, FAO assists governments to develop policies, programmes and projects to address hunger, food security and malnutrition, and provides technical support for the sustainable development of their agricultural, livestock, animal health, and irrigation and forestry sectors as well as emergency preparedness and response to conflict and natural affected events. The activities of the FAO Representation include design and implementation of country-tailored field programmes, liaison with local donor representatives and active public awareness raising and outreach activities related to the mandate of FAO.

FAO assistance in Afghanistan achieves its objectives through capacity development and direct project implementation in four specific areas of FAO’s technical expertise:

• Better governance through improved capacity for policy planning, land reform, decentralization, and management of common natural resources;
• Fostering expansion of irrigation and field water management;
• Intensive agriculture for surplus commercialization, value chains development, and job creation; and
• Supporting vulnerable farmers for improved food & nutrition security, resilience, and emergency response to natural and man-made disasters and climate change.

To cope with climate change challenges that pose a direct threat to marginalized, vulnerable communities and sustainable economic development, Afghanistan needs to strengthen its capacity to access global climate financing, including building a fruitful partnership with the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The “Further Strengthening Country Capacity for Engagement with GCF and Direct Access to Climate Finance (GCF Readiness II)” aims to

• Further strengthen NDA capacity, addressing the gaps identified under the GCF Readiness I;
• Increase stakeholder engagement, particularly at sub-national levels and of civil society and private sector;
• Strengthen capacity for gender considerations in GCF country programming and projects;
• Further develop the Country Programme;
• Develop system and capacity of the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) for Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) of climate finance;
• Prepare for accreditation of the potential entities as Direct Access Entity (DAE) to the GCF; and
• Develop climate finance strategy including strategy for the private sector to access the GCF and unblock the private investments in climate actions.

This consultancy is provided in the project and the duty station is home based, considering COVID-19 pandemic.

Reporting Lines:

The International Consultant – Institutional Capacity Development and GCF Stakeholders Engagement will be under the overall guidance of the FAO Representative in Afghanistan, the direct supervision of the Lead Technical Officer, and in close collaboration with relevant FAO staff/NPP and NDA.

Technical Focus

The main objective of the consultancy is to support NEPA and the project to ensure the achievement of quality deliverables under the project. The International for Institutional Capacity Development and Stakeholders Engagement will focus on:

• NDA institutional capacity development for sustainable engagement with the GCF
• Strengthening GCF stakeholder engagement
• Ensuring standard fiducial documentation for Direct Access accreditation to the GCF

Tasks and responsibilities

The International Gender Consultant for GCF Readiness II will perform the below key tasks:

NDA Institutional Capacity Development for sustainable engagement with the GCF:

• Lead the development of the National Designated Authority (NDA) Capacity Development Plan, based on capacity assessment need assessment conducted in GCF Readiness I and in close coordination with the project national specialist and consultations with NEPA’s senior management;
• Guide the national specialist(s) in developing guidelines, estimated budget plan, training materials (with a focus on on-the-job training, learning from other countries) and other tools to implement and monitor the NDA Capacity Development Plan and quality assure of outputs;
• Design and conduct TOT and sample on-line trainings as part of the NDA Capacity Development Plan implementation;
• Advise and support the NDA to develop a plan to institutionalize GCF mechanisms and tools;
• Provide guidance/support to the project team and collaborate with other consultants to develop specific policy documents and proposals required for institutionalization such as the development of a proposal for integrating the GCF Coordination Mechanism into NEPA’s annual work plan and budget; and
• Provide guidance and support to the project team to design and prepare materials for two (2) awareness raising and capacity building workshops at sub-national directorates to enhance general understanding of the GCF (including its priorities, means of operating and project requirements), but also on how GCF operates and what its polices and priorities are, at the provincial levels.

Strengthening GCF stakeholder engagement:

• Provide guidance and support the project team in improving GCF stakeholder engagement in Afghanistan including the development of a strategy and action plan, as required
• Provide guidance and support in designing and organizing strategic GCF engagement events including guiding the preparation of TOR, the organization and report preparation
• Lead the organization of two National Dialogues including guiding the preparation of TOR, organization and reporting.

Ensuring standard fiducial documentation for Direct Access accreditation to the GCF:

• Review potential DAE accreditation documentation on fiducial capacity
• Provide guidance and support to ensure the documentation meets GCF requirements
• Support the national specialists in coaching the potential DAE in the process of DA accreditation.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advance University degree in development planning, development management, environmental studies, climate finance, public administration or any other related fields;
• At least Twelve (12) years of relevant experience in governance and institutions capacity building, knowledge management, as well as developing institutional capacity, implementation, and monitoring in the south Asian countries for environment and natural resource management projects;
• Working knowledge of English, French or Spanish and limited knowledge of one of the other two or Arabic, Chinese, Russian.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Work experience in more than one location or area of work
• Familiar with relevant international standards and benchmarks on governance and institutions in environment, climate
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English;
• General knowledge and skills in the use of standard office software, such as MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point)
• Extent and relevance of experience in global climate finance mechanisms, particularly the Green Climate Fund (GCF), climate change adaptation and mitigation;
• Extent and relevance of experience in institutional capacity development and stakeholder engagement;
• Familiarity with afghan institution is an advantage.

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Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency

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