FAO Regular Volunteer Programme for the World Food Forum

• FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background and culture.
• Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented member nations and person with disabilities are encouraged to apply for this call.
• Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct, and to uphold our values. FAO has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and FAO, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination.
• All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
• All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations leads international efforts to defeat hunger and to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With over 194 member states, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide. We believe that everyone can play a part in ending hunger.
FAO’s Youth Committee was established in 2019 to tap into the potential of young employees as catalysts for change and to spark a global youth movement. The Youth Committee later created the World Food Forum and many youth partners from across the UN, as well as public and private institutions have since associated themselves with the World Food Forum.

As one of the main sponsors for the World Food Forum, FAO is searching for motivated volunteers to join and contribute to the World Food Forum events in October 2021.

In full alignment with the United Nations Food Systems Summit, the World Food Forum will serve as the premier platform to engage and harness the passion of youth in order to galvanize action and identify solutions to the growing challenges facing our food systems and to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as achieving “Zero Hunger”.

The World Food Forum will gather major youth groups, influencers, companies, academic institutions, non-profits, governments, media and the public to drive awareness, engagement, advocacy and mobilize resources in support of food systems transformation.

The World Food Forum will be inaugurated during a weeklong event in October 2021. It will feature a range of interactive, online events, networks and content platforms in the areas such as cooking, education, film, innovation, music, and policy.

The World Food Forum initiative is composed by different tracks which are the following:
• Youth Action: Empowering and connecting young agents of change to spark global dialogues and galvanize transformative actions towards a sustainable global food system
• Innovation Lab: Inspiring innovation for sustainable development in support of ending hunger and transforming our food systems, through global competitions and education to spark behavioral change.
• Education: Uniting schools and youth groups worldwide to call on youth to take action and become #FoodHeroes.
• Cooking: Sparking action through the power of food, culture, education and social media for better food systems.
• Film: Using the power of visual storytelling - through films, documentaries and videos - to build awareness for the urgent need to transform our food systems.
• Music: Bringing together the world’s youth through the universal language of music to inspire hope and incite action to end world hunger and transform our food systems.
• Partnership and Outreach

Please, find more information about the World Food Forum in our website at this link.

Reporting Lines
The volunteer will report to an assigned supervisor.

Technical Focus
The volunteer may be assigned in a field relevant to activities and the events of the World Food Forum.

Tasks and responsibilities
The volunteer will perform the functions specified in the Terms of Reference (TOR) prepared by the hiring office before the beginning of the assignment and agreed by the volunteer.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS:
• Must have completed secondary school education.
• Working knowledge of at least one FAO language (Arabic, Chinese, French, English, Russian or Spanish).
• Knowledge of a second FAO language will be considered an asset.
• Be nationals of FAO Member Nations.
• Candidates must be aged 18 or older.
• Candidates should be able to adapt to an international multicultural environment, have good communication skills and be knowledgeable in the use of basic computer programmes.
• Candidates with family members (defined as brother, sister, mother, father, son or daughter) employed by FAO under any type of contractual arrangement are not eligible for the Volunteer Programme.

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

Technical/Functional Skills
Relevant working experience in one of the below listed fields would be a strong asset:

- Thematic and academic support to policy dialogues
- Partnership/Outreach
- Marketing and fundraising
- Event Management
- Other

Information to applicants
• Qualified female applicants and qualified nationals of non- and under-represented member nations as well as candidates from Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Land-locked Developing Countries (LLDCs) are encouraged to apply to this Call for Expression of Interest.
• All applications will be reviewed and only qualified applicants will be directly contacted for interviews by the hiring office and contacted again, if selected.
• FAO does not provide any remuneration to volunteers.