Programme Officer

The Office of Youth and Women (OYW) ensures that youth and women act as conduits both (i) internally in FAO, supporting women and youth career enrichment and mainstreaming important topics of youth and women across the Organization, and (ii) externally, by gathering and realizing innovative ideas and approaches related to youth and women within the FAO mandate. The Office takes forward and further institutionalizes the work of the FAO Youth Committee and the FAO Women’s Committee, as well as the World Food Forum (WFF) Global Youth Action, designed by FAO as a global network of partners to build an effective platform to share transformative initiatives and encourage actions for agrifood systems transformation. 

It promotes transformational leadership for gender equality and women and youth empowerment in the workplace and in FAO’s initiatives, strengthening accountability of managers for gender equality and youth and women’s empowerment. OYW further engages with relevant global initiatives, and United Nations (UN) and other partners as well as relevant stakeholders, enhancing the advocacy for, and engagement of, youth and women in agrifood systems. The Office works closely with the FAO technical units that coordinate the implementation of the FAO Policy on Gender Equality, the Rural Youth Action Plan and related programmes and initiatives.

Key Functions:

• Participates in the development, implementation and evaluation of assigned programmes/projects, etc.; monitors and analyses programme/project development and implementation.
• Reviews relevant documents and reports; identifies problems and issues to be addressed and proposes corrective actions; liaises with relevant parties; identifies and tracks follow-up actions.
• Assists in policy development, including the review and analysis of issues and trends, preparation of impact assessments or equivalent studies, etc.
• Prepares various written outputs, e.g. drafts background papers, analyses, sections of reports and studies, inputs to publications, etc.
• Undertakes outreach activities; conducts training workshops, seminars, etc.; makes presentations on assigned topics/activities.
• Coordinates activities related to budget and funding (programme/project preparation and submissions, progress reports, financial statements, etc.) and prepares related documents/reports (pledging, work programme, programme budget, etc.).

Specific Functions:

• Supports OYW management in ensuring compliance with corporate requirements and evaluates effectiveness through reporting mechanisms.
• Assists in planning, promoting and managing of youth-focused initiatives and programmes and facilitates interactions with multidisciplinary teams, and/or participates in Organization-wide, cross-Divisional/Office/Centre committees, project teams and working groups.
• Prepares content and communication material for key initiatives, programmes and events related to youth engagement and empowerment.
• Promotes transformative initiatives in support of youth participation in food governance, youth-led innovation; food and agriculture education for youth; youth culture and local capacity development for youth-related stakeholders and youth groups worldwide.
• Organizes and participates in capacity development activities to advance youth engagement and empowerment in agrifood systems transformation through the provision of project assistance, training workshops, seminars and meetings, as well as the development of related learning and information materials.
• Maintains regular communication and builds effective relationships on youth-related issues with United Nations (UN) entities, other international organizations, government institutions, academia, civil society, parliaments and private sector entities.
• Collaborates with all relevant teams across headquarters and Decentralized Offices, in particular the Office of Communications (OCC), the Office of Partnerships and UN Collaboration Division (PSU), the Office of Innovation (OIN), the FAO Youth Committee and the youth focal points across FAO, ensuring organization-wide take-up and timely implementation of youth programmes and activities.
• Conducts resource mobilization efforts for programmes and initiatives that promote transformational youth leadership and youth empowerment in fields related to agrifood systems.
• Supports career development and other concerns of young FAO employees, in close collaboration with the Human Resources Division (CSH) and the Youth Committee.
• Coordinates and ensures the timely and effective implementation of the Global Youth Action programme of the World Food Forum (WFF) and contributes to related initiatives, services and projects.
• Identifies innovative strategies to engage with networks of youth-related stakeholders and partners and provides youth-specific global outreach and engagement leadership.
• Represents the Organization and the Office in international meetings and conferences on issues related to youth engagement and empowerment in the context of agrifood systems transformation.
• Performs other related duties as required by the Director, OYW.

Minimum Requirements:

• Advanced university degree in business administration or public administration, social science, political science, international development, international relations or a related field.
• Five years of relevant experience in project or programme management, administration or related area.Working knowledge (proficient – level C) of English and limited knowledge (intermediate proficiency – level B) of another official FAO language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

Technical/Functional Skills:

• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions.
• Extent and experience in liaison and communication work with youth-related stakeholders and partners in the context of youth-specific outreach and engagement.
• Extent and relevance of experience in the identification, formulation and preparation of programme and project proposals, as well as programme/project implementation, monitoring and reporting related to youth-focused initiatives.
• Extent and relevance of experience in communication and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate complex technical information to diverse audiences, including young and intergenerational audiences.
• Extent and relevance of experience in organizing and facilitating international meetings, if possible related to youth engagement and empowerment.
• Understanding of FAO policies, procedures and programmes is considered an asset.
• Understanding of the works of the WFF and past volunteering experience in this context is considered a strong asset

Source: https://jobs.fao.org/careersection/fao_external/jobdetail.ftl?job=2500149