The FAO Sub-Regional office for West Africa (SFW) responsible for developing, promoting and implementing FAO agreed strategies to help countries and sub-regional organizations address food security, nutrition, agriculture and rural development priorities in West Africa. The Office has a multidisciplinary team of technical experts, in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, land and water, and pastoralism, who provide technical support to the 15 member countries of ECOWAS in their fight against poverty and the promotion of food and nutritional security; as well as to a wider 17 member countries of the Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) in strengthening the resilience of the Sahel countries.
There is growing international recognition that the agricultural sectors (including crops, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture and livestock) play a central role in responding to climate change, as these sectors are among the foremost priorities in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted by African countries under the UNFCCC. In this regard, SFW Strategy has as one of its priority areas “Sustainable Management of the Environment and Natural Resources (SMENR)” that intends to support countries address issues related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, the preservation of biodiversity, and the collection, management and sharing on the environment and natural resources data in the sub-region.
SFW is increasingly receiving requests from countries in West Africa for providing technical support in the development of concept notes and project proposals to key environmental donors (GFF and GEF and Adaptation Fund) as well as their implementation. As an accredited agency to the GEF, GCF and Adaptation Fund, FAO intends to expand its portfolio to assist countries in fulfilling their ambitions on climate action, notably, with UNFCCC, as well as the NDCs in the Paris Agreement.
GEF will shortly be the main donors of countries in the West Africa Sub-Region, in terms of climate actions. The portfolio of SFW comprises more than 60 projects funded by GEF. To succeed in the engagement with countries and the Secretariat of GEF, the FAO intends to strengthen its climate team at SFW
Reporting Lines
The gender expert will work under the overall supervision of the Senior Policy Officer at SFW and the technical supervision of the Forestry Officer at SFW, and in close collaboration projects implementation teams at country level.
Technical Focus
Contribute to the designing and implementation of GEF&GCF projects by supporting SFW in the provision of technical support to the countries offices in the formulation and development of project proposals, with focus on gender integration in forestry, climate change, and natural resources management.
Support the climate change team in the advancement and implementation of the GEF & GCF action plans towards gender equality and women’s empowerment.