Vanuatu nationals: National Natural Resources Governance, Participation and Livelihood Specialist

The Integrated Sustainable Land and Coastal Management (ISLCM) project is a five-year project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Vanuatu Government. FAO is the Implementing Agency (IA) and is providing the technical support to the Vanuatu Government in implementing the project. The Ministry of Climate Change, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and Ministry of Agriculture, Quarantine, Forestry and Fisheries are the Executing Agencies and national counterparts for the project.  The project will be working closely with other partners within the public and private sectors as well as with members of the Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). The overall goal of the project is to test and implement sustainable and integrated management of forest, land and marine resources to achieve effective ridge-to-reef (R2R) conservation in selected priority watersheds in Vanuatu.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall administrative leadership of FAO Sub-regional Representative for the Pacific Islands in Samoa and under the direct technical guidance of the Lead Technical Officer (LTO) and direct supervision of the Chief Technical Advisor (CTA), the National Project Coordinator (NPC), the National Project Officer (NPO) as well as with close collaboration and consultation with the Vanuatu GEF Operational Focal Point (OFP) and with relevant Government Ministries and national counterparts on the project islands, the National Biodiversity Conservation specialist (NBCS) will undertake the following tasks listed below

The incumbent will coordinate and provide extensive technical assistance related to Natural resource governance, participation and livelihood to ensure the effective participation of all relevant stakeholders, including gender and youth in the delivery of project outputs. In addition, good knowledge on Participatory Rural Community Appraisal (PRCA), Community profile; Information and communication resources and networks in a community; and to elaborate a Protected Area Financial Management Plan for each Project site.

The Natural Resource Governance, Participation and Livelihood Specialist will be a nationally recruited expert selected based on an open competitive process. The incumbent will be responsible for:

• Develop a participation plan that makes provision for mechanisms to ensure the effective participation of all relevant stakeholders, including gender and youth in the delivery of project outputs;
• Support, advice and where necessary facilitate interactions and awareness with community members and field officers in target localities, including workshops to plan landscape management and help to define priorities for Protected Areas establishment;
• Provide oversight and methodological support to the development and strengthening of multi-stakeholder mechanisms for landscape management and governance, and the formulation of integrated landscape management plans;
• Advice on the formulation and application of participatory approaches to supporting the development and transfer of sustainable resource management practices, including the incorporation of the sustainable livelihood approach;
• Advice on social and organizational aspects of project support to the development of strategies for enabling local people to perceive sustainable benefits from natural resources;
• Development of financial mechanisms;
• Advice on the formulation and measurement of project indicators related to natural resource governance, participation and livelihoods

1.             Participatory Rural Community Appraisal (PRCA) conducted, capturing the following key information: Community profile; Information and communication resources and networks in a community; Community perceptions including needs, opportunities, problems, and solutions (NOPS); Indicators of behaviour and social changes in national resource management area (NRMA)

2.             A Stakeholder Participation Plan for Each Project Site.

3.             A Protected Area Financial Management Plan for each Project site

• National of Vanuatu
• A university degree related to agriculture, forestry livestock, lands or any natural resources management sciences with emphasis on social and livelihood aspects
• At least 5 years of experience in social and livelihood aspects of natural resource management, including gender and participation.
• Excellent command of English and Bislama, other vernacular languages

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Ability to lead and work as part of a multidisciplinary team and to collaborate effectively with project partners
• Strong drafting, presentation and reporting skills;
• Strong computer skills, in particular mastery of all applications of the MS Office package and internet search;