Senior GESI Advisor

Senior GESI Advisor

USAID Nepal Agriculture Transformation Activity

Scope of Work

DAI works at the cutting edge of international development, combining technical excellence, professional project management, and exceptional customer service to solve our clients’ most complex problems. Since 1970, DAI has worked in 150 developing and transition countries, providing comprehensive development solutions in areas including crisis mitigation and stability operations, democratic governance, public sector management, agriculture, private sector development, economics and trade, public health, water and natural resources management, and energy and climate change. More information about or work and existing projects around the world may be found at www.dai.com.

DAI and its employees are committed to confronting racism and holding ourselves accountable for positive change within the company and in the communities, cultures, and countries in which we live and work.  DAI is committed to attracting and retaining the best employees from all races and backgrounds in our continued effort to become a better development partner.

DAI upholds the highest ethical standards. We are committed to the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment as well as other ethical breaches. All of our positions are therefore subject to stringent vetting and reference checks.

DAI is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer with a commitment to diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

Project Background

DAI is seeking qualified Senior Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Advisor candidates for the anticipated USAID-funded Agriculture Transformation activity in Nepal. The goal of Agriculture Transformation is to catalyze transformation of Nepal’s agricultural sector required for inclusive economic growth. The objectives for this activity are:

1. Agricultural productivity, competitiveness, and diversification increased;
2. Enabling environment for private sector investment in agriculture and equitable access to market systems improved;
3. Climate and economic resilience of women, youth, and marginalized communities enhanced; and,
4. Capacity of national agricultural research institutions and extension systems strengthened.

This activity is expected to focus on the following value chains: fine rice, industrial maize, lentils, high-value vegetables, and goats. Implementation is expected to focus in 25 districts across Bagmati, Lumbini, Karnali, and Sudurpaschim provinces. 

Position Overview

The Senior GESI Advisor will collaborate with the COP, DCOP, and technical leads to ensure that women, youth, and other marginalized and vulnerable populations are mainstreamed into all program activities. This individual will be the primary team member responsible for ensuring effective focus on women, youth, and marginalized groups into Agriculture Transformation’s approach and throughout program management and staffing; annual work planning; interventions; and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL). The Senior GESI Advisor is responsible for building the team’s capacity for implementing gender-sensitive activities and interventions and for increasing the understanding of Gender Equality, Youth, and Social Inclusion (GESI) issues with respect to market systems development in the Nepali context. In addition to any necessary start-up GESI assessments, this individual will ensure that a GESI perspective is applied across all studies—to identify power imbalances and understand marginalized groups’ needs, interests, and vulnerabilities—and that Agriculture Transformation’s outreach and communication products engage women, youth, groups with low literacy rates, disadvantaged castes, and ethnic minorities.

This full-time position is contingent upon project award and approval.

Responsibilities 

• Serve as the lead liaison and build the capacities of women- and youth-led organizations (producer groups, SMEs, community savings groups, NGOs, etc.) and advocate for social inclusion in other non-women-led-groups
• Lead the GESI assessment, including the following tasks: collect granular information on women’s and youth participation in lucrative, export-oriented value chains, engagement in and uptake of cross-market services, and their resilience capacities across target geographies and prioritize measures to address disparities faced by women, youth, and other marginalized groups
• Work with GESI team members and STTA to produce the GESI strategy
• Design, organize, and lead focus-group sessions with a cross-section of community stakeholders such as civil society organizations, private sector, and local government to enable community members to self-assess and rank their own capacities regarding GESI issues
• Map and identify women-, youth-, and marginalized-community led organizations and corresponding community group leaders, and serve as a key advisor to the COP, DCOP, and Objective Leads when working with these groups and/or individuals
• Collaborate with the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Director to coordinate the initial gathering and analysis of GESI data, and conduct programmed surveys and assessments among targeted women, youth, disadvantaged castes, and ethnic minorities
• Develop regular GESI training modules to build capacity of technical teams to reach their GESI targets
• Contribute to project process documents, for example, the GESI section of the Grants Manual
• Work with the DCOP and Objective Leads to help develop activities to improve the climate and economic resilience of women, youth, disadvantaged castes, and ethnic minorities

Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field required; Master’s degree preferred
• Minimum seven years of experience implementing GESI-related activities on international donor-funded programs, with a preference for USAID programs
• Experience designing appropriate interventions to meet project goals in assisting women, youth, and other marginalized groups
• Demonstrated experience integrating gender, youth, and marginalized community components into market systems and/or agriculture programs
• Demonstrated experience working with and building the capacities of Nepali enterprises, civil society organizations, and local governments
• Strong skills in reporting, monitoring, and evaluation
• Demonstrated experience managing a team of specialized experts
• Must possess advanced written and spoken communication skills in English, Nepali, and/or other national languages 
• Deep familiarity and understanding of Nepal required

Supervision

The Senior GESI Advisor’s supervisory responsibilities will be based on capacity and final team structure. 

Level of Effort, Location, and Reporting

The level of effort is 260 days per year. The employment contract will be on a yearly basis, with performance-based extensions until the close of the anticipated 5-year long project. The Senior GESI Advisor will be based strategically in Nepal, with frequent travel to the project-selected municipalities across the country. 

Interested parties are invited to send their full CVs to Nepal-AT@dai.com with "Senior GESI Advisor" in the subject line.