Organizational Setting

The Legal Office of FAO ensures that FAO’s activities are carried out in accordance with its Constitution and the other Basic Texts of the Organization, consistent with its status as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations System, and that its relations with governments, organizations and individuals are based on a sound legal basis.

The Development Law Service of the Legal Office of FAO (LEGN) provides advisory services to governments on their legislation on food and agriculture and natural resources (including land, water, fisheries and aquaculture, plants, animals, food, forestry, wildlife, environment, climate change and biodiversity), as well as on general agricultural issues (institutions, trade, economic reform).

LEGN has recently launched a new Programme entitled “Governing for Sustainable Agrifood Systems: Strengthening Legislation and Building Capacity to Support Implementation, Compliance and Enforcement” (FVC/GLO/223/MUL), hereafter “ACE Programme”. This Programme aims at strengthening FAO Members’ regulatory instruments and institutional capacity to promote accountable governance for sustainable agrifood systems, towards food security and nutrition through effective implementation, compliance with, and enforcement, of relevant agrifood systems legal frameworks. The ACE Programme will adopt a One Health approach and address climate change as cross-cutting issues. The Programme will focus on the Southern African region, with a specific focus in the pilot-phase in Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Lesotho.

This call is aimed at a Legal Consultant with a high level of experience. The Legal Consultant would home-based, in the country of assignment. The assignments will cover specific activities related to the legal aspects of areas under the mandate of FAO, in support of the ACE Programme.

Reporting Lines

The incumbent reports to the Chief, LEGN, while day-to-day supervision is provided by the Programme’s Coordinator and/or designated LEGN Legal Officer(s), and an International Legal Consultant, in close coordination with the relevant FAO technical divisions, and FAO Subregional Office for Southern Africa.

Technical Focus 

Legal research and advisory services to the Government of either Zimbabwe, Eswatini, or Lesotho (countries). The specific country assigned to each successful candidate will consider their residency, as national expertise and experience will be essential. These services will focus on the implementation of legislation related to food and agriculture, as well as compliance and enforcement.

LEGN seeks to identify candidates who may cover one or more of the technical areas under the Development Law Service per FAO’s mandate:
•    Agricultural law, including agricultural health (food safety, phytosanitary and veterinary legislation; antimicrobial resistance), sustainable agricultural production (seeds, pesticides, organic farming and other marketing systems) and other areas of agricultural law (supply chain regulation mechanisms, contract farming, agricultural finance, cooperatives and other farmers’ organisations, agricultural insurance schemes);
•    Food and nutrition security, right to adequate food, school meals and nutrition;
•    Climate change laws in relation to agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture and forests;
•    Enabling environment for responsible investments in agriculture and food systems;
•    Fisheries and aquaculture;
•    Food systems transformation;
•    Forests, wildlife, grazing;
•    Gender mainstreaming within legal frameworks;
•    Social protection in rural areas and decent rural employment;
•    Sustainable land management, sustainable water management, sustainable wildlife production;

LEGN is particularly interested in identifying qualified candidates to support its work in the ACE Programme in the areas of:
•    Implementation of food and agriculture and related legislation;
•    Compliance and enforcement;
•    Regulatory impact assessments.

Tasks and responsibilities

The tasks and responsibilities of the selected Legal Consultant will be defined in the Terms of Reference for the specific assignment under the ACE Programme. The incumbent will carry out her/his tasks within FAO’s Strategic Framework 2022-31 for the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the FAO Policy on Gender Equality.
The incumbent will work under the supervision and close guidance of the Programme Coordinator, designated Legal Officer(s), and an International Legal Consultant, also in close coordination with the relevant FAO technical divisions, and FAO Subregional Office for Southern Africa. The incumbent will also support and work closely with the Working Group, composed by members of the Government of each of the countries, and led by a designated National Project Coordinator.

It is anticipated that the incumbent will be undertaking the following tasks and responsibilities under the ACE Programme:

•    Support the preparation, review and update of work plans, project documents, and the drafting of regulations, Memorandum of Understanding, agreements and other legal instruments;
•    Collecti policy documents, legislation and regulations in support of the legislative review to be undertaken under the ACE Programme and provide on the ground support during missions of the international legal consultant and other ACE Programme experts;
•    Support the preparation, and provide technical inputs to the establishment of the Working Group in charge of assisting the development of the key outcomes of the inception workshop;
•    Facilitate liaison with the judiciary, prosecutors, inspection services, among other relevant national authorities;
•    Support the development of an assessment report, based on desk review of the countries’ legal framework related to agrifood systems to identify gaps and challenges in the implementation, compliance and enforcement of the assessed legislation, with a view to propose recommendations and/or legislative options to address such gaps and challenges;
•    Support and provide technical inputs to the development, review and finalization of assessment tools, guidance material, and curricula for training courses and eLearning courses;
•    Assist the delivery of a technical workshop that will validate the assessment report;
•    Assist the support the development and implementation of training and capacity-building activities;
•    Prepare materials, conduct legal research, prepare legal notes, reports and written advice;
•    Prepare or contribute to legal publications and analyses;
•    Attend internal and external meetings, and report as per the reporting line on the results achieved, and;
•    Undertake other work related to the above tasks and responsibilities on the direction of or with the agreement of the Chief, LEGN.

The incumbent is also expected to become familiar with the documents that will be developed under the ACE Programme at the global level, and provide inputs as necessary.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    University degree in Law.
•    Advanced Legal (LLM) degree in Law would be considered an asset.
•    At least 10 years of experience in food and agriculture law, with particular emphasis on implementation, compliance, enforcement, sustainable management and development of agrifood systems and natural resources.
•    Proven track record of working on similar projects, especially concerning implementation, compliance and enforcement of legislation, and relating to agricultural practices for climate resilience.
•    Expertise in either regulatory impact assessment, behavioral science, or capacity analysis is an asset.
•    Working knowledge of English is required and limited knowledge of one of the other FAO languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish).

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills 

•    Demonstrated interest in the technical areas listed above, as well as strong analytical, legal research and writing skills.

Selection Criteria 

•    Degree of knowledge and experience in legal issues related to a relevant technical areas;
•    Degree of experience in developing national legislative and regulatory measures to implement international agreements, codes, guidelines or other instruments;
•    Experience in legal drafting and development in Africa;
•    Ability to conduct legal research and analysis;
•    Ability to write clear and concise reports and draft legal texts, legislative and regulatory instruments;
•    Experience working with international or regional organizations or other entities in a relevant field;