Organizational Setting

The main aim of the FAO Country Offices, which are headed by an FAO Representative, is to assist governments in developing policies, programmes and projects to achieve food security and nutrition and reduce hunger and malnutrition, promote sustainable agricultural development, reduce rural poverty, develop inclusive agri-food systems and strengthen livelihood resilience – in line with the Organization’s Strategic Objectives and United Nations’ global and Government of Egypt’s national Sustainable Development Goals.

The position is located in Menya

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative and Assistant FAO Representative, the direct supervision of the Project Senior Advisor, the incumbent, will work with  technical team of the project, and the team of FAO Office in Egypt and their wider rural communities are aware of advancing positive nutrition outcomes and healthy diets in the designated locations of the Menya governorate.

Technical Focus

The Food Nutrition Specialist will help in advancing positive nutrition outcomes and healthy diets in the project GCP/EGY/044/NOR titled as “Improved Socio-economic Status, Food Security and Empowerment of Vulnerable Rural Communities in Minya Governorate”. The Specialist will be responsible for writing and reviewing plans and reports regarding the nutrition component of the project in order to support the delivery of the products and services of the SFS nutrition unit. Specific areas of interest include Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs), nutrition research, assessments, and studies as well as nutrition-sensitive agriculture food systems, and other nutrition sensitive and specific interventions.

Tasks and responsibilities

•    Design awareness and media campaigns and demonstration events for promoting nutritious foods and healthy diets within targeted villages.
•    Develop curricula and prepare training and extension materials for use in such campaigns and events and FFSs and FBSs implemented.
•    Develop key messages to support specialist government and non-governmental implementing partners to sensitise the wider public across the target villages on the importance of nutritious foods and healthy diets, including information on the nutritional benefits of locally produced, high quality, safe and hygienic, and properly prepared and stored foodstuffs (in particular fruits, vegetables, dairy products, eggs, meat and fish) through eight advocacy and media campaigns and demonstration events at key locations (e.g. village schools, health centres and agricultural service centres as well as FFSs and FBSs) raising the awareness of some 3,000 people from the target villages.
•    Support the adoption of a gender-transformative approach, the campaigns will refrain from reinforcing rigid gender stereotypes (only targeting women as primary caretakers and responsible for food preparation for their families). By promoting positive male role models, it will specifically target men and boys to also foster a more equitable distribution of household responsibilities related to food preparation and children’s nutrition.
•    Ensure that the education of nutritious foods and healthy eating is mainstreamed in FFS and FBS curricula, extension materials and demonstrations and enterprise development curricula and training courses,
•    Design kits for hygienic food preparation and storage equipment, utensils and containers to be distributed to 66 schools, health centres and group-based small agri-food enterprises for demonstration and income generation purposes.
•    Any other duties related to the incumbent’s field of experience, as required.

FAO Standards and guidelines:

Liaison with the OCC will be maintained, either directly or through an agreed focal point/coordinator, to ensure compliance with OCC standards, appropriate review and clearance processes.

All communication materials will follow FAO clearance processes and comply with FAO standards, including:
FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31: https://www.fao.org/strategic-framework/en   
FAO social media policy and guidelines: https://www.fao.org/2/socialmedia  
Social Media Branding Guidelines: https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cb5044en
FAOSTYLE: https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cb8081en
FAO terminology: http://www.fao.org/faoterm  
FAO Names Of Countries https://www.fao.org/nocs/en  
Story guidelines, Story template, UN map standards, FAO logo policy and related branding guidelines (available to staff).

Further guidance regarding FAO communications, policies and procedures can be found through the FAO intranet, OCC section.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements    

•    An advanced University Degree in nutrition and dietetics or nutrition related fields.
•    A minimum of five years of experience working with nutrition-based activities.
•    Working knowledge in the English and Arabic languages
•    National of Egypt.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills 

•    High level of technical proficiency in nutrition particularly on diet and health relationships.
•    Demonstrated ability to provide comprehensive and analytical review of very technical documents and scientific papers.
•    Demonstrated high proficiency in writing technical documents (evidence review documents, Food Based Dietary Guidelines, scientific articles, etc.) in a clear, precise and concise manner.
•    Design curricula and prepare training and extension materials for use in campaigns and events for promoting nutritious foods and healthy diets within FFSs and FBSs implemented.
•    Key messages developed for eight advocacy and media campaigns and demonstration events at key locations (e.g. village schools, health centres and agricultural service centres as well as FFSs and FBSs) raising the awareness of some 3,000 people from the target villages.
•    Design kits for hygienic food preparation and storage and coordinate distribution of 66 kits.

Selection Criteria 

•    Good listening and speaking skills in English and working knowledge of Arabic are required.
•    The work experience of the area.
•    If available, a sample report on women empowerment.
•    Candidates based in Menya are highly favored.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements