Legal Consultant, Various Locations, Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Lesotho at Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Duties 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;
-Collecting 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.