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Serbia is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the Balkan region. Serbia’s forests cover approximately 30 percent of its territory, playing an important role in rural livelihoods, energy security and climate change mitigation. Forest ecosystems are increasingly vulnerable to climate change impacts, including droughts, rising temperatures, fires, pest outbreaks and extreme weather events. Key drivers of forest degradation include unsustainable fuelwood extraction, limited financial and technical capacity of forest owners, and insufficient investments in climate-adaptive forest management.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) plays a central role in supporting countries in the Europe and Central Asia region to address these challenges. The FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (REU) leads FAO’s response to regional priorities for food security, agriculture and rural development and oversees the FAO Project Office in Serbia, which is responsible for planning, implementation and monitoring of the country programme in close coordination with national stakeholders, the United Nations Country Team and technical units at regional and headquarters levels.

In this context, the Green Climate Fund (GCF)-funded project “Enhancing the resilience of Serbian forests to support energy security, livelihoods and carbon sequestration” (FOREST Invest) was approved and became operational in February 2025, with total financing (including co-financing) of USD 83.8 million. FAO serves as the Executing Entity (EE) and is responsible for implementation of all GCF-funded activities and management of proceeds, while the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management (MoAFWM), Public Enterprise “Srbijašume” (PES), and Public Enterprise “Vojvodinašume” (PEV) act as co-executing partners through their respective co-financing contributions.

The project aims to strengthen the contribution of the forestry sector to Serbia’s low-carbon development pathway by supporting climate-adaptive silviculture, forest restoration and afforestation, sustainable biomass value chains, carbon finance mechanisms, and private sector engagement. Activities will be implemented in Central Serbia and the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, in alignment with Serbia’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plan and Low Carbon Development Strategy.

Under the overall guidance of the Project Manager and close coordination with Gender and Social Protection Specialist, the Gender Specialist will support the implementation of the GAP in alignment with the project’s workplan, including capacity development, awareness raising, and attention to women headed forest owners and users,  monitoring of the  gender-responsive indicators, required systematic collection and reporting of sex-disaggregated data to  ensure compliance with FAO, national, and Green Climate Fund (GCF) requirements.

Minimum Requirements

•    University degree or specific technical specialization in social sciences, gender studies, rural development, agriculture or related field. 
•    At least 3 years of progressively responsible professional experience in gender mainstreaming and social inclusion in agriculture, forestry, rural development or natural resources programmes, 
•    Working knowledge (level C) of English and Serbian is required.