AusAID are currently updating their key policies in the areas of rural developement and environment, and a new rural development initiative is being development with a focus on the following outcomes: 1) improving rural livelihoods, b) building community resilience, and 3) lifting agricultural productivity. To support the Rural Development and Environment Thematic Network, AusAID has engaged, through a Period Offer arrangement, an expert panel of advisors that will focus on key themes.

The objective of the Rural Development Social Protection and Environment Expert Panel (RD&E) is to provide AusAID with access to a range of technical expertise from professionals with established credentials in various fields of rural development, social protection and environment. AusAID's Rural Development and Environment Thematic Network together with professionals from the Panel will work to build a continuously updated and consistent approach to achieving best practice outcomes in delivering effective aid overses, focusing on five categories:
1) mitigating greenhouse gas emissons;
2) adapting to climate change;
3) planning and better management of water resources;
4) social protection; and 5) rural enterprise management.

AusAID intends to develop a long term productive relationship with a small number of technical experts on the Panel, utilising the expertise of each expert for up to five months per year, for a considerable variety of work.

Rachel Slater will be required to provide advice and support on matters relating to social protection including but not limited to the following policy priority areas:
1) poor people's vulnerability reduced through effective social protection;
2) increased access to pathways out of poverty;
3) type of instruments developed is appropriate for the level of poverty being addressed;
4) the effectiveness of formal and informal social protection mechanisms is increased, particuarly through better targeting, integration of instruments and links to livelihood opportunities;
5) community level social and productive infrastructure and local service delivery effectively planned, managed and mainatined;
6) local government increaseinly responsive and accountable to the poorest; and
7) community programmes in fragile states contributing effectively to state-building stability and accountability objectives.

Rachel will be required to provide advice, support and capacity building services, including but not limited to:
1) assisting AusAID to develop a consistent and continuously updated, best-practice approach throughout AusAID country programs under thematic areas identified;
2) detailing case studies of best practice and distilling lessons from the field;
3) writing issue papers and presenting policy challenges and debates to AusAID and partners for discussion;
4) conducting country and strategy analyses to help AusAID identify key challenges and opportunities in each of thematic areas identified above;
5) provision of advice to RD&E projects and programmes, including leading and participating in design, review & completion missions, or helping prepare Terms of Reference for such missions;
6) provision of a helpdesk function to respond to queries and provide commentary and advice on reports; and
7) providing training courses for members of the AusAID RD&E network, country programme teams, and development partners.