Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations System efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Afghanistan is one of the world’s most complex emergencies, and the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Afghan people are grappling with the impact of conflict, poverty, economic decline, and natural disasters. In this context, Afghan women and girls face unique vulnerabilities and require urgent support as gender inequality is interwoven with conflict dynamics and humanitarian needs. It is essential that Afghan women and girls can continue to shape the development of their country, and that their gains are protected. UN Women remains fully committed to supporting Afghan women and girls and to putting them at the center of the global response to the crisis in Afghanistan.

UN Women has been in Afghanistan for two decades. UN Women’s programming approach is informed by analysis of the political, economic and humanitarian situation, risks to and capacities of partner organizations, and needs of Afghan women and girls. UN Women Afghanistan currently has four key programme priorities: (1) Gender in Humanitarian Action; (2) Ending Violence Against Women; (3) Women’s Economic Empowerment; and (4) Women, Peace and Security.

Given the importance of sub-national level engagement in support of Afghan women and girls in the current crisis context, the UN Women Afghanistan Country Office has sub-national presence in five Sub-Offices in Balkh, Bamyan, Herat, Kandahar and Nangarhar. The five Sub-Offices support UN Women coordination, advocacy, and programming efforts at the Sub-National level.

Reporting to the Head of Sub-Office, the Programme Coordinator will work closely with the UN Women Programme and Operations teams in Kabul. The Programme Coordinator is responsible for coordinating UN Women Afghanistan coordination, advocacy, and programme and programme/project activities at the regional level. She/he will be responsible for relationships with national partners and stakeholders at the local level, and the monitoring, reporting and managing of the finances and personnel of the field office.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Guide coordination with provincial partners and other stakeholders at the sub-national level

• Coordinate relationships with established and expand relationships with new provincial partners to support implementation and expansion of the UN Women Programmes/Portfolio at local level;
• Participate in different cluster and other coordination meetings with UN agencies and partners as advised by the Head of Sub-Office;
• Identify, establish and maintain relationships with women’s civil society and gender equality and women’s empowerment advocates in the region;
• Lead and facilitate consultations with women’s civil society and gender equality and women’s empowerment advocates in the region;
• Identify capacity building needs and support partners through technical assistance, mentoring, training, and capacity development initiatives, as needed;
• Identify and implement systematic capacity development opportunities for responsible parties and women’s civil society and gender equality and women’s empowerment advocates in the region;

2. Coordinate UN Women Afghanistan programmes across all thematic programming areas at the regional level

• Identify context specific emerging gender issues as sub-regional levels and opportunities for UN Women programming, coordination and advocacy at the regional level;
• Advise Head of Sub-Office on changing political or security scenarios and incidents in the region relevant to program implementation;
• Support the overall programme work plan development and implementation at the sub-regional level through the provision of context-specific, regional level information, according to the UN Women Afghanistan Strategic Note and programme and project documents;
• Support project planning and implementation, in collaboration with partners at the field level, and in coordination with the Programme Teams in Kabul;
• Gather inputs for and support the preparation of work-plans, periodic narrative progress reports and expenditures status reports to the Programme Teams and UN Women management;
• Record and maintain documents on relevant Programme activities, issues, and risks.

3. Coordinate the monitoring and reporting on the programmes implementation at the sub-national level

• Gather and compile information necessary for monitoring and reporting on programmes and projects at the sub national level, to inform the programming cycle from planning to the evaluation stages;
• Monitor the implementation of activities and the expenditure of funds by responsible parties; conduct regular monitoring visits of UN Women interventions within the province, and region, as required;
• Support the collection of human interest stories from the sub-region;
• Provide inputs to annual and quarterly reports as well as to donor reports; coordinate the submission of implementing partner financial and narrative reports where required;
• Support monitoring missions from Programme Teams from Kabul at the sub-national level;

4. Manage people and finances for Sub-Office programmes

• Support the development and preparation of financial resources of the programme, including budgeting and budget revisions, and expenditure tracking and reporting;
• Monitor the allocation and disbursement of funds to participating partners where required;

5. Build partnerships and support in developing resource mobilization strategies

• Provide inputs to the development of partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;

6. Advocate and facilitate knowledge building and management and communication

• Coordinate the organization of advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, workshops, and knowledge products at local level;
• Document the programme implementation process and products;
• Contribute to the exchange of information and provide inputs to the development of knowledge products internally and externally of the programme;

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies

• Good programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Good budget and finance skills
• Good knowledge of Results Based Management
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions and present findings and recommendations · Good analytical skills · Knowledge of UN programme management systems

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in public administration, law, human rights, gender equality, management, social sciences, or other related areas is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experiance:

• At least 2 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in managing complex and multi-component programme interventions with national partners, preferably related to thematic area.
• Experience in gender equality and women’s empowerment programming.
• Experience in coordinating, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating development programmes and projects is an asset.
• Experience in and understanding of the local context and surrounding provinces is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Fluency in Dari and /or Pashto is required;
• Working knowledge of another official UN language is an asset;

Application:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from Application and recruitment process | About us: Careers at UN Women | UN Women – Headquarters Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality, and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW, and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Inclusion Statement:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits employ, trains, compensates and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity, and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

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