Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women will work 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 centre of all its efforts, UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations System efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors

Background:

There is an increasing recognition among producers and users of statistics that the ability to conduct sound policy- and decision making, planning, program formulation, implementation and monitoring that is gender sensitive is dependent on data that are gender sensitive. In Afghanistan, a number of factors continue to hinder effective generation of such data, including, (i) limited capacity to deliver the needed quality and timely gender-sensitive information and (ii) a limited understanding of, and mainstreaming of, gender-related issues and concerns into statistical processes and programs.

UN Women has been actively supporting the Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GOIRA) in establishing a sound data system for gender sensitive planning, and policy and decision making. In 2009, under the leadership of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MOWA) and the Central Statistical Organization (CSO), UN Women assisted the   government in publishing a handbook on Women and Men in Afghanistan, containing baseline statistics on gender and in mainstreaming gender into the National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (NRVA) analysis and report writing.  Training for government statisticians who are involved in the NRVA statistical collection and analysis was also conducted.   Further, UN Women assisted the Central Statistical Organization in conducting a survey on women and men in decision making in Afghanistan.  The survey has been completed and printing of its publication is underway.  A second phase proposal of the Survey has been planned with an expanded scope which includes selected Government agencies, private sector organisations and national Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs)

At provincial level, UN Women leads NAPWA implementation in the Province of Dai Kundi where various UN agencies have been implementing an integrated joint programme.  Currently, a Joint Programme document is under preparation to pave the way for the implementation of a joint programme.  UN Women ACO piloted the development of capacities among institutions to collect, process and use gender sensitive information to inform planning, programming, decision making and advocacy in 2011. Further support is envisaged to strengthen CSO at national level and provincial levels to strengthen technical, methodological and analytical capacities with regard to gender statistics

In view of the above, UN Women  Afghanistan Country Office is contracting the services of a Gender and Statistics Adviser to support CSO in strengthening capacities in gender responsive statistics further.  Under the direct supervision of the Unit Manager of the ACO’s Institutional Capacity Development Unit, and working closely with the Institutional CapacityDevelopment Specialist, the Gender and Statistics Advisor will be tasked to undertake the following:

1. Provide technical support to the Central Statistics Organization to undertake the 2nd Phase Survey on Men and Women In Decision making from conceptualization, data consolidation, validation and report finalization. 

The Survey on Men and Women In Decision making aims to provide government planners, policy makers, administrators, and international organizations with comprehensive, up-to-date, and evidenced-based baseline data on women and men in decision-making positions.  The data will also serve as basis for developing policies and programs and making decisions for promoting gender equality and empowerment of women and the over-all improvement of the status of women.  The purpose of this activity is to ensure that the quality of the report on the Survey of Women and Men in Decision Making is of a high standard acceptable to the Central Statistics Organisation and UN Women.  In this connection, the Gender and Statistics Advisor will:

i. Review the tabulated data sets for the survey and validate the facts presented in the report;
ii. Draw up additional analysis from the current data presentation;
iii. Develop recommended graphs, tables, or charts that will make the report more understandable and interesting to lay readers;
iv. Review and edit the final English draft of the narrative report and polish the narrative style of the report
v. Confer with CSO and UN Women to endorse the report or incorporate changes as may be suitable to the desired improvement of the report.

Outputs – Finalised manuscript fully edited text, accurate statistical charts, graphs, and  tables; with additional analysis in text form as appropriate

Timeline: Throughout the consultancy

2. Undertake a comprehensive gender audit of the Central Statistics Organization, at policy level, organizational systems and procedures; cultures, accountabilities and programming levels including all systems for data design, planning, collection and processing, analysis and dissemination

i. Assess the extent to which gender has been mainstreamed into current policies, programmes, organizational structure and procedures of the Central Statistics Organization pertaining to its mandate
ii. Assess gender capacity within sampled line ministry statistics offices and provide recommendations for addressing weaknesses, gaps and building on existing strengths
iii. Promote learning on how to effectively engender the national statistical system through identification of key strengths and weaknesses, lessons learnt from past initiatives and gaps that have hindered CSO efforts to fully transform into a gender responsive organization
iv. Provide recommendations on how to address identified issues and obstacles to the mainstreaming of gender into CSO core functions and policy/mandate including the Census, NRVA, surveys and related administrative data systems

Output - A well edited report on the gender audit with clear recommendations for improving gender mainstreaming in the policies, systems, programmes, structures and procedures and strengthening the accountability mechanism.
Timeline: 1st Month; 2nd Month;

3. Develop a comprehensive strategy for strengthening capacity on engendering national statistical systems, staff gender competencies and other gaps as identified by the gender audit. 

i. The Consultant will develop a detailed and comprehensive strategy addressing all recommendations raised in the Gender audit report. 
ii. Develop a Terms of reference for the proposed gender unit of the CSO
iii. Develop a three year costed work plan for gender statistics  including the establishment and functioning of a gender unit in CSO
iv. Organize and facilitate a Stakeholders workshop to validate and facilitate ownership of the Strategy for CSO, Ministry of Women Affairs, other key government agency /ministry based statistics offices/departments

Outputs – Strategy for strengthening gender responsiveness in CSO; TOR for Gender Unit; CSO Gender statistics work plan with budget; Stakeholders workshop report with recommendations
Timeline: 3rd Month; 4th Month

4. Develop TOT training materials.  The consultant will develop a Facilitators guideline for trainers on engendering national statistics and a Participants handbooks for cascade training ; and undertake three priority trainings on engendering statistics for TOT staff of the Central Statistics organization, line ministry statistics unit staff at national and Daikundi Provincial level in 2012.

i. Develop, validate and finalize a Facilitators training guideline on gender statistics
ii. Develop, validate and finalize a Participants reference handbook on gender statistics
iii. Three (3) trainings planned and implemented for CSO, line ministries and Daikundi province

Outputs - Facilitators training guideline on gender statistics and Participants reference handbook on gender statistics; Participatory training design framework including objectives, delivery method, target participants, Workshop programmes and Presentations; Three training reports;
 

Timeline: 5th Month

Core Values and Ethics
• Demonstrate cultural sensitivity and able to work in a multi-national environment
• Support the Organization’s corporate goal
• Comply with UN WOMEN rules, regulations and code of conduct
• Demonstrate integrity

Teamwork
• Build effective client relationships and partnerships
• Interact with all levels of staff in the organization
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Build and share knowledge
• Provide guidance and support to others
• Apply existing knowledge to work
• Make valuable practice contributions

Communication
• Excellent oral and written skills
• Listen actively and respond effectively

Task Management
• Plan, prioritize and deliver a variety of tasks on time
• Exercise sound judgment/analysis
• Develop creative solutions

Learning
• Promote learning environment in the office
• Provide constructive coaching and feedback for others

1. Education: Master’s degree on statistics or related professions such as demography;
2. Minimum of ten years of extensive professional experience and track record in the collection, processing and analysis of gender statistics;
3. Solid background in gender responsive organizational development (OD)
4. Experience in working with government agencies on gender and/or statistics;
5. Demonstrated skills in use of statistical data analysis packages
6. Knowledge of the statistical environment in Afghanistan will be an asset
7. Excellent technical writing and editing skills; and
8. Ability to deliver outputs on time, handle multiple tasks and work under stressful situations.

Language Requirements:

Fluent in English language. Strong, confident command of both written and oral English.
Knowledge of local languages i.e Dari and Pashtu will be an asset

Computer Skills:
High level of proficiency in computer systems, internet navigation and various office applications.