Background

UNDP supports stabilization, state building, governance and development priorities in Afghanistan. UNDP support, in partnership with the Government, the United Nations system, the donor community and other development stakeholders, has contributed to institutional development efforts leading to positive impact on the lives of Afghan citizens. Over the years UNDP support has spanned such milestone efforts as the adoption of the Constitution; Presidential, Parliamentary and Provincial Council elections; institutional development through capacity-building to the legislative, the judicial and executive arms of the state, and key ministries, Government agencies and commissions at the national and subnational levels. UNDP has played a key role in the management of the Law and Order Trust Fund, which supports the Government in developing and maintaining the national police force and in efforts to stabilize the internal security environment. Major demobilization, disarmament and rehabilitation and area-based livelihoods and reconstruction programmes have taken place nationwide. UNDP Programmes in Afghanistan have benefited from the very active support of donors. UNDP Afghanistan is committed to the highest standards of transparency and accountability and works in close coordination with the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan and the UN system as a whole to maximize the impact of its development efforts on the ground.

Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOTFA) is a multi-lateral trust fund set up in 2002 and administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Afghanistan. The Trust Fund has provided a mechanism for coordinating contributions from international partners, for the payment, equipment, training, and gender mainstreaming of the Afghan National Police.

Since inception, LOTFA has completed five phases and is currently in phase-VI (effective 01 January 2011 to 31 March 2013). Under this phase, the project has evolved into a more substantive programme clustered around three distinct pillars: (i) police and prisons staff remuneration, as well as police infrastructure; (ii) capacity development and institutional reform of the Ministry of Interior at the police, organizational and individual level; and linked to this, gender empowerment in the Ministry; (iii) community policing at the district level, towards more effective local security, police service delivery and accountability. The community policing is building on the pilot initiative of UNDP implemented during 2010 in Kabul province to expand the programme to a larger number of provinces/districts.

Based in Ministry of Interior-LOTFA project and as part of the project support structure, the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist (Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist) will be working under the direct supervision of the Chief Technical Advisor/Project Manager.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide support to develop a solid Monitoring and Evaluation system for capturing of impact oriented information;
• Support the LOTFA Monitoring and Evaluation system implementation for effective and efficient flow of information on project results;
• Facilitate project evaluation, reviews and project knowledge production for informed decision making;
• Supervision of the national Monitoring and Evaluation team for sustainable capacity development;
• Play the role of Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist for informed decision making.

• Contribute to planning and conducting a baseline studies to identify the situation at the beginning of the 7th phase of the UNDP/LOTFA project;
• Develop a comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation plan outlining the overall project Monitoring and Evaluation strategy in the light of results Resources Framework; including efficient and effective data collection tools and data sources, both qualitative and quantitative.
• Develop a periodic evaluation and review plan for all three LOTFA pillars and components as required; also, in coordination with the pillar project managers, come up with a plan for research and knowledge products development;
• Contribute in the revision of the project Results and Resources Framework to ensure effective Monitoring and Evaluation of the project activities;
• Conduct periodic review of different Monitoring and Evaluation plans and make adjustments as required;
• Support in ensuring the LOTFA Monitoring and Evaluation system is gender-responsive.

• Support the Monitoring and Evaluation team in effective and efficient way for delivery of results;
• Support implementation of the LOTFA Monitoring and Evaluation and other related plans’ implementation;
• Conduct and support the baseline data collection (qualitative and quantitative) on the project indicators;
• Implement the tools (quantitative and qualitative) developed for data collection for timely reporting;
• Undertake regular analysis of data collected from the field and provide in a timely manner as and when required;
• Ensure timely field mentoring is conducted both by the Monitoring and Evaluation and programme staff for quality management of programme activities;
• Produce periodic analytical reports based on the data collected from the field;
• Regularly collect lessons learnt and communicate to the management in timely manner;
• Work closely with the technical teams and field offices for collection of the best practices and subsequent implementation across the programme;
• Together with communication team, produce result oriented success stories from the field;
• Work closely with the reporting officer for result oriented reporting of the programme activities.

• Conduct regular internal evaluation and reviews of the project activities;
• Facilitate, together with the UNDP Country Office Programme Unit, commissioning of independent evaluations of the project;
• Ensure proper follow-up of different evaluation outcomes and reviews based on the comprehensive action plan;
• Work closely with the technical teams for different research/knowledge product development activities’ planning;
• Facilitate different researches and publication of the outcomes both nationally and internationally;
• Together with the technical teams and field staff, conduct case studies.

• Provide proper supervision and guidance to the national Monitoring and Evaluation team;
• Contribute in development of the national staff capacities on project Monitoring and Evaluation through facilitation of the trainings for Monitoring and Evaluation and technical teams;
• Play the role of a technical specialist to the project Monitoring and Evaluation team assuring sound implementation of the Monitoring and Evaluation activities.

• Provide timely support to the project management based on project monitoring and evaluation;
• Ensure follow up and reporting to the project management on different adjustments made to the project activities in the light of Monitoring and Evaluation suggestions;
• Provide support to UNDP for project adjustments in the light of Monitoring and Evaluation activities.

Competencies

• Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
• Has dedication to the UN principles and demonstrated ability to work harmoniously with persons of different national and cultural backgrounds;
• Understands the structure and hierarchy of UN/UNDP,  process flows throughout the organization, products and services, their measures of effectiveness, and perceptions of clients
• Makes the case for innovative ideas documenting successes and building them into the design of new approaches
• Displays initiative, sets challenging outputs for him/herself and willingly accepts new work assignments
• Works collaboratively with colleagues inside UN/UNDP as well as its partners and other stakeholders to pursue common goals
• Possesses strong communication skills and analytical abilities, particularly in the areas of governance, learning, training and capacity development/transfer;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Understands more advanced aspects of monitoring and evaluation as well as the fundamental concepts of results-based management
• Demonstrates comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments
• Tolerates conditions of stress, uncertainty or ambiguity and continues to maintain a positive outlook and to work productively
• Has deep understanding of post conflict environment and the evolving development challenges.

Required Skills and Experience

• Master’s Degree in development studies,(international development, post conflict), Social Sciences or Statistical Studies

• A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible professional working experience in international development especially in the area of monitoring and evaluation; working with learning and capacity development initiatives, preferably in conflict/post conflict situation;
• Experience of working in the field of reporting and monitoring to include experience in developing plans, tracking results, reporting to different constituencies. Monitoring experience in the UN context highly desirable;
• Experience in results-based management (RBM) is desirable;
• Knowledge and understanding of public sector institutional capacity development requirements;
• Experience of working with Ministry of Interior or police forces is desirable
• Knowledge and understanding of conflict/post conflict development (peace building, reintegration etc.) activities;
• Experience related to UNDP's mandate and activities an asset;
• Previous experience of working in UNDP, UN system highly desirable;
• Excellent computer/information systems skills.

• Excellent command of written and spoken English;
• Knowledge of Dari or any other local languages will be an asset.