Background

UNDP supports stabilization, state-building, and 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 sub-national levels. 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 Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the UN system as a whole to maximize the impact of its development efforts on the ground.

Purpose:

By rostering photographers who will work on development issues, UNDP seeks to produce the following:

• A series of photo stories overlaid with spoken narratives. The photo stories will be showcased on the UNDP Afghanistan website and used across the UNDP’s global web and social media platforms where possible. The photo-images will be used at various external platforms, in publications and at display and exhibition events and opportunities;
  
• Images collected through this process will be used to create a database of still images depicting some of the issues that UNDP helps to address; the action that UNDP is taking; and the results that are being achieved. These will be used by UNDP to illustrate reports, posters and other public information or outreach material.   
  

The photos will depict the issues that UNDP helps to address; the action that UNDP is taking; and the results that are being achieved.

Creative Concept:

Stories will be told from the perspective of Afghan people who are benefiting from UNDP supported work and will focus on four main areas of UNDP support in the country. These areas are: Poverty and Environment, Rule of Law and Justice, Gender, Sub-national Governance, accountable Governance (and capacity development), and legitimate and inclusive politics at the national level.

For example: a former insurgent who has been able to reintegrated into society; a community leader who has lead a developmental improvement in his/ her village or district; a police officer who is reaching out to young people though the community policing project; a government official who has improved service delivery.

In addition to the personal photo essays, the imagery should capture the issues as described below (under each storyline) as well as these key results:

An estimated 80 percent of all criminal and civil disputes in Afghanistan are resolved outside the formal legal system through various community forums known as shuras, jirgas, and jalasas. Yet, at times, disputes are resolved in violation of national and international human rights obligations, especially where women’s rights are concerned. Many people also rely on insurgents to maintain order and deliver justice.

A key priority for the Government is building a credible police force and an effective judiciary. UNDP supports the government to achieve this by helping to build the skills of police and legal professionals, and by strengthening the systems and infrastructure that supports them.

XXX (to be identified in collaboration with LOTFA) joined the Afghan National Police in XXX.

• XXX speaks about his motivations for joining the police force;
• He speaks about the challenges facing police officers;
• He speaks about the training he has received;
• He speaks about the new electronic payment system and how this has affected corruption;
• He speaks about his work in community policing and why this is important;
• He speaks about the hopes and dreams he has for his profession and his country.
  

At the same time, the Government of Afghanistan leads an effort to extend an open hand to the Taliban and other insurgent groups, offering them a dignified and respectful way to renounce violence, and peacefully re-integrate individuals into their communities, in order to participate in the reconciliation of their country. Leading this effort at the local level are peace councils. The story follows the work of a local peace council and the reintegration of a former insurgent.

• Local peace councilor speaks about the council’s work and why it’s important and the challenges they face;
• His concerns, hopes and dreams for his country;
• A former insurgent speaks about why he joined the insurgency and why he decided to leave;
• He speaks about how the programme has assisted him to reintegrate and how his life has changed;
• He speaks about his concerns, hopes and dreams.
  

Police training: men and women officers, target practice; training sessions with officers; officers working on the streets, communicating with the people; show how the access to electronic payments have improved life. Access to justice: court proceedings, life in shelters; training of judges/prosecutors. Meetings of the peace councils (perhaps men and women together in meetings). Reintegration programme: former insurgent, turning in weapons, training for new jobs. 

As Afghanistan prepares for the drawdown of most international military forces and a likely fall in overall development assistance by 2014, many are concerned that recent progress in terms of women’s rights could be threatened. Over the past decade Afghan women have taken up more leadership roles in government and communities. Laws have been passed in support of their rights. More girls are enrolled in schools than a decade ago, and more women are working in sectors such as health or security. But the average Afghan woman can still only expect to live 44 years, and less than 15% are literate. Violence against women is also widespread and child marriage, giving away girls for dispute resolution, forced isolation in the home, exchange marriage and “honor” killings cause suffering, humiliation and marginalization for millions of Afghan women and girls. 

UNDP is supporting the Government to assist women to take-up leadership roles. This requires skills training and confidence building measures. Women are supported to take part in decision-making processes and leadership roles, for example, in community development committees, in sub-national and national governance roles, and in the security sector. UNDP is also supporting the government and civil society to extend justice and legal aid to more women.

Empowering women is a part of all UNDP projects. While visiting each project site, the photographer should capture women (where possible) and their growing role as well as challenges in participating as leaders, decision-makers and accessing government services.    

• She speaks about her participation in community decision-making and why this is important;
• She speaks about the challenges facing women where she is;
• She speaks about the changes she has seen since the project started;
• She speaks about the hopes and dreams she has women and girls in Afghanistan.

Women in non-traditional jobs; women in army/police dept; women speaking out in meetings; women spending/handling money; women parliamentarians;  women being educated, trained on computer use; women leaders.

With 80% of Afghans living in rural areas and more than half the population living in poverty, a key government priority is to extend both economic opportunities and basic services to rural areas. UNDP is supporting the government to do this by assisting officials and institutions to build their capacities and systems for effective and accountable sub-national governance. At the same time, UNDP is also working with village-level development committees to empower communities to articulate their needs and priorities and then to take their priorities forward with technical and financial support from UNDP and its partners.

This story follows a District Development Committee leader/ members as they work with villages to identify their priorities and then work with Government and UNDP to realize these priorities.

• Featured person speaks about the development challenges in their area;
• How he/ she works with government and UNDP and the kind of support they get;
• Why this work is important and how it has changed their communities;
• Speaks about the role of women in the process and why this is important;
• Speaks about transparency and accountability measures;
• Speaks about security and other challenges that daily life holds in this area;
• Speaks about the hopes and dreams for their communities and Afghanistan.

Village committee meetings, people speaking up at meetings; village photos showing conditions discussed at meetings. Rural infrastructure: public buildings, buildings in need of repair, bridges/roads being worked on.

Accountable Governance and capacity development at national level (Institution building)

As the international community starts to drawdown its troops and development assistance is expected to drop by 2014, a key priority for the Government is building the capacities of key national institutions, such as the Independent Election Commission (IEC). A day in the life of the IEC - How is this Afghan-led institution, with support from UNDP, meeting the challenges of delivering free and fair elections across a country where security for government officials is insecure and ethnic divides can make or break electoral processes? What kind of support is UNDP providing and how is this steady support now beginning to translate into stronger, Afghan-led institutions?   

Accountable governance:  ongoing work by the IEC, people involved in day-to-day business of IEC.

Elections: Prior to voting: voter registration, voter education; getting voter ID cards.

Parliament: legislators in action, campaigning; voting on issues inside the parliament building, meeting with constituents

Anti-corruption: open town council meetings, speakers, people standing up in meetings asking questions, workers in public buildings; money changing hands as in a bank (not under the table).

ICT: use of computers, laptops, iPads, especially in unexpected places; cell phones for cash transfers, health practitioners exchanging information over internet/skype; exchanging records, etc; use in agriculture to track pricing or disease outbreaks; emergency situations.

The focus should not be on UNDP but rather the featured Afghans and how they are taking their own development forward and the challenges they are trying to address.

• All photographs should convey the dignity and personality of the people portrayed. Images are most compelling when they tell stories;
• Imagery should be simple, optimistic, bold, and contemporary;
• We are looking for optimistic images that convey the hope for a brighter future in Afghanistan;
• Bold images communicate clearly and immediately what is essential in a situation, stirring deep emotions in the viewer;
• Contemporary images are recognizably current, and show the active participation of people. Unique camera angles, good cropping, interesting colors and strong crisp lines all let us feel as if we were right there with them.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Essays with spoken narratives overlaid, which tell the stories outlined above. A more detailed briefing of the stories and related people will be provided to the successful photographer upon commencement of assignment. Photo essays should be provided in digital format (billboard size quality). UNDP expected to provide 2 rounds of comments for each essay. The narratives should be in the original language of the interviewee with subtitles in English. The photographer will be responsible for any translation into English;
• A collection of 200 still images in digital format (billboard size quality) with captions that explain briefly who is pictured, where, when and what is happening in the photograph. The photos should be organized into thematic areas;
• Both horizontal and vertical shots are required.  

Travel outside of Kabul will be required, in which case the photographer will be accompanied by a UNDP staff member, most likely from the relevant project. UNDP Country Office will cover the related transport costs for related travel in and around Kabul and outside of Kabul. If overnight travel is required, the photographer will be entitled to a Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) as per UNDP policy.

UNDP and the photographer will hold joint copyright on all photographers produced as part of this assignment. This means UNDP can reuse all photographs without further cost implication. At the same time, the photographer can display and use the photos also. Copyright will be attributed to both UNDP and the photographer in the following way: Copyright: UNDP/ photographer’s name.

Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Maturity combined with tact and diplomacy;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism. 
  

• Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office;
• Ability to conduct required research, analyze and produce proposals and reports;
• Excellent analytical aptitude, communication, writing and presentation skill;
• Commitment and enthusiasm for development work;
• In-depth knowledge on development issues;
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.

• Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Leads teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues in a multi-cultural and multiethnic environment;
• Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master or bachelor degree in professional photography or journalism or any other related field is required. 

 Experience:

• Five years with Master or 7 years relevant experience with bachelor degree is required;
• Demonstrated experience in photojournalism in development issues is an asset;
• Experience in image selection for publication and publicity purposes;
• Ability to produce multimedia products that utilize voice; ability to interview and capture voice for narrative;
• Ability to manipulate digital images in related software packages, such as Photoshop, and to add narrative overlays.
• Good knowledge of technical requirements for taking photos in various settings (i.e. outdoor, indoor conferences, portraits, group activities etc.);
• Photographer should have their own professional photographic and sound recording equipment, including related hardware and software to manage images.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required. The knowledge of local languages (Dari/Pashto) is desirable.

Selection criteria:

Candidate will be selected based on demonstrated experience and quality first and foremost, and, secondly, the competitiveness of their financial offer. Professionals interested in submitting offers should provide a financial offer (i.e. price per day or lump sum all inclusive), P11 form and a maximum of five  examples of photographic essays (digital or print) of development related subjects (including activity and portraits) which should be can be submitted as one PDF or word document as attachment while applying online.

The threshold for technical and financial evaluations is set 70 and 30 % respectively.

For more detailed information about UNDP Afghanistan please visit our website at www.undp.org.af

Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply.