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.

Organizational Context:

The Gender Equality II is collaboration between the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and UNDP Afghanistan. It aims to develop effective gender mainstreaming models and strengthen the capacity of government ministries and institutions to promote gender equity. The Project is in line with the goals set out in the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) for gender equity and consistent with the National Action Plan for Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA) and Millennium Development Goals of gender equality and empowerment of women. The Project has three components: 1) Enhancement of capacity of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MOWA) for policy making and oversight of NAPWA implementation; 2) Development of Women’s entrepreneurship skills and capacity building of women’s cooperatives in 19 provinces; and 3) Increasing access to justice for women including awareness of women’s rights among men and women. The Gender and Capacity Development specialist will provide capacity development assistance at the national and sub-national levels through direct support to the Women’s Policy Development Centre (WPDC) and Training and Advocacy Department at MoWA and related sub-national district-level departments (DOWAs). WPDC was created under the first phase of the GEP and is intended to function as a cross-sectoral entity: provide the policy framework and overall practical guidance for each ministry and sector to incorporate women’s needs and interests into the total development process for guaranteeing gender balanced results as outlined in the NAPWA indicators.

The Technical Specialist (Gender and Capacity Development) will be part of a team of Specialists supervised and guided by the Project Manager and will report on delivery to the Project Manager. Her/his primary task will be the provision of capacity development assistance to WPDC in order to analyze gender policies of the different sectoral ministries of the Government through the design and implementation of gender balanced strategies for achieving equitable service delivery and outcomes. In doing so, the WPDC will undertake gender analysis of strategies of other ministries and facilitate the development of innovative gender-focused policies that are recognized nationally. This would pave the way for a comprehensive gender-balanced formulation of government policies in all sectoral ministries which would then be translated into concrete programs and activities that would impact women and men, girls and boys equally. The Project is being implemented under the Direct Implementation modality of UNDP.

Note: UNDP Afghanistan reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP Afghanistan at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and education requirements.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

• Organization and Management of Capacity Development Assistance (CDA) relevant to the key Pillars of the Gender Equality Project (GEP II);
• Institutional Capacity Development at different levels and for various stakeholders;
• Development of mechanisms for undertaking evidence-based advocacy initiatives for the Project’s several Pillars and the establishment of system/s for networking among the major stakeholders for sharing knowledge and lessons learned;
• Support to Gender Studies Institute (GSI).

Organization and Management of CDA:

• Providing expert advice and guidance to the WPDC on all training and capacity building related matters;
• Capacity assessment of the WPDC and beneficiary institutions with a view to determining the needs and considerations necessary in developing a comprehensive strategy for gender mainstreaming for the counterpart ministries and government departments..
• Capacity Development Assistance (CDA) to ensuring that Gender units in selected ministries are strengthened and effectively performing their functions.
• Assist and mentor capacity development of the WPDC staff.
• Assisting the WPDC and other beneficiaries in developing and implementing a long term training plan and a strategic capacity development plan that identifies the relevant areas and functions of line ministries, gender units, policy and planning departments and other beneficiaries.
• Involvement in designing and deliberations of training, workshops and seminars to be organized by the project
• Initiate Training of Trainers (TOT) programs for gender mainstreaming and training in related fields to ensure sustainability of gender training programs.
• Participate in necessary collaborative efforts with other CDA providers and national training institutions
• Support the Project Manager in the preparation of project specific guidelines and manuals for capacity assessment and develop responses based on the UNDP’s standard tools and methodology.
• Assist in the preparation of quarterly progress reports and annual reports
• Support and facilitate preparation of results-based management framework for the project including the establishment of performance and impact assessment indicators, and support the implementation of work plans for delivery of results.
• Support the project team in preparing output-based concept and strategy papers and for the preparation and implementation of manuals and guidelines.
• Facilitate provision of advisory and training services for specialized capacity development under twinning arrangements with ministries / agencies of other regional governments for institutional and organizational CD.         

Institutional Capacity Development at sub-national level:

• Advise and support development and implementation of policies and strategies for institutional strengthening and organizational reforms.
• Support preparation of need-based capacity development plans for different stakeholders and institutions set up by the project at the sub-national level, Provincial Women’s Development Council (PWDC) and sub-national governance entities such as the Department of Women’s Affair’s district offices (DoWAs), Department of Justice, Hajj and Religious Affairs and others.
• Support strengthening of institutional capacity of GEP II to support efficient and effective delivery of gender sensitive initiatives and improved implementation in sub-national governance entities and coordination.
• Contribute to the work of the M&E Specialist to ensure the project has a robust reporting mechanism and an in-built system to gather information on the different activities in a consolidated manner for feeding into the different reports required by the Country Office.

Development of mechanisms for undertaking evidence-based advocacy initiatives for the project’s different Pillars 

• Support the Project Manager in the formulation of mechanisms in support of the MoWA Training and Advocacy department for launching evidence-based advocacy campaigns on gender equality and women’s empowerment issues (linked to the 3 Pillars of the project) and roll them out through the regional and provincial offices in close collaboration with the officials of these offices; 
• Establish networking system/s among the major stakeholders at the national and sub-national levels for a continuous and smooth flow of information to document the best practices for future reference;
• Assist in preparation of monthly, quarterly and annual progress reports for the project and correspondingly organization of monthly, quarterly and annual progress reviews.
• Identify innovative CD practices and implement them after piloting such interventions;
• Create a learning environment for the project staff and promote them to continuously scale up their knowledge base.
• Other related tasks assigned by the Project Manager.  

Support to Gender Studies Institute (GSI)

• Assist with the assessment of the existing programs and activities of the GSI with a view to determining needs and considerations necessary in developing a comprehensive strategy to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment through education and training.
• Assistance to develop a strategy and action plan for the GSI based on the current needs and future priorities.
• Support and facilitate the process of developing a conceptual framework for strengthening     the position of GSI within Kabul University for capacity development of professionals, academic personnel and organizations to strengthen their capabilities in the field of gender equality work.
• Support Networking with regional/international institutions and universities for potential partnerships, consultancies, collaboration etc. with universities, academic institutions abroad for further development of the Gender Studies Program (GSI) programs and activities.

Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Excellent communication, interpersonal and management skills from a gender perspective and capacity to quickly develop a rapport with both men and women from different backgrounds..

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example;
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on a learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.

Development and Functional Effectiveness

• Demonstrates awareness of a broad range of components of capacity development;
• Ability to analyze gender-related government and community structures and dynamics;
• Ability to plan, design and implement capacity development interventions productively;
• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
• Solid knowledge in gender equality and human capacity development
• Understands more advanced aspects of primary area of specialization as well as the fundamental concepts of related disciplines.
• Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself professionally.
• Demonstrates comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments.

Management and Leadership

• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and results for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Leads teams effectively and shows mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills;
• Demonstrated willingness to complete mandatory UNDP Certification programmes

Required Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree in Social Science, Public Policy, international development, with specialization in women’s development and/or other relevant Social Science or development management discipline;

• Minimum 5 years of working experience on issues relevant to developing countries in Asia Pacific and preferably in advising UNDP managements and high level government officials; including experience in gender mainstreaming, designing and conducting gender surveys \or gender expertise and preparation research and \ or policy papers; experience in management and conducting training programmes in the field of gender and social development;
• Strong background and understanding of critical gender analysis and programmatic skills;
• Excellent analytical aptitude, communication, writing and presentation skills;
• Experience in capacity development and knowledge transfer.
• Ability to function at both policy advisory and project implementation levels.
• Experience in operational systems and establishing inter-relationships among international organization and national governments.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and experience in handling of web based management systems.
• Previous experience working with UNDP, other UN agencies, international organizations, or NGOs would be an asset.
• Knowledge and experience in Afghanistan or post-conflict settings is an advantage

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is essential, and knowledge of Dari/Pashto is desirable.

Interested and qualified international candidates should apply on-line through the UNDP Jobs site at http://www.undp.org.af/Jobs/index.htm   and please ensure that to fill up and upload Personal History Form-P.11 which is available at http://www.undp.org.af/Jobs/index.htm    in the relevant field of the on-line application

Incomplete applications or applications received after the closing date (16 May 2012) will not be given consideration. Please note that only applications who are short-listed will be contacted.

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

Successful candidates must be prepared to start work within 6 weeks of the offer of appointment.

Internal candidates who have served a minimum of 12 months in the current assignment are invited to apply.

Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply

FC: 04000