UNDP Jobs - 3041- Gender Planning Specialist

Gender Planning Specialist

Location :

Kabul, AFGHANISTAN

Type of Contract :

ALD International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

19-Nov-07 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

ALD-3

Duration of Initial Contract :

One Year (renewable)

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

UNDP Afghanistan has been providing gender technical support to the Government of Afghanistan through the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) since its inception. In 2007 UNDP signed a new project titled Institutional Capacity Building for Gender Equality (Gender Equality) with the MoWA and the Ministry of Economy (MoEc) to strengthening capacity of selected state entities for the advancement of gender equity and women’s empowerment in Afghanistan. The project aims to develop effective gender mainstreaming models to strengthen the capacity of government ministries and institutions at national and sub-national levels. The project is in line with the goals set out in the Interim Afghanistan National Development Strategy (I-ANDS) for gender equity and consistent with the Millennium Development Goals of gender equality and empowerment of women.

Gender Equality project is geared towards strengthening the capacity of the two main technical counterparts—MoWA and MoEc—and other ministries and institutions involved in the implementation of the project. One of the key features of the project is the enhanced gender technical capacity of the national institutions. Gender planning skill in this respect has been considered being one of the critical capacity enabling organizations to promote gender mainstreaming across sectors. The position of the Gender Planning Specialist has been created to facilitate gender responsive planning exercises by the government ministries/departments in general and develop the critical gender technical capacity of the MoEc in particular.

The Gender Planning Specialist will function under direct supervision and with guidance from the Programme Manager, Gender Equality programme and will work in close collaboration with other experts and specialist engaged in the on-going gender equality project, Provincial Co-ordinators, M&E and Learning Specialist and the government counterparts. The main objective of the post is to help develop/strengthen gender technical capacity particularly with regard to development planning exercises both at national and sub-national levels.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key functions: under direct supervision and with guidance from the Programme Manager, the Gender Planning Specialist will undertake the following key responsibilities:

Knowledge creation and capacity transformation:

Conduct a situation analysis of current planning practice and procedures, to identify strengths and weaknesses/gaps and establish a work plan for gender-sensitive participatory planning initiatives;
Provide technical inputs to ensure the planning procedures, tools, guidelines adopted as the national standard are gender-sensitive and promote achievement of the gender equity goal set forth in the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS);
Develop gender responsive planning methodology and train key staff from MoEc, MoWA and other concerned ministries and their respective departments in Herat and Balkh provinces;
Design and conduct trainings for project partners and develop a core group of trainers from among national and provincial planners;
Help develop templates for gender responsive planning exercises and provide technical inputs in the piloting of gender responsive planning methodology, and in training for related national and provincial authorities;
Help develop gender sensitive indicators to be utilised by planners.
Help strengthen capacity of planners to assess the gender responsiveness of development projects and interventions and advise on strategies to make these measures more gender responsive.
Develop step-by-step gender responsive planning guidelines and train planners in Kabul and in the provinces in use of the guidelines
Prepare and guide the utilization of a checklist of gender issues in Afghanistan that will be utilised in planning exercises.

2. Promote Collaboration and Synergies:

Work closely with the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI) and MoWA to facilitate the piloting of gender responsive planning and budgeting exercises;
Ensure collaboration with MoWA and MoF in determining model gender planning resource materials and facilitate their use in practice;
Facilitate establishment of a co-ordination mechanism within MoEc and among its partners;
Maintain close working relation with other experts and advisers fielded by the project in various ministries.

3. Develop, promote and ensure sustainable national capacity building:

Help MoEc establish an Afghan Think Tank in relation to institutionalisation of Afghan-owned gender responsive planning processes;
Conceive and develop Communities of Practice on ministerial and sub-national levels engaging relevant officials/leaders of 7 ministries involved in the implementation of the project to address women’s rights and gender equality issues in line with the ANDS goals and MDGs;
Ensure effective networking of this community of practice with existing gender mainstreaming mechanisms in respective ministries;
Introduce monitoring system to measure performance as well as impact of capacity building initiatives (under Function 1) and particularly trainings on gender responsive planning processes.

4. Policy influence:

Conduct analysis and prepare assessment reports as well as position papers and/or policy briefs on gender aspects of the poverty reduction goal and the ANDS and Afghan Compact Benchmarks;
Lead the process of knowledge creation and dissemination in the subject area and actively participate in various fora and discussions at the Gender Studies Institute (GSI);
Give seminars on analysis, findings, lessons learned from the pilot gender planning and budgeting exercises.

5. Management and Reporting:

Provide supervision to and mentor the team members working closely with the MoEc and help strengthen their capacity as gender sensitive development workers;
Ensure full implementation of work plan and prepare periodical reports (annual/ quarterly/monthly both narrative/progress and financial reports), status reports and fact sheets;
Ensure proper documentation of experiences and lessons learned.

Competencies

The incumbent will work closely with high-level government officials, technical specialists and senior management of international agencies, and will need the experience, skills and presence to operate at this level. The position requires:

In-depth substantive knowledge of gender equality issues in the context of development planning for socio-economic development and poverty reduction and the achievement of the MDGs;
Ability to work in a team environment and under pressure;
Ability to meet short multiple deadlines;
Ability to transfer knowledge and skills to national partners;
Excellent interpersonal and co-ordination skills;
An understanding of and ability to work in the socio-cultural and development context of Afghanistan;
Experience working in a multicultural team.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree in Gender Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, Social Welfare, Development Studies, or a related field, with a focus on International Development, Gender or Human Rights. PhD preferred.

Experience:

A minimum of 5 years experience with increasing responsibility in development planning specifically related to the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment, including considerable experience dealing with policy makers and senior technical specialists;
Hands-on experience in the alignment of gender empowerment and mainstreaming with achieving the PRSP goals and MDGs;
Experience of conducting trainings in gender planning methodology for senior government officials and development of training materials.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in spoken and written English;
Working knowledge of local language(s) (DARI, PASHTU) an advantage.