Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works 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. For a seventh consecutive year, Afghanistan remains among the deadliest places in the world to be a civilian and faces an emerging level of human rights violation.

The Taliban takeover of Kabul on 15 August 2021 has had a seismic impact on Afghanistan. With the shift in political power, the future of women from all walks of life who have shaped the fabric of the country over the past 20 years, is unknown. The conflict dynamics in the country are multi-layered, and Afghanistan’s people are facing the devastating effects of a protracted conflict, increasing poverty and natural disasters, all of which are amplified by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are some 5.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Afghanistan, and approximately 80 percent of nearly a quarter of a million Afghans forced to flee since the end of May are women and children. 2021 has to date been one of the deadliest years for Afghan women and girls, with more women and more children killed and injured than ever before recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for the first half of any calendar year. Following the record displacement of nearly 700,000 people in 2021, some 9.2 million IDPs and returnees remain in some form of displacement and in need of support to return where possible. The Afghanistan Humanitarian Response 2022 appeal stands at USD 4.44 billion to reach and aims to reach 24.4 million people in need of humanitarian and protection assistance.

Amidst a rapidly evolving political, security and COVID-19 situation, the UN Women Afghanistan Country Office (ACO) is working on consolidating its programming under country Strategic Note (2018-2022). The key priorities for the next 6 months arei) Protection services to women survivors of violence; ii) Livelihoods improvement through Cash Based Initiatives, including cash for work and non -conditional cash grants; iii) rolling out Multipurpose Women Protection Centres to respond to humanitarian needs and iv) Strengthening protection Women Human Rights Defenders.

UN Women Afghanistan focuses on reaching women who are most at risk and marginalized populations, in particular gender-based violence survivors, female headed households, women IDPs and returnees, women with disabilities, older women and adolescent girls.

Women, who comprise more than half of the population in Afghanistan have been hit hard by this crisis, especially women who are unemployed, women suffering from poverty, women-headed households and women in rural areas who’s their livelihoods and income generation activities have been disrupted or lost. These women will be supported with interventions to boost their livelihoods.

UN Women Afghanistan will roll out various livelihoods support interventions to serve the women at risk and those who were affected by the crsis through unconditional emergency cash-based transfers, Cash for Work programmes and support to women-led businesses and home based initiatives as a key priority over the next 6 months.

UN Women will support women in target areas, including in host communities and informal settlements, to secure alternative sources of income through development of capacities and skills and access to resources. This will provide women with emergency livelihood protection and support—urgently needed given a looming economic collapse and associated crisis in the formal banking sector. This is in addition to cash based inyterventions that will be considered for specific groups of women depending on the extent of needs mainly women- headed households across locations.

UN Women is looking for experienced Livelihoods Analyst position to support formulation and implementation of livelihoods’ related activities.

Duties and Responsibilities

Reporting to the Programme Manager/ Women’s Economic Empowerment, the Livelihoods Analyst (National Consultant) exercises overall responsibility by providing administrative support during implementing, travel to field offices and monitoring from UN Women’s livelihoods interventions. The Livelihoods Analyst works in close collaboration with the Women Economic Empowerment team at ACO and field offices in regional level. The successful candidate will have the overall responsibility for the coordination and monitoring of U Women Afghanistan's livelihoods’ interventions, implementation activities, and tools.

  • Contribute to the implementation of UN Women's livelihoods interventions 
  • Perform day-to-day oversight and management of all livelihoods and interventions and coordinate activities with regional coordinators/field offices including ensuring implementation and monitoring of activities.
  • Assist Operations/ Programme in managing the beneficiary databases ensuring UN Women’s data-privacy protocols in transferring data to third parties/ financial service providers;
  • Liaise closely with different UN Women field support offices, different units at the Country office (CO) level including logistics, Finance, and Procurement for the implementation of livelihoods interventions and to ensure proper implementation of activities.
  • Coordinate with the regional coordinators of any bottlenecks that may impede the timely delivery of livelihoods interventions to beneficiaries and take action to resolve problems.
  • Draw up plans for timely delivery of Women’s economic empowerment and livelihoods in coordination with regional coordinators and relevant da facto authorities.
  • Assist in processing and analysis of data related to needs assessments, baseline, end line and post-distribution monitoring surveys for all individual programmes.
  • Closely coordinate with M&E unit to ensure the appropriateness of the transfer modality choice.
  • Conduct monitoring missions and spot check visits to ensure good conduct and compliance to project guidelines and conditions;
  • Undertake daily monitoring and quality control for all livelihoods projects through periodic random calls to the workers/ beneficiaries, to ensure that all beneficiaries from the various activities are receiving their benefits;
  • Identify and suggest mechanisms to mitigate any risks posed by livelihoods interventions targeting women and/or unintended harmful consequences.
  • Provide inputs and feedback and coordinate it accordingly with field offices to support the implementation of the overall UN Women response.
  • Provide inputs and support in the preparation M&E as well as progress reports
  • Collect and update relevant data and information on the progress indicators of livelihood activities in a regular manner, through daily follow up and face-to-face interviews with project beneficiaries;
  • If requested, keep track on financial and expenditure records related to livelihood activities in collaboration with the Livelihoods Specialist. Identify operational and financial problems of livelihood activities and develop solutions;
  • Establish and maintain an archiving system for all Livelihoods Projects/ contracts in both soft and hard copies including contact details of partners, vendors, field monitors and Liaison Officers;
  • Consolidate the weekly reports provided by field monitors through Liaison Officers, review and validate those reports;
  • Quantify/ validate the records provided by field monitors in comparison with records/ reports provided by the companies/ contractors;
  • Support the Programme Manager in building the capacity of targeted beneficiaries and relevant support teams through strengthening the monitoring, reporting and management skills;
  • Support the Programme Manager in furnishing all the documents needed to process of payments for service providers and partners after verifying all quantifications, documentation and all other requirements are completed and finalized;
  • Conduct any special assignments required by the Programme Manager regarding quick assessments, and in-depth analysis of specific case/s;
  • Contribute to write-ups about beneficiaries’ stories and field observations, if needed;
  • Provide back-stopping support to all Women’s Economic Empowerment Team members where and when needed;

Competencies

Core Values:

  • Respect for Diversity
  • Integrity
  • Professionalism

Competencies

  • Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and promote ethics and integrity by creating organizational precedents
  • Organizational Awareness: Build support for the organization and ensure political acumen
  • Work in teams: Build and promote effective teams. Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
  • Communication and Information Sharing: Create and promote an environment for open and effective communication
  • Self-management and Emotional Intelligence: Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others
  • Conflict Management: Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Corporate Competencies:

Functional Competencies

  • Strong background in project implementation, coordination and monitoring
  • Strong understanding and knowledge of humanitarian programming
  • Strong programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
  • Ability to synthesize programme performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making
  • Excellent coordination and communications skills
  • Ability to think and work logically and work precisely with attention to detail;
  • Initiative, sound judgment and demonstrated ability to work harmoniously with staff members of different national and cultural backgrounds;
  • Ability to work independently and meet tight deadlines in a high-pressure environment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

  • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in gender, international development, business administration or other social science fields is required.
  • A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
  • A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage.

Experiance:

  • At least 5 years of progressively responsible work experience at the national or international level in different aspects of development assistance relevant to livelihoods, poverty reduction, income generation interventions and food security
  • Experience in working with women’s economic empowerment is an asset;
  • Experience in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes’ in crisis contexts.
  • Experience coordinating and liaising with other colleagues and with field offices.
  • Experience working in the UN System is an asset.
  • Ability to work independently and deliver on tight timelines.

       Skills:

  • Excellent knowledge of livelihoods in humanitarian emergencies and/or early recovery contexts, throughout the project cycle.
  • Knowledge and understanding of key developments and actors within the humanitarian area.
  • Good knowledge of project development, management, and M&E.
  • Excellent managerial, communication, analytical, and organizational skills.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills including negotiation, relationship management, influencing and networking.
  • Ability to work effectively and harmoniously in a team of colleagues of varied cultural and professional backgrounds; and,
  • Good level of computer literacy.

Language Requirements:

  • Fluency in English is required
  • Fluency in Dari and/ or Pashto is a must.
  • Additional UN language is an asset.