International Individual Consultant- GBV Coordination Specialist, Kabul, Afghanistan

VACANCY NO:     VA-CO-2020-09-07

CLOSING DATE:    23 September 2020

DURATION:    Initially three months with possibility of extension

ORGANIZATION UNIT:    UNFPA Afghanistan CO-Gender Unit

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1    Purpose

Under the overall guidance of the UNFPA Representative and the direct supervision of the UNFPA Deputy Representative, the Individual Consultant (IC) will support the GBV sub-cluster leadership team in coordination and rapid implementation of multi-sectoral, inter-agency GBV interventions in a humanitarian emergency. The IC will collaborate and work closely with the GBV SC Coordinator/s to support and strengthen their cohesion as a coordination team.

Comprehensive GBV prevention and response programming in humanitarian emergencies requires skilled coordination of a range of organizations and actors from the displaced and host communities, NGOs, government partners, UN agencies, and other national and international organizations. The GBV Coordination Specialist’s duties include: provide strategic advice and technical support for building and sustaining partnerships, facilitating service delivery, strategic planning, capacity development, advocacy, and information management. The IC will use the GBV Area of Responsibility’s Handbook for Coordinating Gender-based Violence Interventions in Emergencies, IASC Guidelines for Integrating Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Action: Reducing Risk, Promoting Resilience, and Aiding Recovery, and Inter Agency Minimum Standards for GBV in Emergencies Programming, among others to facilitate planning, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of inter-agency GBV initiatives.

2    Scope of Work
Building and Sustaining Partnerships
•    Provide support to the coordination team for the inter-agency, multi-sectoral GBV coordination group (“sub-sector”) at national and sub-national levels. Promote, respect and ensure that the Principles of Partnership are reflected in the day-to-day work of the GBV sub-sector.
•    Support the establishment of result-oriented, two-way communication channels between national and sub-national GBV coordination groups to ensure a standardized response to GBV.
•    Proactively engage with all relevant stakeholders to ensure coordination bodies reflect the range of actors addressing GBV, including across multiple sectors (health, psychosocial, legal, security, etc.) and categories of actors (UN, NGO, civil society, government, etc.). As feasible, engage UN missions who may be active in addressing GBV, including but not limited to ensuring inter-agency inputs to the annual S-G’s report on conflict-related sexual violence.
•    As requested by the GBV coordination team, represent the GBV sub-sector in Protection sector meetings, OCHA-led meetings (e.g. around development of the Strategic Response Plan or for Inter-sector Coordination), and other relevant meetings, including those called by the Humanitarian Coordinator.
•    Support the coordination and collaboration with other sectors/working groups such as the Health sector, Child Protection Sub-sector , Shelter/NFI sector , Food Security sector, Education sector, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Working Group, etc. to ensure integration of GBV-related action in their sector plans and to advocate for joint awareness- raising for non-GBV specialists.
•    Support the senior management team and relevant units to mobilize resources for inter-agency GBV prevention and response in line with GBV sub-sector work plan and Humanitarian Response Plan.
•    In consultation with non-governmental GBV actors and national civil society, identify appropriate mechanisms for working with and collaborating with national authorities on GBV issues.
•    Review the situation and if required in Afghanistan to support the roll out of the GBV case management capacity building initiative
 
Facilitate Service Delivery
•    In collaboration with national and international GBV actors, map current institutional response capacities, including facilitating mapping of GBV-specific 3Ws.
•    Facilitate discussion and strategic planning on referral pathways and Standard Operating Procedures. Support regular monitoring, updating and improvement of referral pathways

Strategic Planning
•    Support the GHRP and HRP processes to revise and develop realistic, evidence-based multi- sectoral and inter-agency prevention and response plans. Promote engagement of a range of sectors and ensure realistic benchmarks and timelines for achieving set objectives. Regularly monitor progress against plan during coordination meetings. Allow space for new actors to engage with plan over the course of the crisis response.
•    Work with partners to continually identify response gaps in line with proposed work plan (including geographic coverage and programmatic scope) and seek solutions to fill gaps.

Capacity Development
•    Work with partners to develop an inter-agency GBV capacity development strategy that meets the needs and priorities of key national and local stakeholders to facilitate implementation of agreed work plan.
•    Revise existing training materials according to local context and ensure partners’ access to relevant training sessions.
•    Support efforts to strengthen the capacity of sub-sector members on planning and responding to GBV in emergencies and on safe and ethical GBV information management.
•    Support the GBV coordination team to ensure all GBV sub-sector partners and others are aware of relevant policy guidelines, technical standards, and other resource materials (go to www.gbvaor.net for the latest information).

Advocacy
•    Review the situation and where needed provide technical support to the development of relevant advocacy and policy documents to address GBV in the context of broader gender inequality issues with focus on humanitarian

Information Management
•    In line with WHO’s Ethical and Safety Recommendations for Researching, Documenting and Monitoring Sexual Violence in Emergencies:
•    Engage in robust analyses of available secondary data to ensure readily-available information on known trends and patterns on GBV for inclusion at relevant points along the Humanitarian Programme Cycle, including the MIRA.
•    Consolidate existing assessments on the GBV situation and/or work with relevant agencies, the displaced and host populations to conduct relevant participatory analyses of GBV.
•    Support new assessment missions as necessary/appropriate to determine GBV service provision needs and to identify strategic inter-sectoral approaches for addressing it.
•    Evaluate, recommend and support improvements to the existing GBV data collection and reporting mechanisms for humanitarian GBV service delivery.
•    Document best practices and approaches for responding to issues of GBV in order to deepen the knowledge base among relevant partners.

Any other duties
•    Other duties as required.

3    Delivery dates and how work will be delivered
•    At the beginning of the assignment, the IC will agree with the supervisor on the key work plan outputs and deliverables within the scope of work as described in this ToR. All documents prepared by the IC, including reports, analysis, assessments and other documents, shall be delivered in both hard and electronic versions.

4    Monitoring and progress control
•    Prepare analytical reports on emerging issues as required
•    Write monthly reports documenting progress against work plan outputs
•    Prepare end of assignment report upon completion of the assignment

5    Supervisory arrangements
Reports to UNFPA Deputy Representative

6    Duration, Working Schedule and Work Setting
•    Initial assignment of 3 months preferably from early October 2020, with possible extensions subject to satisfactory performance evaluation.
•    Working schedule: 5 working days a week, Sunday to Thursday
•    Working hours: 7:00 am to 3:30 pm with 1 hours lunch break

Expected travel:
 Short field assessment missions to provinces are expected

7    Consultant profile

Requirements:

Education: 
•    Advanced degree in social work or other social sciences, public health, community health, international relations, international law, human rights or related field.

Experience:
•    7-8 years of experience working on gender-based violence, of which 3 are at the international level, preferably in a humanitarian context
•    Experience leading inter-agency coordination mechanisms with a wide range of stakeholders, preferably on prevention and response to GBV. Demonstrable knowledge of the critical components to facilitate effective inter-agency coordination.
•    Awareness and demonstrable knowledge of how GBV manifests in humanitarian settings and ability to describe context-specific prevention and response actions.
•    Demonstrable knowledge of humanitarian emergency operations, including the Cluster System and HPC, and roles/responsibilities of key humanitarian actors.
•    Experience designing and managing GBV programmes (recommended).

Language: Fluency in English is required (oral and written)

UNFPA will pay a consultancy fee commensurate with the assignment and level of experience of the consultant.

UNFPA will provide the travel related costs such as air fare, and the applicable DSA at United Nations established rates and terminal expenses as per UN Official Travel Rules and Regulations when the consultant is required to travel by UNFPA
    UNFPA will provide office space and necessary office stationery and supplies;
    UNFPA will provide with a furnished and serviced accommodation in a secure UN compound; 
    UNFPA will provide transportation services by armoured vehicle for physical movements outside the UN compound for official business.

Candidates should submit the following documents:
1.    An application letter which states the candidate’s motivation to apply for this post
2.    A curriculum vitae, and
3.    A completed United Nations Personal History (P 11)

All the above documents must be sent by e-mail to: recruitment.afg@unfpa.org

How to apply:

Please quote the Vacancy number VA-CO-2020-09-07 The deadline for application is: 23 September 2020.

UNFPA will only be able to respond to those applications in whom UNFPA has a further interest.

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, teamwork, respect for diversity, integrity and a healthy balance of work and life. We are committed to maintaining our balances gender distribution and therefore encourage women to apply. We offer an attractive remuneration package commensurate with the level of the position.

Notice: There is no application, processing or other fee at any stage of the application process. UNFPA does not solicit or screen for information in respect of HIV or AIDS and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.