Back FAST-TRACK: Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH) Specialist, Kabul, Afghanistan, P4

The Position:

Over the past year, the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) Network in Afghanistan has made steady progress, guided by the collaborative efforts of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the International Medical Corps (IMC), on behalf of the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) and Humanitarian Country Team (HCT). The Network now connects over 300 organizations, including UN agencies, NGOs, and civil society groups, with more than 500 trained focal points, 45 percent of whom are women. It works to protect communities from exploitation and abuse while ensuring dignity and respect in humanitarian settings. Regional sub-working groups established in the North, South, Central, and West regions provide direct community engagement and localized responses. A major achievement has been the introduction of the Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Risk Overview (SEARO) tool, which identifies SEA risks across Afghanistan, guiding targeted and evidence-based interventions. Equally important, the Network also ensures that aid workers operate in a safe and supportive environment with Zero Tolerance for Sexual Harassment (SH), emphasizing the dual responsibility of protecting communities and safeguarding the humanitarian and BHN workforce. To continue building on these accomplishments of the last year, a Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (PSEAH) Specialist will be recruited to continue to lead UNFPA and inter-agency efforts in prevention, enhance victim support systems, and strengthen safe working conditions. This role will be instrumental in maintaining progress, fostering accountability, and ensuring both communities and aid workers are supported in a culture of safety and respect.
 

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

Job Purpose:

Under the direct supervision of the UNFPA Representative, the PSEAH Specialist will lead the implementation of the inter-agency PSEAH program across Afghanistan. This role includes advising the Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator (RC/HC) for the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) and the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT). The Specialist will therefore primarily focus on strengthening inter-agency systems for PSEAH, while also providing some direct support to UNFPA and its partners. 
 

You would be responsible for:

Working closely with the PSEA Network, the PSEAH Specialist will undertake the following responsibilities:

Support the implementation of PSEA in-country programme
●    Assist RC/HC and senior leadership in developing and implementing a Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) strategy tailored to local contexts and integrated across all operational levels. 
●    Coordinate the enhancement of the inter-agency PSEA Network, which includes members from UN agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and civil society organizations (CSOs). 
●    Enhance technical coordination, share best practices, and foster a collaborative environment for addressing PSEA collectively. 
●    Coordinate with the PSEA Network to conduct comprehensive joint risk assessments that inform senior leadership about potential risks and vulnerabilities. These assessments guide strategic decision-making and the planning of evidence-based interventions. 
●    Aid senior leadership in implementing the Network's Terms of Reference (TORs) and in developing an annual Action Plan based on insights from risk and community assessments, focusing on prevention strategies, response mechanisms, and continuous PSEA measures improvement.

Coordinate the PSEA Network
●    Coordinate the inter-agency PSEA Network with the Network co-chairs in the fulfillment of its responsibilities under its TORs and Action Plan.
●    Represent the PSEA Network in relevant coordination bodies, such as UNCT, HCT, PMT, ICCT, and relevant clusters and thematic working groups.
●    Work closely with regional bodies to set up sub-national systems.

Strengthen PSEAH within UNFPA and UNFPA IPs
The Specialist should work with the UNFPA GBV Unit on programme implementation and collaborate with the UNFPA Compliance Team on rolling out the UN Implementing Partner (IP) PSEA Capacity assessments. This role is crucial in strengthening PSEAH by enhancing policies, practices, and awareness related to preventing sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment. 
●    Establish an internal UNFPA Task Force on PSEA and SH, focusing on streamlining efforts and ensuring consistent application of PSEA and SH principles across all levels, both internally and with partners.
●    Develop and support the implementation of a PSEAH Action Plan for the Country Office, leading the coordination, design, and execution of a comprehensive action plan tailored to address specific PSEAH needs and compliance requirements.
●    Work with the UNFPA Partnership Unit to raise funds for PSEA programs and manage the program budget under the GBV Unit.
●    Support the Compliance Unit with the rollout of the UN Implementing Partner PSEA Capacity Assessment to ensure that all partners meet the eight core standards.
●    Supervise the coordination of the PSEA and AAP Sub-Working Groups in Kandhar, Herat, Mazaar, Jalabad, Bamiyan, and other upcoming locations.
●    Serve as a member of the UNFPA PSEA Advisory Group, actively engaging with UNFPA’s Ethics Office and serving as UNFPA’s Focal Point for PSEAH, ensuring that local actions are aligned with global standards.
●    Enhance UNFPA’s PSEAH efforts regionally by collaborating with UNFPA’s Asia Pacific Regional Office (APRO) and the Ethics Office to broaden the reach and effectiveness of PSEAH initiatives across the region.

Strengthen PSEAH within partner organisations
●    On request, provide expert guidance and technical support to Network members and partners operating in the context to strengthen their internal PSEA programs in line with good practice and standards.

Community engagement
●    As part of broader community engagement activities, in partnership with AAP, support the PSEA Network to gather information on community perspectives on the behaviour of aid workers, and their preferences in dispute resolution, discussing sexual matters, and receiving and sharing sensitive information to inform outreach and other activities.
●    Support the PSEA Network to develop a collective communication strategy to raise awareness on key PSEAH messages, including the rights of affected populations, the fact that help and services are never conditioned on sexual favours, and how to submit sensitive complaints.
●    Ensure that the implementation of the PSEA Network work plan is informed by community participation, contextually and culturally proper, and based on the community’s needs;
●    Engage closely with the Awaaz Interagency Call Centre to ensure dissemination of PSEAH information and facilitate reporting of incidents involving SEAH.

Coordination with Key Partners
●    Engage and coordinate with Clusters to ensure PSEA is mainstreamed during planning, policy development, and programming phases, and collaborate with relevant thematic working groups to ensure alignment of strategies and actions across different initiatives and stakeholders.
●    Collaborate with the Protection Cluster, Health Cluster, GBV sub-cluster Coordinator, and Child Protection Area of Responsibility (AoR) Coordinator to ensure a harmonized approach to prevention activities and victim support, emphasizing a victim-centered approach.
●    Represent the PSEA Network at Inter-Cluster Coordination Team (ICCT) meetings and provide updates on relevant PSEA activities.
●    Report back to the PSEA Network on ICCT developments and updates.
●    Work with the Access Working Group to support senior leadership in developing an engagement strategy with relevant ministries and stakeholders for outreach and advocacy on PSEAH issues.
●    Support RC/HC to collaborate with SRSG and UNAMA at the strategic and technical level to offer support, ensure harmonization of messages, avoid duplication of activities, and share trends analysis and developments.
●    On a regular basis, present progress toward meeting the objectives of the PSEA Network work plan to the UNCT, HCT and ACBAR (the coordinating body for NGOs involved in the humanitarian response).

Establish/strengthen an Interagency Community-Based Complaints Mechanism (CBCM)
●    Facilitate the establishment and maintenance of an inter-agency Community-Based Complaints Mechanism (CBCM) by linking Complaint and Feedback Mechanisms (CFMs) through agreed referral pathways and creating new complaint channels to address reporting gaps. 
●    Assist Network members in consulting and engaging with relevant stakeholders during the design of the CBCM to ensure broad support, sustainability, and community trust. 
●    Draft Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for inter-agency complaint referrals, aligning with Global SOPs and adapting to the local context. 
●    Advocate with senior leadership to finalize and endorse SOPs and ensure understanding of referral pathways by heads of organizations and cluster or sector leads. 
●    Ensure that the SOPs incorporate Protection, Health, GBV, and CP referral pathways to provide immediate aid for complainants and victims.
●    Collaborate with the PSEA Network, Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) Working Group, service providers, and other relevant actors to understand community preferences for reporting sensitive allegations. 
●    Map existing CFMs to identify gaps in community access for reporting sensitive complaints and strengthen or establish new channels where needed. 
●    Roll out inter-agency training on SEA complaint intake and referral for PSEA focal points, Protection, Gender-Based Violence (GBV), and Child Protection actors, as well as staff managing CFMs. 
●    Disseminate contact information for PSEA focal points to aid staff and affected populations to enhance accessibility and awareness of the CBCM.

Monitoring and Evaluation
●    If the Specialist receives an allegation directly, refer the allegation to the concerned organization, the victim/witness to available services on informed consent, and provide appropriate follow-up after referral, in accordance with the SOPs and best practice.
●    Keep aggregate, anonymized trends data as submitted by members and other actors in-country in order to capture SEA trends.    
●    Coordinate in-country mapping of partners, and agreement on lead agency for PSEA assessment, implementation plan, and capacity development of shared partners.
 

Qualifications and Experience: 

Education:  

Advanced university degree in gender studies, humanitarian affairs, human rights, law, social work, public health, development studies, or related field.
 

Knowledge and Experience: 

●    At least 7 years of relevant progressive work experience in PSEA, GBV, staff misconduct, risk management, or gender mainstreaming.
●    Demonstrated expertise in SEA Risk Overview (“SEARO”) rollout, including risk assessment and evidence-based programming as a member of a RMT.
●    Strong understanding of international development and BHN.
●    Familiarity with the UN system and global coordination structures (IASC). 
●    Proven ability to develop and implement PSEAH Action Plans effectively. 
●    Experience in designing and facilitating capacity-building activities. 
●    Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
●    Familiarity with data protection and confidentiality measures. 
●    Experience working in UN integrated missions is highly desirable.
 

Languages: 

Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of another official UN language is desirable.
 

Required Competencies: 

Values:

Core Competencies: 

Functional Competencies:

Managerial Competencies:

Compensation and Benefits:

This position offers an attractive remuneration package including a competitive net salary plus health insurance and other benefits as applicable.

UNFPA Work Environment:
UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA's workforce - click here to learn more.

Disclaimer:
Selection and appointment may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, visa issuance and other administrative requirements. 
UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts.
Applicants for positions in the international Professional and higher categories, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.