Job Description
Since 1979, Afghanistan has experienced continuous armed conflict. The IRC began work in Afghanistan in 1988, launching relief programs for persons displaced by the invasion of the Soviet Union. The IRC continued to provide aid under Taliban rule and expanded community development projects. The organization now works with thousands of villages across nine provinces, with Afghans making up more than 99% of IRC staff in the country. As Afghanistan works to recover from ongoing conflict and natural disasters, the IRC supports by: working with local communities to identify, plan and manage their own development projects; provide safe learning spaces in rural areas; provide uprooted families with tents, clean water, sanitation and other basic necessities; and helps community members access employment. The Violence Prevention and Response Unit in Afghanistan covers Protection and Rule of Law (PRoL), Child Protection and Women’s Protection and Empowerment (WPE) with a cross cutting focus on gender equality in both programming and organizational practice.
Job Overview/Summary
Due to COVID-19, this role will have the option of starting remotely until travel restrictions globally are reduced.
The IRC plays a leading role in WPE/GBV sector coordination in the Afghanistan as WPE services are being set up in Afghanistan and WPE leads on global advocacy to support women and girls. The WPE/GBV sub-sector Co-Lead will coordinate humanitarian protection action through working groups in Kabul, closely liaising with UNFPA on developing and rolling out best practices to respond to violence against women and girls in line with the GBV guiding principles and women-, girl-, and survivor centered care. Close engagement with local actors through established GBV coordination structures across the country helps bridge the gap between senior level UN/INGO decision making and the needs and priorities of actors implementing programs inside of Kabul. The WPE/GBV Sub Cluster Sector Co-Lead will work together within the GBV Sub Cluster Sector Coordination Team (appointed by UNFPA) to ensure a harmonized, coherent and complementary response for the needs of women and girls of Afghanistan is in line with the GBV guiding principles and women-, girl-, and survivor centered approaches. S/he will act in accordance with principles laid out in by the Global Protection Cluster, the IASC guidance for Cluster Coordination and the Transformative Agenda protocols.
The WPE/GBV Sub Cluster Sector Co-Lead will report to the IRC Integrated Protection Coordinator, with a dotted line to the IRC Country Director.
Major Responsibilities
The main role of the GBV sub-Sector Co-lead falls within the core Cluster Functions:
(1) Effective Service Delivery across for women and girls and GBV responders through coordination;
(2) Inform strategic decision making in line with GBV guiding principles and survivor centered care, including around GBVIMS procedures;
(3) Plan and develop strategy for the GBV sub cluster, including informing the HRP and other COVID-19 related documents to ensure women and girls and GBV services are represented;
(4) If funding permits, deliver trainings to GBV sub sector members to improve capacity and coherence of the response;
(5) Work with UNFPA and UNHCR on maintaining relevant data protection approaches in line with the GBVIMS;
(6) Coordinate with non-GBV sectors on the 2015 Inter-Agency Standing Committee Gender-based Violence(GBV) Guidelines and related COVID-19 adaptations
(7) Advocacy for women and girls.
S/he will be working with the GBV Sector Coordinator to perform the following duties:
• Coordinate with other GBV sub-cluster partners at the regional level and other regional stakeholders.
• To encourage and support NGO participation in the coordination of GBV responses, and ensure ongoing contact with hub level stakeholders and existing coordination mechanisms, including international NGOs and the civil society, is done through the relevant actors.
• Supports (technically) the GBV Sub-cluster Coordinator and has a dual reporting line to the IRC Integrated Protection Coordinator, with a dotted line to the IRC Country Director.
• Hold regular inter-agency coordination meetings with the GBV working group/clusters
• Ensure GBV sector respond in a harmonized, coherent and complementary manner to the protection needs women, girls, and GBV survivors of Afghanistan
• Assist in leading the harmonization of GBV information management tools and products in line with the GBVIMS, GBVIMS+, or Primero.
• In coordination with the sub sector, identify humanitarian needs of the women and girls by planning and coordinating joint multi-sectorial assessments, and analyzing the information as needed
• Assist in supporting the maintenance and cross-learning across organisations of monitoring, response and reporting mechanisms on risks to women and girls and trends analysis in order to inform programming and advocacy by the GBV cluster/sector
• Represent the GBV Sector at the ISG at the regional level, contribute to jointly identifying critical issues of women and girls that require multi-sectoral responses, and plan the relevant synergistic interventions, including advocacy, with the other clusters concerned.
• Assist in leading joint GBV Sector contingency planning for all hazards, in line with protection cluster standards for contingency planning.
• Assist in providing support and strategic direction to GBV sector in the development of the women, girl, and GBV sector components of HNO (Humanitarian Needs Overview), PMR (Periodic Monitoring Report), FTS (Financial Tracking Service), HRP (Humanitarian Response Plan), and other interagency planning and funding documents that are part of the IASC Humanitarian Program Cycle.
• Promote adherence to relevant technical standards, best practices in social work theory, feminist theory, and women-/girl-/survicor-centered care. Promote use of the Global GBV tools to ensure the application of common approaches, tools and standards in line with the GBV guiding principles.
• Facilitate the mainstreaming of age/diversity/disability mainstreaming, as it related to women, girls, and GBV survivors, into humanitarian action undertaken by other Sectors and provide support to or request support from other Sectors as necessary
• Promote safety and well-being of GBV sub sector partners, in particular in relation to safety of female staff
• Coordinate and improve PSEA mechanism to be responsive to needs of female staff and female beneficiaries in line with survivor centered care;
• Identify urgent training needs in relation to technical standards and protocols for the delivery of key GBV services to ensure their adoption and uniform application by all GBV Sector/Cluster partners in the hubs and coordinate the dissemination of key technical materials and the organization of workshops or in-service training.
• Ensure appropriate links among humanitarian actions and longer-term. The GBV Sector plans, incorporating specific risk reduction measures and durable solutions into longer term plans.
Key Working Relationships
Position Reports to: IRC Integrated Protection Coordinator, with a dotted line to the IRC Country Director.; WPE TA for technical assistance.
Indirect/Technical Reporting: N/A
Position Technically Supervises: GBV Sub Cluster Working Group Coordinator,
Key Internal Contacts: WPE Deputy Coordinator; Integrated Protection Coordinator, WPE TA
Key External Contacts: UNFPA; GBV Partners, Donors representatives
Qualifications
• Post graduate degree in social work, public health, or other related field
• Minimum of 5 years proven experience working on women’s rights, GBV programming in humanitarian environments, including service provision of GBV case management, PSS for women and girls, and risk reduction;
• Excellent understanding of violence against women and girls in emergency settings and detailed knowledge of humanitarian principles, guidelines and laws and the UN cluster system
• Experience leading, co-leading or participating in GBV sub cluster/sector meetings, preferred;
• Strong facilitation skills and experience of developing facilitation skills in others;
• Demonstrable experience in advocacy and high-level negotiation skills.
• Strong experience with GBV IMS, including maintaining standards of confidentiality, respect to the survivor in data approaches,
• Excellent leadership, coordination, capacity building, planning and analytical skills;
• Excellent representation skills including the development of strong interpersonal relationships to facilitate communication within the cluster;
• Able to work successfully under pressure and ability to make timely decisions;
• Excellent written and spoken English; Pashto and Dari preferred;
• Experience in Afghanistan and/or in the region is preferred.
• Travel to within Afghanistan
Work Environment: There is active conflict in parts of the country and a possibility for further expansion of the conflict and violence into other areas and other states. The situation in Kabul remains unpredictable. Security will be thoroughly discussed during the interview process.
Housing: Lodging in Afghanistan is in shared IRC guesthouses. All IRC sites have electricity and internet all day through. Food is the individual’s responsibility.
Standards of Professional Conduct: The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Harassment-Free Workplace, Fiscal Integrity, Anti-Retaliation, Combating Trafficking in Persons and several others.
Gender Equality: IRC is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and allowances
This vacancy is archived.