Gender Specialist (Only Female)

Gender issues

Women in rural Afghanistan face multiple barriers to participation in economic life. These include conservative and discriminatory attitudes towards women; lack of vocational skills; low psycho-social capacities such as self-confidence; limited mobility outside of the home; and lack of access to inputs and extension services. The project will take a holistic approach to facilitating women’s economic empowerment by addressing all of these barriers.

In order to address discriminatory attitudes towards women’s capabilities and rights, ARC partners will facilitate community dialogue sessions with community influencers. By cultivating support for women’s rights among male community leaders and influencers and male family members of the female beneficiaries, the project aims to foster a more enabling environment for women’s economic empowerment. The women will be supported to form women’s producer groups which will function as self-help groups (SHGs). All training, inputs and support to access credit and markets will be delivered through these groups. The SHG structure functions as an effective platform to overcome cultural barriers preventing women from accessing markets. The SHGs are also central to the development of women’s psycho-social capacities, creating a culturally acceptable space for women to come together outside of the home, share their experiences and ideas, and discuss issues that affect them. Women producer groups will receive additional trainings to address their specific needs and enable them to gain the skills required to achieve economic empowerment.

The Role:

Under the overall steer of Afghanaid Managing Director and reporting to the Deputy Director ARC, the incumbent will provide leadership, management oversight, technical guidance and support for Gender portfolio of Community Based Eco-DRR project (CBED-II) project of ARC. Working together with other specialists and team members of ARC, the Gender Specialist at the Secretariat level will ensure gender considerations and commitments of the project are fully addressed including following activities of the project that are directly related to empowering women:

· Kitchen garden

· Poultry

· Animal rearing

· Bio-briquettes

· Tree nursery

· Gabion weaving

· Off-farm income generation activities

· Women Producer Groups

· Self Help Groups

· Rotating Savings and Loan

· Women’s participation in economic life

· First-aid training of girl students

· Capacity building of women members in CBDMC/WMC

· Training of men and women on women’s rights and leadership

Position Requirements

Professional Skills, Competencies, Values and Attitudes

Afghanaid seeks an experienced, adaptable and creative programme leader with sound judgment, strong initiative and excellent skills in communication, interpersonal relations, decision-making, financial management, project design and reporting.

Afghanaid needs to attract an individual with international living experience, accustomed to living and travelling to sometimes-insecure environments. The ideal candidate will be ambitious, enthusiastic and set high professional standards for him/herself and others. Minimally, she will have the following education, work experience, skills and qualities:

Education & Professional Qualification

Essential:

At least a Graduate degree from a well-recognized University.

Work Experience and Knowledge

· Minimum 2 years of practical experience working for women economic empowerment/SHG/women producer groups.

· A career path that reflects ambition, commitment and determination.

· Leadership experience, including proven ability to positively influence others, facilitate participatory strategic processes, and develop the capacity of colleagues and team members.

· High level of networking, negotiation and facilitation experience proven through managing partner and donor relations.

· Advanced skills in developing and implementing value chain and/or microenterprise, microfinance, or livelihoods programs in developing countries, including with gender-sensitive, nutrition-sensitive and resilience frameworks,

· Proposal development experience, including experience leading the technical aspects of complex, large proposal efforts;

· Living and working overseas, including living and travelling in rudimentary and insecure environments; with a strong understanding of the cultural, security and operating environment of Afghanistan or a similar context will be preferred.

Professional Skills, Competencies and Qualities

Essential:

· Native fluency in written and spoken English language and demonstrated ability to both write and layout high quality documents and to confidently give clear, succinct presentations to diverse audiences

· Personal integrity, initiative and drive to get things done and achieve results on time

· Strong organisational and coordination skills, able to work with significant levels of initiative and autonomy, manage organisational and personal priorities and meet tight deadlines

· Endurance, fitness, effective under pressure and willing to work beyond normal work hours; able to work and manage teams to tight deadlines.

· An outgoing and engaging personality with a strong sense of humour, able to built trust, work collaboratively in teams and manage relationships with a variety of stakeholders, from donor agency heads to field-level project staff. A proven ability to persuade and positively influence others

· Demonstrated cultural sensitivity and ability to enjoy living and work in diverse multi-cultural environment

· Creativity, flexible and excellent problem solving skills with the ability to deal with difficult, often ambiguous and challenging situations

· Proficiency in common computer software including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook

· Knowledge of personal strengths and weaknesses and a commitment to continual learning and improvement

· Commitment to the vision and mission of Afghanaid