Social Safeguard and Gender Officer

About AIWRDP/RPCO/MRRD:

The Regional Programs (RP) was established in the MRRD compound in 2007 as one of the largest rural support program in terms of scope and coverage area, working across the county. The demand for rural development motivated the program management to operate in several sectors that created a stage for diversified activities, whereas all other national programs of the ministry are engaged in their specific sectors. In addition, the Program responds to expressed needs of the rural people, who require various basic services (community based infrastructures) which no other single rural development program has addressed so far. The program development efforts are focused on helping the poor in dealing with many of the risks they face in their lives  – such as unemployment, low house hold income, low agriculture production, poor irrigation systems, lack of accessibility to market, lack of education and health facilities, lack community based disaster risk reduction infrastructures and insufficient potable water.

Under the portfolio of the Regional Programs the Arghandab Integrated Water Resources Development Project (AIWDP) funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB) will improve the availability and use of water resources for irrigated agriculture in the Arghandab River Basin and the Kandahar region. The project comprises 5 outputs: (i) Dahla dam capacity increased; (ii) reliability of irrigation water supply increased; (iii) climate resilient and productive irrigation technologies and practices introduced; (iv) post-farm value chains developed; and (v) capacity in water resource management and use strengthened. AIWDP is a joint project between Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAIL) and Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW). MRRD will contribute to outputs 1 and 2.

Summary of Duties

RP seeks a Social safeguard and Gender Officer to both manage and provide assistance to RP HQ office and field office related to gender equality, Social safeguard and inclusive development. Candidates should have demonstrated capability in social safeguard and integrating gender in field level and a range of areas (e.g., project design, monitoring, and evaluation), report writing and facilitating trainings/meetings/workshops, engaging with beneficiaries, and track women participation in community level.

Job Description:

Duties & Responsibilities:

Assist the PIU Manager on coordinating with all ADB Partners on gender-related tasks in provincial level.
Provide support to the Project team in implementation of the gender polices in the field level
Follow up with Kandahar PMU to monitor the status of the women participation, conduct meetings and provide feedback to HQ for decision making
Provide feedback to PIU and PMU to ensure the practical implementation of activities within Gender Strategy/Framework is considering gender perspectives
Ensure meaningful participation of female community members in the project; ensure proper consultation with women; women are engaged in the projects or any community development activities; women and people with disabilities have voices in their communities; and finally, they are well aware of the overall project activities and have full access to the project grievance redress mechanism (GRM)
Represent the RP/PIU in Gender related meeting in provincial level.
Provide support in conducting Gender Working Group (GWG) meetings in the field level
Fill out Gender Monitoring form bi-monthly
Conduct regular visits to District community to monitor women’s participation as members and decision makers in Communities, also give them training and awareness raising regard AIWRDP project
Track participation of women in their communities in all meetings and provide reports accordingly
Work closely with M&E and MIS departments to ensure women status and provide reports accordingly
Support in collecting data for the monthly, quarterly and annual report
Assists Social Safeguard Specialist on Social and land acquisition implications of safeguard policies of the ADB and indigenous peoples’/ethnic minorities policies of the national government;
Coordinate and liaising with, stakeholders and Provincial office to ensure effective mainstreaming of social issues like land acquisition and preparing of Social Management plan.
Ensure that social-related modules are incorporated in the training and capacity building programs
Manage the implementation of all training and awareness raising related to social and land acquisition, SMP issues at Provincial Office and CDC levels;
Define, and subsequently monitoring, suitable Environmental and Social indicators for projects;
Provide Social inputs to monitoring, evaluation, and reporting activities;
Any other tasks required by the Sr. Gender Specialist, ESS/Engineering Office.
Carry out a due diligence review of impacts in the field to plan and prepare LARP preparation program;
Carry out the following surveys when needed:

A detailed impact measurement (DMS) survey of all affected assets including land, buildings, businesses, crops, and trees;
A detailed census of affected people (AP) and affected households (AH);
A socioeconomic survey detailing of the socioeconomic features of the affected population (the survey is to be at least based on a 25% sample of the affected population); and
A valuation survey of all affected assets reflecting the replacement value of the affected assets.
Develop a clear scheduled action plan for the implementation of the LARP (s);
Complete records of public consultation, including lists of participants, will be maintained and submitted as part of the report.

Prepare LARPs for the project in accordance with SPS, the Land Law, the Civil Code, and relevant national laws and decrees
Any other relevant tasks assigned by the RP HQ and PIU Kandahar.

Job Requirements:

Qualifications/Experiences, Skills and Abilities required

Academic Qualifications

University degree in Social Study, Law or in any discipline of Environmental Sciences, social science with great preference to knowledge of gender and gender mainstreaming in rural development
Minimum of 4 years relevant working experience with government ministries, international organizations, donors, international project teams and/or NGOs in the area of implementation of gender mainstreaming activities, Social Safeguard, training and capacity development on gender concerns, understanding of rural development and gender related issues
Fluency in English, Pashto, and Dari
Strong organizational, coordination, and management skills, i.e. organization and facilitation of   meetings,
Ability to use Internet and a strong knowledge of computer applications i.e. MSWord, Excel,

General Qualifications

Proven experience forming, managing, and participating in successful teams, presenting and facilitating in a variety of fora, and verbal and written communications skills required
Flexibility and ability to travel internationally or domestically for varying lengths of time
Skilled in word processing, spreadsheets (Excel)
Strong interpersonal skills and ability to interact with individuals at all levels

Reporting: Reports Directly to PIU Manager/Sr. Gender Specialist/Sr. Safeguard Specialist

Submission Guideline:

Interested Afghans with the required qualifications and experience should submit their applications electronically through vacancies.hrcsd@mrrd.gov.af
While submitting your applications please mention the Title of the position plus Vacancy Number in the subject of the e-mail; please do NOT submit any other supporting documentation or educational certificates with your application. If you are short listed you will be asked to submit electronic copies of your educational certificates and if you are invited to written test you will be required to present the original certificates. Applications will not be accepted after the closing date of the position. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for written test Note: In the interests of open and fair competition and a merit based selection process applicants are advised that lobbying for a position , whether by the applicant or by any person acting on his or her behalf, shall result in the immediate disqualification of the candidate from further consideration. Applicants are strongly advised to inform potential supporters of this restriction which shall be strictly enforced.

Please don’t forget to type the Vacancy Announcement Number (1661/020/HRCSD/AIWRDP/RPCO/MRRD) in Subject while applying online. Application without vacancy number will not be accepted.

Submission Email:

vacancies.hrcsd@mrrd.gov.af