Political Affairs Assistant

Contract

This is a UNV National Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as National UN Volunteer. It is normally only for nationals. More about UNV National Specialist contracts.

UNAMA’s field presence remains central to the Mission’s engagement with its stakeholders at the sub-national level in Afghanistan. The field presence enables the Mission to deliver its mandate and maintain its awareness of related developments throughout the country. The Mission currently maintains six regional offices, in Balkh (Mazar-e-Sharif), Herat, Kabul, Kandahar, Nangarhar (Jalalabad) and Paktya (Gardez); and five provincial offices, in Badakhshan (Fayz Abad), Baghlan (Pul-e Khumri), Bamyan, Faryab (Maymana) and Kunduz. Field offices have a direct reporting line to the Chief of Staff.

The Central Regional Field Office based in Kabul shall continue to support mandate implementation at the sub-national level through building effective working relationships with the de facto authorities to facilitate an enabling environment for mandate/programme implementation, strengthening cooperation for and the coherence of UN activities; support the provision of essential services to Afghans; support dialogue between the de facto authorities and local stakeholders on issues of sub-national governance, basic rights and inclusion; provide outreach and good offices, including facilitating dialogue between political stakeholders, focusing on promoting inclusive, representative, participatory and responsive governance and broad participation in public life; and provide advice on local consultative mechanisms, confidence-building measures, and conflict management and reconciliation. The FO shall also maintain situational awareness, reporting and analysis and engage with all stakeholders at the sub-national level in the protection and promotion of human rights.

Under the supervision of the Central Regional Head of Field Office and Political Affairs Team leader, the National UN Volunteer will:

• Collect, select and analyze information from diverse sources, including publications and the media, with special attention to the representation of all segments of society including vulnerable categories like minorities and women; • Support the development and implementation of UNAMA facilitated meetings, political outreach events, and discussions with local communities to address local drivers of instability in assigned area; • Support the monitoring of national, provincial and district level political developments and keep abreast of latest trends and developments in the area of assignment in accordance with the priorities established by the mission; • Maintain coordination with female stakeholders at the provincial level in support of women’s role in in sub-national processes; • Coordinate to maintain up to date knowledge of events relating to political issues in general, and in particular areas of responsibility as well as thematic mandates; • Support the development and maintaining of profiles/maps database for the political section, including: provincial and district profiles, tribal profiles, background of important personalities, and other directories, profiles, maps as requested; • Conduct regular meetings with community representatives, intellectuals, religious scholars, political and civil society representatives to enhance women’s participation in civic life; • Support the HoFO with preparing drafts, briefing notes, background papers and talking points; • Interpret from English into Pashto/Dari and vice-versa during meetings; Translate documents from English into Pashto/Dari whenever necessary; • Facilitate provision of inputs for political, humanitarian and economic efforts and programmes; Updates information in the databases that track project progress and provides other information relevant to the assigned area; • Create and maintain administrative files and official records including records of incoming and outgoing correspondence; and • Performs other related duties as required.

• Teamwork and Respect for diversity • Commitment to Continuous learning • Planning and organizing • Professionalism

•At least two years of professional work experience in areas of political, governance or development and humanitarian affairs, or other relevant programmes; •First Level degree or equivalent; post-secondary training in political affairs, law, humanities or related area.

The contract lasts for the period indicated above with possibility of extensions subject to availability of funding, operational necessity and satisfactory performance. However, there is no expectation of renewal of the assignment. Travel to duty station (if applicable) and a Settling-In-Grant will be provided in the event the duty station is not within commuting distance from the place of recruitment.

The applicable Volunteer Living Allowance is provided monthly to cover housing, utilities and normal cost of living expenses. Life, health and permanent disability insurance are included ) and final repatriation (if applicable). Furthermore, in non-family duty stations that belong to hardship categories D or E, as classified by the ICSC, a Well-Being Differential (WBD) will be provided on a monthly basis.