UN Women: Programme Specialist, I-PPSA-10, Home Based, International Partner Personnel Service Agreement

Background:

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Afghanistan is one of the world’s most complex emergencies, and the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Afghan people are grappling with the impact of conflict, poverty, economic decline, and natural disasters. According to the 2026 Afghanistan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), an estimated 21.9 million people - approximately 45% of the population - require humanitarian assistance. Women and girls are disproportionately affected due to systematic human rights restrictions that curtail their movement and access to essential services.

UN Women has been in Afghanistan for two decades. UN Women’s programming approach is informed by analysis of the political, economic and humanitarian situation, risks to and capacities of partner organizations, and needs of Afghan women and girls. Currently, UN Women Afghanistan operates through its main office in Kabul and five sub-offices in Balkh, Bamyan, Herat, Kandahar, and Nangarhar. The office focuses on five key programme priorities: (1) Integrated Programming and Localization; (2) Women’s movement building through core grant-making; (3) Policy and Research; (4) Economic Resilience and Private Sector; and (5) Coordination, Access and Humanitarian/Emergency Response.

Under the Coordination, Access and Humanitarian/Emergency Response Unit, the Afghanistan Country Office is seeking support on the delivery of projects under the priorities of humanitarian/emergency response, primarily focused on providing technical, coordination, and administrative support to enhance the office’s capacity to respond to crises in a swift and coordinated manner.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the GIHA Coordination and Access Specialist, the Programme Specialist will focus their support on coordination both within UN Women and with aid actors.  

The Programme Specialist will work in close collaboration with UN Women’s unit working focusing on Integrated Programming and Localization, UN Women’s sub-offices, representatives of aid actors and partners, in particular Women-Led Organizations, and relevant co-chairs of Afghanistan’s aid architecture platforms, in particular the Gender Coordination Group.

The Programme Specialist will be home-based with missions to Kabul to facilitate in-person coordination with stakeholders, and other related tasks outlined in the Terms of Reference.

III. Scope of Work

1- Provide capacity building support to the country office teams and partners on humanitarian programming, specifically on emergency humanitarian programming

• Provide technical support to country office and field offices in developing and strengthening emergency projects/ programmes;
• Implement and monitor humanitarian capacity building initiatives including at field level
• Provide technical support to teams on implementation of emergency programmes and projects.

2- Design, develop and implement programme strategies in the area of gender in humanitarian action in emergency response

• Design and formulate programme/ project proposals and initiatives on emergency response;
• Draft inputs to country strategy documents, briefs,  and other documents relating to UN Women’s contribution to humanitarian response and cluster coordination
• Finalize relevant documentation on donors and potential opportunities for resource mobilization;

3- Contribute to coordination with aid actors to foster coherence with other partners in the country

• Participate in meetings of aid coordination platforms to ensure UN Women’s contribution to the coordinated emergency response;
• Build and maintain close liaisons with relevant donors and other actors supporting efforts towards emergency humanitarian action, as delegated;
• Coordinate with UN Women’s partners and service providers with regards to the implementation of UN Women’s emergency response;
• Contribute inputs to updates and briefs on emergency response to be used by stakeholders, CO and HQ;

4- Contribute to overall functions of humanitarian emergency programming

• Support with the implementation of Anticipatory Action programming if forecasts reach the agreed trigger threshold;
• Write quarterly reports and donor reports, focusing on impact results, outcomes and outputs;
• Monitoring programme/project implementation and finances using results-based management tools;
• Develop and r