Position Summary
The Female SES, Gender and Protection Officer will be responsible for ensuring the effective integration of Social and Environmental Safeguards (SES), Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment (GEWE), Protection, Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP), Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA), Gender-Based Violence (GBV) risk mitigation, safeguarding, and social inclusion throughout the implementation of the REEP Project.
The position will play a critical role in ensuring that women recovering from drug use disorders, persons with disabilities, returnees, IDPs, and other vulnerable groups have equitable, safe, dignified, and meaningful access to project services and opportunities.
The Officer will support project teams in identifying and mitigating social, environmental, protection, and safeguarding risks while strengthening accountability mechanisms and promoting meaningful participation of women and vulnerable groups throughout the project lifecycle.
Key Responsibilities
1. Social and Environmental Safeguards (SES)
- Lead implementation of the project Social and Environmental Safeguards (SES) framework and action plans.
- Monitor compliance with UNDP Social and Environmental Standards and project safeguard commitments.
- Conduct regular safeguard monitoring visits and identify social and environmental risks.
- Support development and implementation of mitigation measures for identified risks.
- Ensure environmental considerations are integrated into livelihood, TVET, entrepreneurship, and MSME activities.
- Monitor compliance with project risk management plans and safeguard commitments.
- Support environmental awareness and sustainable practices within project activities.
2. Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment
- Lead implementation of the project Gender Action Plan and Gender Results Framework.
- Promote meaningful participation of women throughout the project cycle.
- Conduct gender-sensitive assessments, consultations, and focus group discussions.
- Facilitate women-only consultations and awareness sessions.
- Support identification and removal of barriers limiting women's participation.
- Promote women-led enterprises, home-based businesses, and economic empowerment initiatives.
- Ensure collection, analysis, and reporting of sex-disaggregated data.
- Advocate for gender-responsive programming and equal access to project services.
3. Protection and Social Inclusion
- Ensure protection principles are integrated into all project activities.
- Promote inclusion of vulnerable groups including women, persons with disabilities, returnees, IDPs, and marginalized populations.
- Conduct vulnerability assessments and protection screenings when required.
- Identify protection risks and recommend appropriate mitigation measures.
- Monitor beneficiary safety, dignity, and well-being throughout project implementation.
- Support referral of beneficiaries requiring specialized protection services.
- Coordinate with relevant protection service providers and stakeholders.
4. Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA)
- Serve as the project PSEA focal point.
- Conduct PSEA awareness sessions for staff, beneficiaries, contractors, and community stakeholders.
- Ensure beneficiaries understand their rights and available reporting mechanisms.
- Support confidential management and referral of PSEA-related concerns.
- Monitor compliance with organizational safeguarding and PSEA policies.
- Ensure visibility of beneficiary rights and complaint mechanisms at project sites.
- Always maintain confidentiality and survivor-centered approaches.
5. Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Risk Mitigation
- Conduct GBV risk assessments and monitoring.
- Support implementation of GBV prevention and mitigation measures.
- Promote safe programming approaches for women beneficiaries.
- Facilitate awareness sessions on GBV prevention and available support services.
- Coordinate with service providers and referral pathways where required.
- Monitor risks associated with women’s participation in economic and livelihood activities.
6. Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) and Complaints Management
- Lead implementation of Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) approaches.
- Ensure beneficiaries are informed about project objectives, selection criteria, entitlements, and complaint mechanisms.
- Support management of the Complaint Feedback Mechanism (CFM).
- Ensure complaints are documented, tracked, resolved, and reported in accordance with established procedures.
- Conduct beneficiary satisfaction assessments and feedback exercises.
- Support promotion of available accountability channels, including the AWAAZ hotline and ORD complaint mechanisms.
7. Community Engagement and Awareness Raising
- Facilitate community awareness sessions on women's rights, gender equality, social inclusion, PSEA, GBV prevention, beneficiary rights and responsibilities, and environmental sustainability.
- Support community acceptance and reintegration of women recovering from drug use disorders.
- Engage families, community leaders, religious leaders, and stakeholders to reduce stigma and discrimination.
- Promote positive community attitudes toward women’s economic participation and social reintegration.
8. Capacity Building and Training
- Develop and deliver training sessions for project staff, partners, and stakeholders on:
- Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment
- PSEA
- GBV Risk Mitigation
- Safeguarding
- Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP)
- Protection Principles
- Social and Environmental Safeguards
- Build staff capacity on gender-sensitive, protection-sensitive, and accountable programming approaches.
- Support coaching and mentoring of project staff on protection and safeguarding standards.
9. Monitoring, Reporting and Documentation
- Conduct regular monitoring of gender, protection, safeguarding, and SES indicators.
- Participate in beneficiary identification, registration, verification, vulnerability assessments, household surveys, needs assessments, and beneficiary selection processes in accordance with approved project criteria and procedures.
- Conduct field visits, community-based assessments, surveys, and monitoring activities to verify beneficiary eligibility and support transparent and accountable project implementation.
- Support baseline surveys, monitoring exercises, post-distribution monitoring, outcome tracking, and end-line assessments.
- Collect, verify, and analyze project data related to gender, protection, and safeguards.
- Prepare weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual reports.
- Document case studies, success stories, lessons learned, and best practices.
- Support project audits, evaluations, donor monitoring missions, and learning activities.
10. Coordination and Stakeholder Engagement
- Coordinate with government departments, Drug Treatment Centers (DTCs), UNDP, community structures, women’s groups, protection service providers, and project stakeholders.
- Participate in coordination meetings, technical working groups, workshops, and project events.
- Represent ORD on gender, protection, safeguarding, and social inclusion issues when delegated.
- Maintain effective professional relationships with stakeholders to strengthen project outcomes.
11. Other Duties
- Perform any other duties assigned by the Project Manager or senior management that contribute to the successful implementation and achievement of project objectives.
- Support effective coordination and collaboration with MEAL, Finance, Procurement, Human Resources, Administration, and Operations teams to ensure smooth project implementation.
- Participate in project meetings, trainings, workshops, assessments, monitoring visits, and other organizational activities as required.
- Maintain high standards of professionalism, confidentiality, safeguarding, and compliance with ORD and donor policies and procedures.
- Be willing and able to travel regularly to project implementation areas in Logar and Paktia provinces, as well as to ORD’s Main Office in Kabul, for beneficiary assessments, surveys, monitoring, coordination meetings, trainings, reporting, and other project-related activities as required.
- Undertake field missions and extended travel when necessary to support project activities and organizational priorities.
