Monitoring & Evaluation Officer (Polio)

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfil their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Afghanistan supports the national effort to eradicate polio in partnership with the Ministry of Public Health, the National and Regional Emergency Operations Center, WHO, and GPEI global partners. Several national and subnational immunization (NIDs and sNIDs) rounds are conducted each year across all provinces. Each round engages more than fifteen thousand campaign-based frontline workers and generates large volumes of operational data and payment records. The pace and scale of these campaigns require strong, hands-on support to verify data, process payments on time, coordinate follow-ups with regions and the call center, and maintain audit-ready documentation.

Polio campaigns in Afghanistan engage more than 15,000 campaign-based frontline workers in each round (there are typically 7-10 campaigns conducted annually). Each round generates extensive payment lists and large operational datasets that must be verified, triangulated, and reconciled across all regions to ensure accurate, timely disbursements and audit-ready records. The current core team cannot absorb this surge workload during campaign peaks without delaying payments, increasing error rates, raising the risk of financial non-compliance, and reputational risk. A dedicated Monitoring and Evaluation Officer (UNV) will close this gap by leading cross-regional verification of rosters and payments, and by cleaning and cross-checking monthly programme data to prepare high-quality datasets for analysis and decision-making.

The UNV will be responsible for the following:
A. Payment & roster verification support (campaigns)
• Compile regional FLW submissions into a single master roster using the approved template and naming conventions.
• Create and maintain composite unique IDs (e.g., campaign code + Tazkira/phone) to detect duplicates.
• Run predefined checks: missing IDs/phones, duplicate names, mismatched districts/clusters.
• Cross-check attendance sheets vs. approved rosters and eligibility rules; flag inconsistencies in an exceptions log.
• Prepare first-pass, audit-ready payment files and a short issues summary for review by the M&E/PMU focal points.
• Check the payment dashboard regularly and follow up with regional teams to reconcile post-distribution records.
B. Monthly programme data cleaning (routine reports)
• Receive monthly files from regions; confirm file structure, version, and period coverage.
• Apply standard validation rules (completeness, date formats, numeric ranges) and correct obvious entry errors.
• Harmonize province/district/cluster/facility names with the official reference list; update the “mapping” sheet where needed.
• Deduplicate records and document every change in a change-log tab (before/after, reason, date).
• Produce a clean, analysis-ready dataset and a one-page “data quality summary” (key issues found, fixes applied, pending queries).

C. Follow-ups with the call center
• Receive regular call center reports (refusals, missed children, payment complaints), verify completeness and correct coding, and file them in the shared repository.
• Record each flagged case with a unique identifier, share it with the relevant regional focal point, set a due date, and track it to closure; escalate overdue items to the team.
• Submit a short summary of open/closed cases and key actions taken, ensuring personally identifiable information is protected, and documents are stored per standard operating procedures.