Political Affairs Assistant

Details

Mission and objectives

UNAMA was established in 2002 as a Political/ Peacebuilding Mission, exceptionally) directed and supported by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO).

Context

According to UN policy directives to achieve gender equity, and the UN system-wide goal established in 1994 to reach 50/50 parity at all levels and in all entities, the gender imbalance at UNAMA is staggering. The representation of female staff at UNAMA varies from 7% to 30%. During the past 10 years, there has been ongoing concern about the gender imbalance at UNAMA. This was most recently expressed during the Senior Gender Dialogue meetings by the current SRSG. It was noted that additional measures are now required if the status quo is to change. Consequently, the SRSG asked the O/CMS to review the situation and identify creative ways to attract and retain qualified female national and international staff

Task description

Under the overall and direct supervision of an international Political Affairs Officer in each region, the NUNV Political Affairs Officer will be provided with on-the-job training in order to support the Political Affairs in areas of: - Gathering, selecting and analyzing 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; - Supporting 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; - Assisting in maintaining up to date knowledge of events relating to political issues in general, and in particular areas of responsibility as well as thematic mandates; - Assisting in 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; - Assisting in the maintaining contacts with regional/local civil and government officials/structures; community leaders; political parties and civil society representatives in areas of responsibility; - Assisting in preparing summaries of articles from a wide variety of sources and provide inputs to reports; - Supporting the Office’s provision of good offices in line with the mandate; - Interpret from English into Pashto/Dari and vice-versa during meetings; Translate documents from English into Pashto/Dari whenever necessary; - Providing support to visiting teams/missions as required; - Participating in periodic field missions in order to update the overall political situation; - Providing administrative and logistical support to officers in the Political Affairs Division; including arrangements for meetings, preparing documents etc. - Supporting field trips including preparation of road mission requests and arrange for security clearances - Creating and maintaining administrative files and official records including records of incoming and outgoing correspondence